This is what was left of Kenny Frost's P-38. Sixty years later we are squatting in the burn area where they found his body. The Earth is still scorched from the fire (you can tell by the lack of grasses growing in that area.
The Dry lake bed is seen in the distance. It is hard to see but there are flags posted denoting the various pieces and fragments that still exist from the airplane. We checked the serieal number on some parts to identify and confirm the wreck site.
This location had many unused tracers, and 50. cal bullets laying on the desert sand, but I discovered partially buried, right at my feet, one item that confirmed the last resting place of Kenny Frost. There it was, Kenny's "D" ring; parachute buckle. It had laid there in that same location for all these years, undisturbed.
My guess is when they unstrapped his body from what was left of the cockpit the buckle stayed there with his smoldering parachute. I called out to the Base historian who entered the coordinates into his GPS and confirmed that from now on this site was protected landscape. It is a State Historic Site!.
I wanted so much to take that belt buckle, but left it there to honor future generations who may, (but it's doubtful), visit the site.
This ends my saga of Kenny Frost and his plane, the "Batlin' Bet".
But I would still look for occasions to show off my flight jacket and tell the story.
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