Captain John Francis Dailey, Jr

His sister said to Johnny “You’re going to go to war The draft board called your number They’ll be knocking on your door” Johnny said “I don’t like marching And I’ve never loved the sea That only leaves one option It’s the Army Air Corps for me” So he dropped out of his college And joined the Army Air Corps He learned to be a pilot And then he went to war He was not a fighter pilot He didn’t fly a jet He piloted the transports The biggest you could get He was flying in the South Seas When he met an Army nurse Then something clicked inside him It was love right from the first They had to wait the war out Till the Army nurse went home They married in her hometown Then the Air Corps made them roam In October then of forty-six They had themselves a daughter In the Panama Canal Zone Then he’s flying off over water Then they lived in Puerto Rico Where they had themselves a son September then of forty-eight They were proud of what they’d done When they moved to Massachusetts Johnny’s hometown state He transferred to the Reserves Still flying that airfreight They had another daughter January – Nineteen-fifty They were settled into a quiet life Till Korea got too shifty Johnny said “I am a pilot And I was born to fly I’m going back to full time service I belong up in the sky” So he’s back up in his transports In missions he did live He said “I’ll do what I must do And I’ll give all I can give” In July of nineteen-fifty-one Another daughter’s born Then Johnny’s off and flying His heartstrings all but torn Then October of that same year On a quiet home bound flight Out among the Azores His plane dropped out of sight No activity in the area No SOS last call He said “I see the Azores” That was it – that’s all Despite a massive air search The biggest one to date Not a piece of plane or personnel Nothing known yet of their fate They searched the sea for weeks and weeks The airwaves – this and that He left behind a loving wife Four kids, a dog, a cat. Captain John Francis Dailey, Jr. USAF (1918-1951) It was 60 years ago this October that we lost our Dad. We never really got to know him but miss him just the same. Mdailey 10/15/11