THE MAINTENANCE CREW of my Navy E-2C squadron had worked feverishly to repair my aircraft in time for an important flight. After they declared the plane “up,” they stood by while I conducted a preflight inspection. As I reached behind an equipment box, I skewered my finger on the exposed end of a safety wire, and the cut bled profusely. Sticking my head out of the plane to ask for a first-aid kit, I noticed two crew members studying a small red pool beneath the aircraft. “That’s my blood!” I called out. Both faces immediately brightened. “What a relief!” one said. “We thought it was hydraulic fluid!”

–Contributed to “Humor In Uniform” by Lt. Cmdr. J. P. Wilkins

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