Readers Remember

When I came home from junior high school in Washington on Dec. 12, 1941, my dear mother came down the stairs crying. She showed me a cablegram from King George V of England, and a telegram from the governor general of Canada, which said: “I deeply regret to inform you that your son, Pilot Officer John G. Magee Jr., has been killed over England in the RCAF.” It was one of the saddest moments in our lives.

After John was killed, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill presented a painting in his honor to the Air Cabinet Room in London.

But John was also the most famous poet of World War II. He authored the poem “High Flight.” It begins with the words, “Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings,” and ends, “I have put out my hand and touched the face of God.”

The poem, a favorite among pilots, was hung in the office of Challenger commander Francis R. Scobee and was read at a memorial service for the Challenger astronauts.

I think one reason his poem became so famous is that it just happened that I was a Washington Post delivery boy. I was given a special number to call if I had any news to report about things along my route.

Because John was the first war casualty reported from the Washington area, a reporter came to our home to interview my mother. He also picked up a copy of “High Flight.” The next day, John’s death and the poem were front-page news. That story was then copied as major news in most papers throughout the United States the next day.

As a result, John’s biography has been published three times, and the British and Canadian editions are still selling well to this day.

CHRISTOPHER W. MAGEE SR.

Los Angeles