Pearl Harbor… the real beginning
Standing on the porch at 7:30 waiting for his friend Danny Walker, little 9- year-old Rafe McCawley watches his father dust the crops in his red crop duster.
It is a warm summer morning in Tennessee, 1923. The sun has just come up over the hills and Rafe shields his brown eyes from the sun and watches Danny bound across the freshly dusted fields towards him.
Danny stops in front or Rafe, out of breath and smiling. "Sorry I'm late, I had to help my dad."
Rafe smiles at his 8 ½ year old friend, still smiling and catching his breath. The bright morning sun reflects off Danny' s dark brown hair that always hangs down in his deep, brown eyes. Rafe puts on his dusty, green aviator cap, covering his light brown hair, then says to Danny, "Alright, ya ready?"
"Ready!" Danny answers eagerly.
Rafe pats his friend on the shoulder and they take off towards the barn. Inside the doorless barn sits an old, out of use crop duster that the two boys spend endless hours playing in.
They both hop in the old, beat up thing, Rafe in the front with the controls, and Danny in the back manning the tail guns that they have added. Rafe makes plane noises and leans from side to side as if really flying. Danny mans the tail guns, making machine gun sounds and shoots down planes that only they can see.
"German bandits! 2:00!" warns Rafe.
"Increase throttle! Power dive!" Danny instructs. Jus then he glances at the HUD and leans forward in front of Rafe to make an adjustment. "Spell it right, Rafe. Rudder is spelled with two D's." He adds the second D and then sits back down.
"Thanks old man."
"Yah sure."
Rafe takes the controls again and seconds later warns Danny, "Whoa, Bandits!" Danny takes charge and shoots them down. "Nice shootin' Danny."
"Nice shooting Rafe." Who was in charge of the nose guns.
"Land of the free." Says Rafe.
"Home of the brave." Answers Danny.
A while later Rafe's dad finishes his crop dusting and lands his plane. "Nice flying Dad!" Calls Rafe as his dad climbs down from the plane and waves to the boys before getting into his truck and heading off somewhere.
Rafe looks at Danny and smiles, "Come on. I'll teach ya how to fly."
"I get the front!" Danny calls out as they race towards the red crop duster.
"No you take the back."
"I'm bigger and 'I' should be in front." Danny points out, but climbs in the back anyway.
"I'm older and I'm teacnin' so no."
"Wow, it's like we're really flying!" Danny gasps, full of awe.
"Yeah I do it lots of times." Rafe pretends and then adds, "Come on, you man the guns and I'll give it some throttle. Gotta get those dirty German bandits."
Danny shoots away while Rafe plays with buttons and switches. Just then Rafe accidentally turns the plane on and it quickly starts up and begins to move forward. Rafe sits up, quite alarmed, and looks ahead at the spinning propellers. "Oh gosh, oh no! Hang on!" He yells to Danny as they move forward.
Danny pops up in the back seat with a very worried expression on his face. "Rafe!"
The plane quickly begins to move faster and bounce over bumps.
"Don't worry, I've seen my dad do this lots of times!" Rafe calls out trying to assure Danny and himself. The plane is moving even faster and is now gliding over the bumps before contacting the ground.
Danny bounces around in the back seat, trying to steady himself. "Make it stop Rafe!"
"Wait for me Rafe!" an all too familiar voice calls out from behind the plane. Danny and Rafe can't mistake the sound of their annoying, and quite different neighbor, Perv, whose voice always sounds like it has a bubble stuck in it.
Danny quickly turns around to see Perv chasing them in his bow-legged manner. His upside down triangle head with beady eyes looking through his straight-rimmed glasses at him. Perv's black, poofy, hair and his black mustache flapping in the wind in unison. Danny moans to himself an unhappy, "Aww man." as Perv is in nothing but his underwear and a parachute pack strapped to his back.
"Make it go Rafe!" Danny yells to Rafe, hoping Perv won't catch them.
"I am! I can't stop!" Answers Rafe.
Danny sees Perv gaining on them. "Hurry Rafe! He's gonna catch us!"
"Wait, I'm almost there!" Calls Perv, only a few feet away from the plane.
"Rafe!" Screams Danny over the loud engine.
"We're goin', we're goin'!" Rafe yells back as they take off then adds, "Oh my gosh we're flying!"
Perv takes one mighty leap and grabs hold of the back wheel. Perv now dangles though the air. "Danny! Can you give me a hand? It's kind of scary down here!" He calls to Danny.
Danny leans over the side to see Perv smiling and waving at him, and then quickly sinks down in his seat, knowing that they have company. "Rafe! We got company! Dirty Perv bandit on our tail!"
"What!?"
"Yeah he's hanging onto the wheel!"
"I thought we lost him back there!"
"Me too!"
"Me three!" Perv answers, who has climbed up right behind Danny.
The two boys both turn around to see Perv standing on the tail fins, waving at them.
"Hang on Danny!" Rafe turns the plane to a slanted right, making Perv stumble and grab hold of the tail. Then slides down to the wheel.
Now back at square one, Perv again dangles from the wheel. Suddenly, his parachute opens up and he holds on tightly to the wheel. This jolts the plane and alarms the boys.
"What was that?" Rafe asks.
"I don't know!" Answers Danny and turns around to see a parachute flapping around behind them. "It's Perv and his parachute!"
"We didn't get rid of him yet?" Rafe asks.
"Nope."
Just then they pass a water tower and the parachute gets caught on it. All the strings break and the parachute hangs on the water tower.
"I think we did it Rafe!"
Seconds later, Perv appears on the tail fins again, this time sitting down. He sneaks up behind Danny and tries to climb in but Rafe catches him. "Whoa, Perv! 6:00!"
Danny looks back at Perv who is smiling at him. "Do something Rafe!"
Rafe pulls up hard on the controls, causing Perv to slide back in a sitting position with a loud "SQUEEEEEAK!"and hit the tail, but Perv lunges forward and jumps in the seat next to Danny.
"Buckle up Danny! Perv's goin' bye bye!"
Danny buckle's up as Rafe does a barrel roll, causing Perv to fall out. He lit in a haystack below head first, feet kicking franticly in the air.
"I got him!"
"Nice flyin' Rafe."
Rafe smiles and says, "Land of the free."
"Home of the brave." Danny adds.
Rafe looks back at a Danny and says, "Let's bring it in for a landing."
"Alright, I'm with ya." Danny tightens his seat belt and hangs on for dear life.
As the plane nears the ground, they close their eyes tightly and scream. The plane hits the ground and then bounces to a hard stop, tearing up the landing strip a bit. Rafe turns off the engine and they sit there out of breath and amazed that they flew. They hop out of the airplane that is still in one piece and amazingly unharmed, but now at the other end of the property from where Rafe's dad had left it.
"Come on!" Rafe yells, excited from flying, "My dad's gonna kill me!"
"We flew! We're pilots!" Answers Danny as they run toward the barn.
They stop halfway and admire the plane. "We flew." Danny whispers to himself.
"Have a nice flight?" an unhappy voice says to them.
Danny and Rafe turn around to see Rafe's father standing with his arms crossed. Perv was next to him. They looked at each other and hung their heads, knowing that Perv had squealed on them.
Rafe's father sends Perv home and after a long lecture on being careful, Rafe and Danny head back to the barn to continue shooting down planes that only they can see.
Standing on the porch at 7:30 waiting for his friend Danny Walker, little 9- year-old Rafe McCawley watches his father dust the crops in his red crop duster.
It is a warm summer morning in Tennessee, 1923. The sun has just come up over the hills and Rafe shields his brown eyes from the sun and watches Danny bound across the freshly dusted fields towards him.
Danny stops in front or Rafe, out of breath and smiling. "Sorry I'm late, I had to help my dad."
Rafe smiles at his 8 ½ year old friend, still smiling and catching his breath. The bright morning sun reflects off Danny' s dark brown hair that always hangs down in his deep, brown eyes. Rafe puts on his dusty, green aviator cap, covering his light brown hair, then says to Danny, "Alright, ya ready?"
"Ready!" Danny answers eagerly.
Rafe pats his friend on the shoulder and they take off towards the barn. Inside the doorless barn sits an old, out of use crop duster that the two boys spend endless hours playing in.
They both hop in the old, beat up thing, Rafe in the front with the controls, and Danny in the back manning the tail guns that they have added. Rafe makes plane noises and leans from side to side as if really flying. Danny mans the tail guns, making machine gun sounds and shoots down planes that only they can see.
"German bandits! 2:00!" warns Rafe.
"Increase throttle! Power dive!" Danny instructs. Jus then he glances at the HUD and leans forward in front of Rafe to make an adjustment. "Spell it right, Rafe. Rudder is spelled with two D's." He adds the second D and then sits back down.
"Thanks old man."
"Yah sure."
Rafe takes the controls again and seconds later warns Danny, "Whoa, Bandits!" Danny takes charge and shoots them down. "Nice shootin' Danny."
"Nice shooting Rafe." Who was in charge of the nose guns.
"Land of the free." Says Rafe.
"Home of the brave." Answers Danny.
A while later Rafe's dad finishes his crop dusting and lands his plane. "Nice flying Dad!" Calls Rafe as his dad climbs down from the plane and waves to the boys before getting into his truck and heading off somewhere.
Rafe looks at Danny and smiles, "Come on. I'll teach ya how to fly."
"I get the front!" Danny calls out as they race towards the red crop duster.
"No you take the back."
"I'm bigger and 'I' should be in front." Danny points out, but climbs in the back anyway.
"I'm older and I'm teacnin' so no."
"Wow, it's like we're really flying!" Danny gasps, full of awe.
"Yeah I do it lots of times." Rafe pretends and then adds, "Come on, you man the guns and I'll give it some throttle. Gotta get those dirty German bandits."
Danny shoots away while Rafe plays with buttons and switches. Just then Rafe accidentally turns the plane on and it quickly starts up and begins to move forward. Rafe sits up, quite alarmed, and looks ahead at the spinning propellers. "Oh gosh, oh no! Hang on!" He yells to Danny as they move forward.
Danny pops up in the back seat with a very worried expression on his face. "Rafe!"
The plane quickly begins to move faster and bounce over bumps.
"Don't worry, I've seen my dad do this lots of times!" Rafe calls out trying to assure Danny and himself. The plane is moving even faster and is now gliding over the bumps before contacting the ground.
Danny bounces around in the back seat, trying to steady himself. "Make it stop Rafe!"
"Wait for me Rafe!" an all too familiar voice calls out from behind the plane. Danny and Rafe can't mistake the sound of their annoying, and quite different neighbor, Perv, whose voice always sounds like it has a bubble stuck in it.
Danny quickly turns around to see Perv chasing them in his bow-legged manner. His upside down triangle head with beady eyes looking through his straight-rimmed glasses at him. Perv's black, poofy, hair and his black mustache flapping in the wind in unison. Danny moans to himself an unhappy, "Aww man." as Perv is in nothing but his underwear and a parachute pack strapped to his back.
"Make it go Rafe!" Danny yells to Rafe, hoping Perv won't catch them.
"I am! I can't stop!" Answers Rafe.
Danny sees Perv gaining on them. "Hurry Rafe! He's gonna catch us!"
"Wait, I'm almost there!" Calls Perv, only a few feet away from the plane.
"Rafe!" Screams Danny over the loud engine.
"We're goin', we're goin'!" Rafe yells back as they take off then adds, "Oh my gosh we're flying!"
Perv takes one mighty leap and grabs hold of the back wheel. Perv now dangles though the air. "Danny! Can you give me a hand? It's kind of scary down here!" He calls to Danny.
Danny leans over the side to see Perv smiling and waving at him, and then quickly sinks down in his seat, knowing that they have company. "Rafe! We got company! Dirty Perv bandit on our tail!"
"What!?"
"Yeah he's hanging onto the wheel!"
"I thought we lost him back there!"
"Me too!"
"Me three!" Perv answers, who has climbed up right behind Danny.
The two boys both turn around to see Perv standing on the tail fins, waving at them.
"Hang on Danny!" Rafe turns the plane to a slanted right, making Perv stumble and grab hold of the tail. Then slides down to the wheel.
Now back at square one, Perv again dangles from the wheel. Suddenly, his parachute opens up and he holds on tightly to the wheel. This jolts the plane and alarms the boys.
"What was that?" Rafe asks.
"I don't know!" Answers Danny and turns around to see a parachute flapping around behind them. "It's Perv and his parachute!"
"We didn't get rid of him yet?" Rafe asks.
"Nope."
Just then they pass a water tower and the parachute gets caught on it. All the strings break and the parachute hangs on the water tower.
"I think we did it Rafe!"
Seconds later, Perv appears on the tail fins again, this time sitting down. He sneaks up behind Danny and tries to climb in but Rafe catches him. "Whoa, Perv! 6:00!"
Danny looks back at Perv who is smiling at him. "Do something Rafe!"
Rafe pulls up hard on the controls, causing Perv to slide back in a sitting position with a loud "SQUEEEEEAK!"and hit the tail, but Perv lunges forward and jumps in the seat next to Danny.
"Buckle up Danny! Perv's goin' bye bye!"
Danny buckle's up as Rafe does a barrel roll, causing Perv to fall out. He lit in a haystack below head first, feet kicking franticly in the air.
"I got him!"
"Nice flyin' Rafe."
Rafe smiles and says, "Land of the free."
"Home of the brave." Danny adds.
Rafe looks back at a Danny and says, "Let's bring it in for a landing."
"Alright, I'm with ya." Danny tightens his seat belt and hangs on for dear life.
As the plane nears the ground, they close their eyes tightly and scream. The plane hits the ground and then bounces to a hard stop, tearing up the landing strip a bit. Rafe turns off the engine and they sit there out of breath and amazed that they flew. They hop out of the airplane that is still in one piece and amazingly unharmed, but now at the other end of the property from where Rafe's dad had left it.
"Come on!" Rafe yells, excited from flying, "My dad's gonna kill me!"
"We flew! We're pilots!" Answers Danny as they run toward the barn.
They stop halfway and admire the plane. "We flew." Danny whispers to himself.
"Have a nice flight?" an unhappy voice says to them.
Danny and Rafe turn around to see Rafe's father standing with his arms crossed. Perv was next to him. They looked at each other and hung their heads, knowing that Perv had squealed on them.
Rafe's father sends Perv home and after a long lecture on being careful, Rafe and Danny head back to the barn to continue shooting down planes that only they can see.