A Pacific War Allusion
“After several minutes of the back and forth, Uncle Frank decided to disengage. He slammed down the receiver and yelled, ‘Scratch one Flat-top!’ which is what he had taken to calling Aunt Hilde (I always focused on her little mustache, but Uncle Frank must’ve concentrated on her head).”
This vignette alludes to the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval battle in history where the opposing ships never saw each other. "Scratch one Flat-top!" was the radio call from a navy dive-bomber pilot based to the carrier that a Japanese light carrier had been sunk, a first for the U.S. at the time.