Lindbergh landed in Paris on my mother's birthday

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Lindbergh landed in Paris on my mother's birthday. Later that year, he made a goodwill flight to Mexico. At the time, I was just over seven years of age. My hometown, Vineland NJ, is located centrally in southern New Jersey, about 100 air miles south of New York City. There was considerable publicity and we knew the time he was scheduled to fly over the area. I attended a small four room school, and our teachers permitted us to go outside before the appointed time. Shortly, we heard the buzz of an airplane engine. Sure enough, it was "Lucky Lindy,". We all waved madly and were sure that he had waved back. This was a memory I have held dear to this day. I was, from that time on, enthralled with flight. I never missed a plane flying over. We were fortunate enough to live near Lakehurst Naval air Station to be able to see the blimps as well as the Los Angeles and USS Akron. A childhood friend of my mother's served on these ships and they often flew low over my childhood home. Flying, for me, was not to be in my future. Far from it, I served as an infantryman with the Third Infantry Division during WWII.

-By Whitney P. Mullen
Burlington, NC