Jonathan Goldstein

Oh, hello.

My name is Jonathan Gouldstein.

I've so far been unable to contact Quincy, so I reach out to someone else who might have the answer.

I was looking for a Thomas E. Jones.

Oh, I'm very sorry.

Yes, I'm his widow.

Thomas's widow, Nancy, is 89 years old.

She says she doesn't know why Quincy didn't just go to Thomas himself.

But we get to talking, and she tells me the story of how she first met Thomas.

It was through his work as a messenger.

It turns out Nancy's father was Thomas' boss at the telegram office.

She tells me how in 1945, there was a dedicated telegraph machine standing by for the sole purpose of awaiting the Japanese surrender.

Since a bike was too slow for such an important message, a co-worker agreed to drive Thomas in his car.

Unfortunately, he set out in the wrong direction.

And thus, the most famous U-turn in American history.

Or at least the only one I've ever heard of.

And I've read my Howard Zinn.

The U-turn got Thomas and his driver pulled over by a cop.

Wow, what a story.

Yeah.