“In a moment Thompson scored a direct burst into one of the planes; it
made a sudden climb, then went into a tail spin from which it never
recovered. Thompson swung his tourrelle round to get the one coming up
on his tail. While himself falling, by sheer good fortune Thompson,
fighting to the end, turned loose all he had, and the plane underneath
his tail ceased firing, dived and fell within a hundred yards of the
other he had just got.
“The three remaining Huns followed Miller down. One of them got
Thompson in the arm and leg with an explosive bullet. The plane was
out of control. By some miracle, Thompson says, as they were about to
strike earth, Miller came out of his forward position, pulled the stick
back, and the plane landed without a crash.
“Thompson had enough strength to jump out of the cockpit and run around
to Miller, who, with a strength that was superhuman, was climbing out
of the cockpit, bleeding profusely, his face ghostly white.
“He reached his arms up, man-like, and let them rest limply on
Thompson’s shoulders. With closed eyes, and with a voice barely
audible, he mumbled: ‘Thompson, God bless you! They got me, but I got
you home, boy—and we brought the pictures back. Get a motorcycle,
Tommy, and take them to headquarters. You write a report—I can’t,
Tommy; you see I can’t, Tommy. And be sure to put in it that the
pictures are good—that the mission was successful.’
“These were his last words, and he fell over unconscious. His wounds
were of a hopeless nature, and he died without regaining consciousness
a few minutes later in a sort of improvised dressing station in the
front lines.
“Well, those are incidents in the life of the observation game.
“The official records credit Johnny Miller with the destruction of
two enemy planes, and the French Government has bestowed upon him
posthumously the Croix de Guerre with Palm, but those of us who had
the pleasure of serving with him and who have lived to tell the tale
credit Johnny Miller with having been just a plain, ordinary, brave
fellow, who gave his life with all willingness to insure the successful
completion of the mission to which his country assigned him.”