Mrs. Gunn's Diary: Feb. 10, 1942

The story of the young pilot who 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' and 'touched the face of God'

This is the most poignant and affecting of the many diary entries Mrs. Gunn has made about the war.

She attended her church missionary circle meeting today where the speaker was the mother of John Gillespie Magee Jr., a young airman who had lost his life in December while flying for the Royal Canadian Air Force in England. Her husband was the curate at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington.

Before his death, John sent a letter to his parents enclosing a poem he had written called “High Flight.” You may recognize some of the wording in the headline; President Ronald Reagan used it in 1986 while speaking on the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

Mrs. Gunn was given the honor of reading the poem aloud. Paid subscribers can read on about the poem and Magee’s story.

Dear Readers, if this doesn’t make you want to become a paid subscriber, I don’t know what will.

The photo of John Magee Jr. is from the archives of the Royal Canadian Air Force, accessed via Wikimedia Commons.