Part 1
Life After Death Experiencer
Lou Famoso August 1964
"A Journey from Faith to Knowing!"
I was to be discharged from the Navy in October of `64`. After two tours "In Country" it was great getting back to "The World". I had cash in my pockets, friends on the Beach, places to go and women to meet. California, what a place to wait out the time to discharge. I wanted a car to drive across the states on my way back home and being a Ford owner all of my short life, I decided to get the brand new, never before shown model of the up and coming 64 Mustang.
They normally come out in the Sept-Oct. months, but for some unforeseen reason, this year they came out early and were sold as 63&1/2 because it came out in May. I saw it ,I loved it, I bought it! It was a 289HPCI Fastback, competition Yellow 5spd. Wood trim interior, leather seats with galloping mustangs across the bucket seats and a full floor console. What a beauty and Really Fassssst. We [the "Stang" and I] were the hit of N.A.S.LeMoore.
There was a huge "going away party" for a friend of mine, off base, and I was running late. Several of the girls called the base to see what was keeping me and I told them I'd be headed out shortly. I jumped in the "Stang" and bolted out the gates headed to town on a clear, warm California night. The road was a two lane Highway almost "straight arrow" most of the way into town and I started to pour it on to make up time. There was no one on the road, no lights coming or going and I was doing 100+mph,just humming along. Had the Radio blasting, looking in my rear view mirror at the "Cutsie" stuffed Tiger resting in the back window, no cops, no worries and nothing but a good night on my mind. The road was flying by, the white dashes were almost a solid line and the world was mine. I was young, popular, educated and soon to be discharged like my friend tonight. What a great feeling.
I looked at the road ahead and for no reason at all I saw the front end of my car nose down and there were thousands of sparks flying past the fenders, they were beautiful sparkles of light flowing past the windshield with particles of blue, reds, and greens. It was a magnificent sight against the darkening skyline. At first I thought I had blown the engine but all the smoke and flames seemed to be coming up from the sides, where the wheels should have been and the increasing torrent of shimmering streams of rhinestone, crossing both fenders, appeared as a welder frantically sharpening the edge of a fine sword. Through all the smoke and sparks bellowing in front of me, some coming through the windows, I looked further down the road I was now tearing up at a frantic pace, and saw, in the far distance, a set of headlights coming in my direction. Just a pin prick of light mind you, but getting brighter and stronger as I careened toward them and them toward me. I thought to myself, "Wow, are these people gonna really see something strange when I finally come to a stop. I must look like a Roman Candle right about now to them".
Just then the front-end dug into the asphalt like a sharpened spade through hard, dried and crusted earth in the desert landscape, and in what was less then a second, the "Stang" flipped a head-over-heals, becoming completely airborne, and I felt myself coming out of the seat and hanging in mid-air, as the entire car rotated around me. In what I thought took minutes, I found myself upside down in the interior of the car, with my head where my feet used to be and my right shoulder was pinned against the center console, my head imprinting the chrome stick shift. I thought to myself: WOW, this is gonna hurt when we [the Stang&I] finally touch down, but for now both of us were as weightless as astronauts rocketing through the blackness of deep space: Then we did [land] and it did [hurt]] but now the car went from the head-over-heal flip, to long and furious barrel rolls, end over end, again and again, and with every one I would crash my head and shoulder into the center console and shifter. I could feel the broken glass from all the windows exploding with every landing. So as not to slip into unconsciousness, I managed to count everyone of those flips, thinking the last one I counted would be the Last One I'd have to count, but it took NINE of those babies to finally lose all the momentum necessary to bring us to a screeching halt.
Wow, I thought, what a ride, and am I glad it was finally over. I almost expected a few more bumps and grinds, but after a few seconds I managed to collect my thoughts. I couldn't see anything but blacks and grays and tried to reach my face to focus my glasses but they were no longer on my face. I thought I might have lost them on the first or second somersault I encountered, but what did it matter if it was the first or last, they were gone, and as I reached around to feel for them, I noticed it was not only Extremely cramped where I was stuffed, it was now getting much hotter. The odors and creaking noises caught my attention and I could feel the heat and the smoke was starting to choke me. As would a blind man, I inched my way around in the opposite direction I felt that the heat was coming from, and after crawling over what was left of the front seat, the broken glass, the twisted metal and broken wooden parts strewn beneath my body, I felt what I thought was that cutsie little stuffed Tiger and I figured I had made it to the back window. I'm sure the flames were licking at my feet because the soles of my boots were getting pretty hot, and I knew I should get out of there as fast as Tigger[ the girls named the cutsie little Tiger, Tigger] and I could before the flames toward what was the front of my car would reach the now cracked and spilling gas tank. I had no desire to go out in a Blaze of Glory, and I do mean Blaze. The Glory held an enchanting thought but just fleeting. I managed to crawl out of what was left of my back window and fell to the ground.
Knowing I had just filled the Stang at the base, and I only drove for about 10 miles down that Highway, It was pretty evident that I had to gather myself together and make space between the burning car and myself. I could barely see the flickering flames through the now billowing smoke but it was too close for comfort and I could still feel the heat on my face and hands. I no sooner got to my feet when I heard an explosion and the shock blew me for what I figured was another 20-30 feet through the air. I started to get up again while wiping my face so that I could see where I was in relation to the car and the flames but no matter how hard or how fast I wiped I just couldn't get what I now knew was blood covering my eyes. I decided to reach around for where the blood was gushing from and found a hole in the right side of my head, above the hairline over my ear and decided to plug it up with Tigger since I felt my fingers were too small to stop the bleeding and I could kinda wiggle them in the side of my head. Thank GOD for Tigger, I thought, at least now I wouldn't bleed to death. I managed to clear most of the blood away from my eyes and tried focusing on the burning wreck to get my bearings. I had to make my way out of there, I wasn't sure where, but I figure as long as I'm walking I'm in better shape then the "Stang" was cause she wasn't going anywhere.
Just when I figure I've got things assessed pretty well; The what happened, The where was I, and conscience enough to initiated what damage control available to me to stop most all the bleeding, I hear these Angelic Voices way off in the distance, they're calling out my name and seem to be getting louder and louder." Lou", "Lou baby, come over here", 'Come to us"......and I'm thinking.... No Thank you, I've gone through enough tonight and I didn't need any more surprises. Besides, I was way too young to die and coming from a rough&tumble background I was born and raised in, I pretty well knew which direction those beautiful voices were calling me to. Hell NO, I won't go! I started thinking of the gang fights and the bar fights and all the fist fights I'd had from Brooklyn on out to Long Island and all those bars across these United States I'd been in and out of, and now I was getting ready to fight my hardest fight with the baddest dude in the Universe and I knew I wasn't ready. I needed a little more time and training for that Devil round.
I guess the funk I was in was worse then I thought because I felt these hands reaching me and pulling me in a direction I didn't think I wanted to go, but after a few of the shock waves had passed, I realized that those that were pulling me were actually holding me up, and, they were five of the girls from the party I was going to. When they noticed I hadn't shown up yet, they decided to come to the base to hurry me up so that I wouldn't miss out on that going away party, although, I almost had a more dynamic going away party just a few minutes ago, and I was sure mine was more memorable then just falling down drunk and stinking of puke. It was their Headlights I saw headed my way just prior to the crash, and they were hysterical watching this car flipping and careening down the road right before their eyes, bursting into flames. But the real Horror was when they found out it was my car. What a bummer, they went from ladies of the Night to Angels of Mercy in just a few eye opening, ear splitting, jaw dropping, breath holding minutes. All I remember them saying was "you better not die on us", and I wanted to do them that little favor so I flipped them a "thumbs up" sign. It was about all the strength I could muster by then.
They had a suped up 4dr Fairlane that they had skidded in a hasty "Huey" and had crossed the Median to reach me and the Stangs location when they saw it finally come to a rest. Now they were trying to whisk me into the backseat of it, and rush me back to the base hospital so I could keep my promise. Three of the girls got into the back seat and the remaining two girls laid me across their laps. Then the two jumped into the front seat and gunned that Ford toward the base as fast as they dared and believe me, they Dared. As I lay across their laps I heard one of them say through her tears," Look, Lou saved Tigger" and when she reached for the stuffed animal she was horrified to see the blood start gushing from my head again and immediately replaced Tigger to it's lifesaving duties. Another one noticed my hand bleeding from all the glass and tore up her skirt to make a bandage. I was thinking how great these girls were for not worrying about the mess I was making on them and their car. I suddenly found myself, sort of sitting up right, looking out the Back window of the speeding car, amazed at watching the burning and smoking blob that once was my "Stang" as it faded in the distance.
I felt a little cramped with my head presses against the roof of the Fairlane and then I looked down to see the three girls crying and shouting hysterically to the driver to hurry up, when it hit me: WOW. that's me on their laps and there's nobody home! I'm looking at what was left of my poor, crumpled Mustang from out the window, and the other me is just laying there without a care. I tried to tell the girls I was alright and they could stop the crying and slow down a bit. I reached for the driver to get her attention and she turned her head slightly toward me but she seemed to be talking to the girl holding my other head and not to me because she was saying that she was going as fast as this 8 banger would go and I looked at the 110 on the speedometer and thought well hell, I could go through another crash again, that last one was now a piece of cake but I don't know about that other me laying on the girls laps, he looks in pretty bad shape even to me. I felt no pain, no fear and I was with 5 girls speeding down the Highway, Me and Me, What a night so far!
Life After Death Experiencer
Lou Famoso August 1964
"A Journey from Faith to Knowing!"
I was to be discharged from the Navy in October of `64`. After two tours "In Country" it was great getting back to "The World". I had cash in my pockets, friends on the Beach, places to go and women to meet. California, what a place to wait out the time to discharge. I wanted a car to drive across the states on my way back home and being a Ford owner all of my short life, I decided to get the brand new, never before shown model of the up and coming 64 Mustang.
They normally come out in the Sept-Oct. months, but for some unforeseen reason, this year they came out early and were sold as 63&1/2 because it came out in May. I saw it ,I loved it, I bought it! It was a 289HPCI Fastback, competition Yellow 5spd. Wood trim interior, leather seats with galloping mustangs across the bucket seats and a full floor console. What a beauty and Really Fassssst. We [the "Stang" and I] were the hit of N.A.S.LeMoore.
There was a huge "going away party" for a friend of mine, off base, and I was running late. Several of the girls called the base to see what was keeping me and I told them I'd be headed out shortly. I jumped in the "Stang" and bolted out the gates headed to town on a clear, warm California night. The road was a two lane Highway almost "straight arrow" most of the way into town and I started to pour it on to make up time. There was no one on the road, no lights coming or going and I was doing 100+mph,just humming along. Had the Radio blasting, looking in my rear view mirror at the "Cutsie" stuffed Tiger resting in the back window, no cops, no worries and nothing but a good night on my mind. The road was flying by, the white dashes were almost a solid line and the world was mine. I was young, popular, educated and soon to be discharged like my friend tonight. What a great feeling.
I looked at the road ahead and for no reason at all I saw the front end of my car nose down and there were thousands of sparks flying past the fenders, they were beautiful sparkles of light flowing past the windshield with particles of blue, reds, and greens. It was a magnificent sight against the darkening skyline. At first I thought I had blown the engine but all the smoke and flames seemed to be coming up from the sides, where the wheels should have been and the increasing torrent of shimmering streams of rhinestone, crossing both fenders, appeared as a welder frantically sharpening the edge of a fine sword. Through all the smoke and sparks bellowing in front of me, some coming through the windows, I looked further down the road I was now tearing up at a frantic pace, and saw, in the far distance, a set of headlights coming in my direction. Just a pin prick of light mind you, but getting brighter and stronger as I careened toward them and them toward me. I thought to myself, "Wow, are these people gonna really see something strange when I finally come to a stop. I must look like a Roman Candle right about now to them".
Just then the front-end dug into the asphalt like a sharpened spade through hard, dried and crusted earth in the desert landscape, and in what was less then a second, the "Stang" flipped a head-over-heals, becoming completely airborne, and I felt myself coming out of the seat and hanging in mid-air, as the entire car rotated around me. In what I thought took minutes, I found myself upside down in the interior of the car, with my head where my feet used to be and my right shoulder was pinned against the center console, my head imprinting the chrome stick shift. I thought to myself: WOW, this is gonna hurt when we [the Stang&I] finally touch down, but for now both of us were as weightless as astronauts rocketing through the blackness of deep space: Then we did [land] and it did [hurt]] but now the car went from the head-over-heal flip, to long and furious barrel rolls, end over end, again and again, and with every one I would crash my head and shoulder into the center console and shifter. I could feel the broken glass from all the windows exploding with every landing. So as not to slip into unconsciousness, I managed to count everyone of those flips, thinking the last one I counted would be the Last One I'd have to count, but it took NINE of those babies to finally lose all the momentum necessary to bring us to a screeching halt.
Wow, I thought, what a ride, and am I glad it was finally over. I almost expected a few more bumps and grinds, but after a few seconds I managed to collect my thoughts. I couldn't see anything but blacks and grays and tried to reach my face to focus my glasses but they were no longer on my face. I thought I might have lost them on the first or second somersault I encountered, but what did it matter if it was the first or last, they were gone, and as I reached around to feel for them, I noticed it was not only Extremely cramped where I was stuffed, it was now getting much hotter. The odors and creaking noises caught my attention and I could feel the heat and the smoke was starting to choke me. As would a blind man, I inched my way around in the opposite direction I felt that the heat was coming from, and after crawling over what was left of the front seat, the broken glass, the twisted metal and broken wooden parts strewn beneath my body, I felt what I thought was that cutsie little stuffed Tiger and I figured I had made it to the back window. I'm sure the flames were licking at my feet because the soles of my boots were getting pretty hot, and I knew I should get out of there as fast as Tigger[ the girls named the cutsie little Tiger, Tigger] and I could before the flames toward what was the front of my car would reach the now cracked and spilling gas tank. I had no desire to go out in a Blaze of Glory, and I do mean Blaze. The Glory held an enchanting thought but just fleeting. I managed to crawl out of what was left of my back window and fell to the ground.
Knowing I had just filled the Stang at the base, and I only drove for about 10 miles down that Highway, It was pretty evident that I had to gather myself together and make space between the burning car and myself. I could barely see the flickering flames through the now billowing smoke but it was too close for comfort and I could still feel the heat on my face and hands. I no sooner got to my feet when I heard an explosion and the shock blew me for what I figured was another 20-30 feet through the air. I started to get up again while wiping my face so that I could see where I was in relation to the car and the flames but no matter how hard or how fast I wiped I just couldn't get what I now knew was blood covering my eyes. I decided to reach around for where the blood was gushing from and found a hole in the right side of my head, above the hairline over my ear and decided to plug it up with Tigger since I felt my fingers were too small to stop the bleeding and I could kinda wiggle them in the side of my head. Thank GOD for Tigger, I thought, at least now I wouldn't bleed to death. I managed to clear most of the blood away from my eyes and tried focusing on the burning wreck to get my bearings. I had to make my way out of there, I wasn't sure where, but I figure as long as I'm walking I'm in better shape then the "Stang" was cause she wasn't going anywhere.
Just when I figure I've got things assessed pretty well; The what happened, The where was I, and conscience enough to initiated what damage control available to me to stop most all the bleeding, I hear these Angelic Voices way off in the distance, they're calling out my name and seem to be getting louder and louder." Lou", "Lou baby, come over here", 'Come to us"......and I'm thinking.... No Thank you, I've gone through enough tonight and I didn't need any more surprises. Besides, I was way too young to die and coming from a rough&tumble background I was born and raised in, I pretty well knew which direction those beautiful voices were calling me to. Hell NO, I won't go! I started thinking of the gang fights and the bar fights and all the fist fights I'd had from Brooklyn on out to Long Island and all those bars across these United States I'd been in and out of, and now I was getting ready to fight my hardest fight with the baddest dude in the Universe and I knew I wasn't ready. I needed a little more time and training for that Devil round.
I guess the funk I was in was worse then I thought because I felt these hands reaching me and pulling me in a direction I didn't think I wanted to go, but after a few of the shock waves had passed, I realized that those that were pulling me were actually holding me up, and, they were five of the girls from the party I was going to. When they noticed I hadn't shown up yet, they decided to come to the base to hurry me up so that I wouldn't miss out on that going away party, although, I almost had a more dynamic going away party just a few minutes ago, and I was sure mine was more memorable then just falling down drunk and stinking of puke. It was their Headlights I saw headed my way just prior to the crash, and they were hysterical watching this car flipping and careening down the road right before their eyes, bursting into flames. But the real Horror was when they found out it was my car. What a bummer, they went from ladies of the Night to Angels of Mercy in just a few eye opening, ear splitting, jaw dropping, breath holding minutes. All I remember them saying was "you better not die on us", and I wanted to do them that little favor so I flipped them a "thumbs up" sign. It was about all the strength I could muster by then.
They had a suped up 4dr Fairlane that they had skidded in a hasty "Huey" and had crossed the Median to reach me and the Stangs location when they saw it finally come to a rest. Now they were trying to whisk me into the backseat of it, and rush me back to the base hospital so I could keep my promise. Three of the girls got into the back seat and the remaining two girls laid me across their laps. Then the two jumped into the front seat and gunned that Ford toward the base as fast as they dared and believe me, they Dared. As I lay across their laps I heard one of them say through her tears," Look, Lou saved Tigger" and when she reached for the stuffed animal she was horrified to see the blood start gushing from my head again and immediately replaced Tigger to it's lifesaving duties. Another one noticed my hand bleeding from all the glass and tore up her skirt to make a bandage. I was thinking how great these girls were for not worrying about the mess I was making on them and their car. I suddenly found myself, sort of sitting up right, looking out the Back window of the speeding car, amazed at watching the burning and smoking blob that once was my "Stang" as it faded in the distance.
I felt a little cramped with my head presses against the roof of the Fairlane and then I looked down to see the three girls crying and shouting hysterically to the driver to hurry up, when it hit me: WOW. that's me on their laps and there's nobody home! I'm looking at what was left of my poor, crumpled Mustang from out the window, and the other me is just laying there without a care. I tried to tell the girls I was alright and they could stop the crying and slow down a bit. I reached for the driver to get her attention and she turned her head slightly toward me but she seemed to be talking to the girl holding my other head and not to me because she was saying that she was going as fast as this 8 banger would go and I looked at the 110 on the speedometer and thought well hell, I could go through another crash again, that last one was now a piece of cake but I don't know about that other me laying on the girls laps, he looks in pretty bad shape even to me. I felt no pain, no fear and I was with 5 girls speeding down the Highway, Me and Me, What a night so far!