The Focke-Wulf Short Story

The Focke-Wulf FW 190 D war aircraft carrying a group of young boys, between the ages of six and twelve, from boarding school back to England. It was shot down by a German war plane yesterday at one o’clock, but the whereabouts and condition of the children are unknown. Those horrible Germans, right? Yes, but could have it been avoided? As the children prepared for their flight back to England, the original pilot was unsure, and had second thoughts. He shared them with the substitute pilot who exposed him to the sergeant, who arrested him for cowardice. The substitute pilot assured everyone that everything will be alright, and proceeded. “The children appeared to be somewhat unsettled prior to take off,” says witness, Sara Hughes,
“but they were not about to allow a pilot’s insecurities interfere with them visiting their families.” When the plane was reported to be shot down, the prisoner was released and said, “I was right. I am not proud of it, but I was right. If the sergeant and other pilot were brighter, they would have listened to me, and this entire tragedy would have been avoided.” Six children have been identified who were on the war plane: Ralph Pierce, Jack Montgomery, Simon Sanders, Charlie Hunter, Roger Marin, and Sam and Eric Hastings. Whether they survived or not is unknown, but only time will tell. Ralph Pierce is the son of a prestigious commander in the navy, Ronald Pierce who was devastated to hear the news: “This is tragic. I pray that my son has survived and is somewhere on an island waiting for me to come and rescue him. This will be my anthem, and my driving force. I will find him, but will he be able to survive until then? I sure hope so.”
Jack Montgomery is the son of Helen Montgomery, who on top of being widowed must endure this tragedy: “How can life suddenly become unbearable? It is not the work of God, but the work of Satan! My only son has been taken from me. Oh, how misfortunate I am. All I can do is pray and pray, and pray that my son has survived, and is sane.” Simon Sanders’s mother and father seem shell-shocked: “I.....I.......I........I cannot..... believe what h-has occurred. Our pride and j-joy is gone. Sure he was a quite boy, but that i-is no reason for this to occur. We can only pray and have faith in God. He will bring back our boy.” Charlie Hunter’s aunt and Roger Marin’s parents cried all of yesterday, and only agreed to express their feelings, if promised that the boys in fact survived and are waiting to be rescued. Charlie’s aunt said, “If he survived the impact of the crash, then I truly hope that his intellect will keep him alive, and that his asthma will not interfere.” While Roger Marin’s parents both said, “We trust God, and know that He will do the right thing. We will see our boy soon.” Sam Hastings’s and Eric Hastings’s parents had a dream, and in it, the boys survived the crash, and were taking orders from another boy.
“What this dream suggests is uncertain,” said Mrs. Hastings, “but one thing we believe for certain is that it is a signal from God that our sons are a-a-alive.” Ronald Pierce has already taken action by creating a rescue operation to save his son Ralph with a crew of three. He proposed to gather a squad of troops, and have them accompany him, but his idea was rejected by his superior officer, Officer Cain, even after he asked him to picture himself in a situation like his. Almost directly after his rejection, Navy Commander Ronald Pierce hijacked a submarine with two recruits, who agreed to assist him, and set out, in the midst of war, to save his son. Ronald’s act is the first of many to come as furious parents, relatives and friends demand the navy to search for their children and friends who are too young to endure such am atrocity. Yet in the midst of this chaos, one person truly believes that these children are safe. “Children are not helpless, nor are they savages, they are just as capable of protecting themselves in the unknown, as they are here in England,” says Noah
Starr.