Glen is the son of James Cordis 'Cordie' and Ilene Dawson (Waddell) Bastin, and married Edith Argent Presley. This photo, taken while in the US Navy, dates from 1946 or 1947. Glen was stationed in the Hawaiian Islands for most of 1946, and then served aboard an L.S.T. off the coast of China in the South Pacific before returning to the states.
On November 2, 1947, while awaiting discharge from the
Navy, Glen witnessed the first and only flight of the largest airplane ever built and flown, the 'Spruce Goose', piloted by none other than Howard Hughes. With a wingspan wider than a football field is long (about 320 feet), it still dwarfs
anything flying today. In Glen's words, "On November 2, 1947, I had just returned from China on a LST 1078. Awaiting for discharge from the U. S. Navy, I saw the Spruce Goose being brought on the Bay. I could hear the engines reving up as it taxied down the Bay; it was gaining speed; and it lifted slowly off the Bay. As I recall, it was about 20 feet off the Bay; and then it went out of sight from where I stood. It was gone out of my sight, and a short time later it reappeared and set down in the Bay with a big splash.
James Glen Bastin
Formerly SK3C USN)
Horse Cave, Kentucky".
(Photo courtesy of Glen and Edith Bastin; thanks, Dad and Mom!)
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