shortly after dawn on saturday, september 2nd, 1944, lieutenant junior gray george herbert us walkerjoinedwent to attack a radio tower. t y approached the target, the air was heavy with flack. the plane was hit. smoke filled the cockpit. flames raced across the wings. my god, lieutenant bush thought, this thing is going to go down. yet he kept the plane in 35-degree dive, dropped s bombs, and then roared off out to sea.g tells crew mates to hit the silk. following protocol, lieutenant bush turned the plane so they could bail out. only then did bush parachute from the cockpit. the wind propelled h backward, and he gashed his head on the tail of the plane as he flew thugh the sky. he plunged deep into the ocean, bond to e surface and flopped on to a tiny raft. his head bleeding, his eyes burning, his mouth and throat raw from saltwater, the future 41st president of the united states was alone. sensing that hisen had not made it, he was overcome. he felt the weight of responsibility as nearly physical burden. and he wept. then, at fouminutes shy of noon, a submarine emerged to rescue the down

shortly after dawn on saturday, september 2nd, 1944, lieutenant junior gray george herbert walker bush two crew mates took off from the u.s.s. san jacinto to attack a radio tower. as they approached the target, the air was heavy with flak. the plane was hit, smoke filled the cockpit, flames raced across the wings. my god lieutenant bush thought. this thing's going to go down. yet, he kept the plane in its 35 degree dive, dropped his bombs, and then roared off out to sea telling his crew mates to hit the silk. following protocol, lieutenant bush turned the plane so they could bail out. only then did bush parachute from the cockpit. the wind propelled him backward and he gashed his head on the tale of the plane as he flew through the sky. he plunged deep into the ocean, bobbed to the surface, and flopped onto a tiny raft, his head bleeding, his eyes burning, his mouth and throat raw from salt water. the future 41st president of the united states was alone. sensing that his men had not made it, he was overcome. he felt the weight of responsibility as a nearly physical burden, and he wept.

shortly after dawn on saturday, september 2nd, 1944, lieutenant junior gray george herbert walker bushthey approached the target, the air was heavy with flack. the plane was hit. smoke filled the cockpit. flames raced across the wings. my god, lieutenant bush thought, this thing is going to go down. yet he kept the plane in 35-degree dive, dropped his bombs, and then roared off out to sea. telling his crew mates to hit the silk. following protocol, lieutenant bush turned the plane so they could bail out. only then did bush parachute from the cockpit. the wind propelled him backward, and he gashed his head on the tail of the plane as he flew through the sky. he plunged deep into the ocean, bond to the surface and flopped on to a tiny raft. his head bleeding, his eyes burning, his mouth and throat raw from saltwater, the future 41st president of the united states was alone. sensing that his men had not made it, he was overcome. he felt the weight of responsibility as a nearly physical burden. and he wept. then, at four minutes shy of noon, a submarine emerged to rescue the downed pilot.

shortly after dawn on saturday, september 2nd, 1944, lieutenant junior gray george herbert walker bushheavy and the plane was hit. smoke filled the cockpit. flames raced across the wing. my god, lieutenant bush thought, this thing is going to go down. yet, he kept the plane in its 35-degree dive, dropped his bombs and then roared off out to sea. telling his crewmates to hit the silk. following protocol, lieutenant bush turned the plane so they could bail out. only then, did bush parachute from the cockpit. the wind propelled him backward and he gashed his head on the tail of the plane as he flew through the sky. he plunged deep into the ocean, bobbed to the surface and flopped on to a tiny raft. his head bleeding. his eyes burning. his mouth and throat raw from saltwater. the future 41st president of the united states, was alone. sensing his men had not made it. he was overcome. he felt the weight of responsibility as a nearly physical burden. and he wept. then, at four minutes shy of noon, a submarine emerged to rescue the downed pilot. george herbert walker bush was safe. the story,

gray filed this report >> reporter:among the thousand pausing to say good-bye tonight -- president trump and first lady memelania as george h.w. bush returns to washington for one last time. >> in times george herbert walker bush demonstrated the finest qualities of our nation and human kind >> dignitaries, family and friends honoring his lifetime of service as a fighter pilot shot down during world war ii, congressman, ambassador, director of the cia, vice president and then president >> thank you for sharing this special ma with our nation and the world. >> in the final few years illness confined president bush to a wheelchair. >> i used to worry about death, i don't anymore. i have a feeling there's an afterlife, i have a feeling it's a good one >> reporter: well-deserved for a patriot, president and a corner d cornerstone of an era and civility that many feel is gone now with his psiasng jay gray, nbc news, washington (client's voice) remember that degree you got in taxation? (danny) of course you don't because you didn't! your job isn't understanding tax code... it's understanding why that... will get him a body like that... move! ...that. your job isn't doing hard work... here. ...it's making

gray in it, i started a long time ago. i started covering the white house in 1986 with ronald reagan during his second term and i covered then reagan, george herbert walker bish, bill clinton, george w. bush, barack obama and today donald trump and i'm sure we will get to this, but today is more of an adventure than ever. >> ron. >> i'm ron nessen and i covered the white house for nbc news and then i changed sides and became president ford's press secretary. >> richard. >> i'm richard benedetto, i covered the white house starting with ronald reagan through george h.w. bush, bill clinton and george w. bush. >> susan. >> so i'm susan page, my first campaign was in 1980, i covered president carter's final campaign trip and then i covered the white house and national politics since then. >> well, i have served president clinton as martha said, for two years at the state department in '93 and '94 and then went to the white house in 1995 and spent four years, which is comparatively a long time for a press secretary to be there, but i had an extra bonus year my last year because of a certain intern at the white house. >> i remember those days well, as mu