William J. Maynes, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Winston P. Erickson, June 19, 2000: Saving the legacy tape no. 42

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William J. Maynes Jun 19 20 test: Swim two hundred yards with good form one-half mile with cl th n and n mile without clothes. We were taught to jump off from a twelve foot platform tak ff our pants under water, tie knots in the legs and fill the pants with air and u e them to h lp keep our heads above water. We also were taught how to survive if we got shot down over land, and were scheduled to go on a three-day survival hike to test our skills. At the start of the three day hike we were given a sixty pound pack which included a canteen without water, a map, a sharp knife, utensils for cooking and eating, a tent and bedding, water purification pills, and matches. We had to rely on the land for our food and water. We were divided up into teams of two men each, given our compass direction, and were told what time to be in camp. We ran into a black sharecrop farmer as we were traveling across some fields. He lived in a shack with a well next to it, so we went over and engaged him in conversation while we rested. He was very friendly, and was happy that we went out of our way to visit with him. He offered us a drink from his well and filled our canteens. That was the reason for our going to see him in the first place. The sixty pound pack we were lugging felt like 250 pounds before we had gone very far, but we enjoyed the hike in spite of getting weary and footsore. The first day we had to go up hill and down dale, and plow through jungle for about five miles. Then that evening, we were hauled about two and one half miles from camp and had to take a direct course back to camp. It sounds easy unless you have seen the undergrowth and swamps we had to plow through. It was so dark we had to grope our way along relying on a compass for bearing. At the end of one swamp my companion 27