Chris Mark
April 9th 04, 11:10 PM
This excerpt from St. Exupery's Letter to an American Friend seems
appropriate, now that his plane has finally been found:
"After the long winter of the Armistice, the seed sprouted. My squadron once
again blossomed in the daylight like a tree. I once again experience the joy of
those high-altitude missions that are like deep-sea diving. One plunges into
forbidden territory equipped with barbaric instruments, surrounded by a
multitude of dials.
"Above one's own country, one breathes oxygen produced in America. New York air
in a French sky. Isn't that amazing? One flies in that light monster of a
Lightning, in which one has the impression not of moving in space but of being
present simultaneously everywhere on a whole continent.
"One brings back photographs that are analyzed by stereoscope like growing
organism under a microscope. Those analyzing your photographic material do the
work of a bacteriologist. They seek on the surface of the body (France) the
traces of the virus that is destroying it. The enemy forts, depots, convoys
show up under the lens like minuscule bacilli. One can die of them.
"And the poignant meditation while flying over France, so near and yet so far
away! One is separated from her by centuries. All tenderness, all memories, all
reasons for living are spread out 35,000 feet below, illuminated by sunlight,
and nevertheless more inaccessible than any Egyptian treasures locked away in
the glass cases of a museum."
Chris Mark
appropriate, now that his plane has finally been found:
"After the long winter of the Armistice, the seed sprouted. My squadron once
again blossomed in the daylight like a tree. I once again experience the joy of
those high-altitude missions that are like deep-sea diving. One plunges into
forbidden territory equipped with barbaric instruments, surrounded by a
multitude of dials.
"Above one's own country, one breathes oxygen produced in America. New York air
in a French sky. Isn't that amazing? One flies in that light monster of a
Lightning, in which one has the impression not of moving in space but of being
present simultaneously everywhere on a whole continent.
"One brings back photographs that are analyzed by stereoscope like growing
organism under a microscope. Those analyzing your photographic material do the
work of a bacteriologist. They seek on the surface of the body (France) the
traces of the virus that is destroying it. The enemy forts, depots, convoys
show up under the lens like minuscule bacilli. One can die of them.
"And the poignant meditation while flying over France, so near and yet so far
away! One is separated from her by centuries. All tenderness, all memories, all
reasons for living are spread out 35,000 feet below, illuminated by sunlight,
and nevertheless more inaccessible than any Egyptian treasures locked away in
the glass cases of a museum."
Chris Mark