I think there should be a joint civilian/military decoration for pilots who intentionally ditch their aircraft in a less than ideal attitude in order to miss civilians on the ground.
This might be worth considering in cases like Jimmy Rossi, F86 driver who recently lost his life when he choose to stear his to the ground rather than eject. Rossi was high enough to eject, so he made a concious choice to risk death rather than let his aircraft kill anyone on the ground.
Not to speak ill of the dead, but Tobul might not have been doing anything particularly heroic. He choose a swampy field because his chances of survival were alot better in a field than hitting houses obviously, and for him, he was probably too low to bail out.
It's possible, not knowing the circumstances, that his engine quit high enough to bail out, but having and loving an aircraft like an F4U, just about any pilot would rather try and dead stick back to the airport rather than bail out.
Either way, a good man is gone too soon, and that is a tragedy to those who cared about him.
dago
