Uncle Bob the Corsair pilot, heroes don't always die in battle

HAMB member MAZOOMA wrote about his Uncle Bob, I have to repost it.

Uncle Bob with his Corsair.

He was killed one month after I was born when an airman in another Corsair, who my uncle was training over Riverside, clipped my uncle's wing. The other pilot bailed out and parachuted to safety.

Uncle Bob stayed with his plane because it was headed into a school playground. He managed to guide what was left of his plane into a dirt lot killing him instantly. I still have the letters from eye-witnesses that were mailed to my grandparents saying how they could see him struggling to get the plane away from the crowded playground. Many people from the neighborhood where the crash took place made the drive to Monrovia where his funeral was held. All came to pay their respects for a man they would never meet.

Via: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=446547&page=14