SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 28, 1943
THE BATTALION
PAGE 3
17
i
Squadron Two Farewell Edition
RUDDER
DUST
By A/S W. D. West
Conies that time now that I’ve
often seen come and go but like all
the other fellows of “Terrible
Two,” graduation day from good
oP Texas A. & M. seemed to creep
up from behind and say you’ll be
gone any day now!
To some, our parting, the bits
of reminiscing found on this page,
the thoughts expressed by Two’s
students and yes, maybe a little
sentiment, may seem a trifle on
the slobbery side but we merely
want to put into print the thoughts
of the average G'. I. Aggie during
his stay at the home of 01 Army.
As was only natural, that bleak
ealy morning arrival of Squadron
Two into the folds of College Sta
tion, was rather a dismal occa
sion. Texas A. & M. was strictly
non-coed, and that in itself was a
blow to the morale department.
There were about ten-thousand
other students here . . . yes, life
was going to be unbearable. We
all were used to having snow for
Christmas and yet everybody was
being shipped farther South all
the time .... wonder if I’ll ever
see a white Christmas again? No
band to welcome us with the Air
Corps song which may have sound
ed a little ironical after all these
hours spent drilling in the blister
ing Texas sun .... yeah, we’re
the guys from the walkin’ Air
Corps.
Days later showed a grudging
expression of approval on each of
the newly christened “Beaver’s”
faces. Conditions weren’t so bad
after all. The food was much bet
ter, the men didn’t growl when they
ate and they even played music
while you munched on your Rice
Krispies. Some kind of a “Wing
Dance” was being scheduled to
take place soon and there were a
bunch of U. S. 0. girls coming
from Houston and Bryan to act as
hostesses for the ball.
Days later, smiles could plainly
be seen on many of the original
“down-and-outers” and even now
and then an ecstatic A/S could be
heard whistling.
Volunteers were invited to join
the band, to be on the staff of the
newspaper, to take part in the
Glee Club or to jive a little via
the swing band. But wait! Hadn’t
they called for volunteers at our
former residence and hadn’t ma
ny a hardy soul fallen prey to
fiendish plans laid by plotting non-
comms. Yes, I had offered my ser
vices as an engineer and had ended
up digging ditches around the bar
racks. This was no joke however
and soon the extra-curriculars
thrived and grew with the talent
from the baby outfit.
“Fish Bodskin’s my name-what’s
yours?” That Aggie spirit was at
work again and it was one of the
most timely and unforgettable
parts of that great Aggie tradi
tion. Fish and Frogs alike made
us feel as though their campus
was ours and that we weren’t in
vaders but visitors for a short
while.
Then the day of all days arrived
and those scheduled for the flight
line quickly donned their freshly
washed fatigues and nervously
waited for the bus to Easterwood
Field. After that first day when
most of us stepped gingerly into
that fragile looking monoplane but
bounced proudly out of it after
the first ride, we were finally con
vinced that the Air Corps DID
own some planes after all. Flying
didn’t pass without incident though
.... remember the time when
Carnahan crawled out of his plane
and spilled his chute all over the
North-South runway? And when
the boys always had the hose rea
dy when Staten was ready to
come in? Then there was Green-
helgh whose instructor always ac
cused him of trying to fly to Hea
ven and said he’d have to get there
some other way. Don’t forget Ro
senthal who used 80 feet of the
runway (the concrete is 80 feet
wide) from side to side in those
take-offs. The instructor used to
say that the plane was just shift
ing around to get used to the load.
ACTD NEWS
Jack E. Shaw Editor-in-chief
Alan E. Goldsmith Managing: Editor
Fred J. Rosenthal Associate Editor
Max E. Stump Associate Editor
Joseph E. Platt Sports Editor
DOWN THE RUNWAY
Leaving soon for the great
beyond, it seems only natural
that farewells, salutations and
lingering handshakes are in
order. This may seem like a
preacher reading an obituary
over a dear friend’s body but
actually what I’m trying to say
is that I’ve worked with a swell
bunch of fellows on the staff of
the Air Crew Training Detach
ment news.
Some have already gone on
ahead—Alvarado, Cooter and the
rest of the gang whom we’ll all
meet sometime or other and
who have left enviable records
here at A. & M.
For a pleasant term as edi
tor-in-chief of the Aircrew
News, I would like to thank
personally students Goldsmith,
Martin, Platt, Stump, Rosen
thal, Ismert, and West for their
splendid cooperation.
And to the incoming staff, I
wish the best of luck and hope
that they will strive to make our
detachment paper a continuous
ly bigger and better product.
Working with the officers in
charge has been an irresplace-
able experience and many
4thoughts of gratitude go to
them. To my Commanding Of
ficer, Captain Sam B. Hill, I
wish the best of everything.
Speaking for the others as
well as for myself, “we’ll do the
job up brown-skin—like it ought
to be done!”
A/S Jack E. Shaw.
MEMORIES
By Alan E. Goldsmith
In this, my final column for the
ACTD, I want to say goodbye to
all of you and to tell you how
much I enjoyed working with and
for every one of you. — Alan E.
Goldsmith.
Do you remember: .... that
warm, sticky morning in May
when we pulled into College Sta
tion .... we got off the train and
somebody called us Misters . . . .
we stood at very strict attention
while they called roll and then we
went to our first home, Puryear
Hall .... and that first meal . . .
it was tops with waiters and music
’n everything .... classes began
and we sort of groaned under the
load of books but were determined
to do our best . . . .we did .... re
member the first stand-by inspect
ion .... you hit a very stiff brace
and the student officer looked
down his nose at you and you be
gan to wonder what was wrong . .
. . he pulled the same tricks on
everyone . . . .and then came the
first Detachment meeting ... we
were thrilled when the older
squadrons applauded us . . . the
first review came and then the
second . . . that was when “Baby
Two” wqn the ribbons from the
senior squadrons . . . after that
we were “Terrible Two” . . . the
CLEANING, PRESSING
ALTERATION
Lauterstein’s
PROP WASH
Bonds Away
Squadron II
By A/S Jack E. Shaw
LOUPOT’S
Watch Dog of the
Aggies
Comes that tenth-hour day and
the final check-flight when every
body is a little jittery but puts on
a good front and tries to get a
check pilot that isn’t too unortho
dox. Later seeming to have passed
the test with flying colors, every
one piles into the bus for the last
trip back to the college, batting
the familiar hangar breeze.
“All will have a five-day pass
beginning tonight and extending
to Wednesday night at 2030.”
That was the terse announcement
made by Lt. Troy N. Pickens. The
excotement and wild tumult that
ensued, need not be explained. At
least three glorious days at home
with the family, wives and sweet
hearts. Who could ask for any
thing better? After spending a
sleepless night and a day of plan
ning and packing, the beavers
were finally on their way HOME.
And now back .... a little tired
from a long trip and a little sad
in parting from those we love but
grateful for the opportunity to
see home once again and now rea
dy to face the future training
might bring.
May the men from Squadron
Two who win their wings, look
back and proudly acclaim Texas
A. & M. as the home of their adol
escent Air Corps career and may
those of 01’ Army be proud of
their sons from the Air Forces.
FLIGHT SEVEN—Pictured above is that snappy flight seven of
Squadron Two! We know they don’t look so snappy now because it’s
just after that mile-and-a-half road-run but “it’s always on the
double men!”
Reminiscing over our exper
iences at A. & M. seems to be the
order of the day. One short article
would not be sufficient for what
most of your remember. I will dis
pense wiht any past happenings
because I know that each of you
have enough material to fill a
book and it wouldn’t be a dull one
either.
The latest chatter of the squad
ron concerns our recent five day
furlough and what is awaiting us
in classification.
One could hardly begin to ex
press the happiness and show the
joy on the men’s faces as they re
late the tales of their furlough.
Squadron II raged from New Or
leans to Chicago and found plen
ty of green pastures to roam
wherever they chanced to graze.
We are all back and erady to go
to work with a freer outlook than
before.
As classification is in the of
fing it is naturally getting to be
the predominant topic for discus
sion. I might remind you of a few
words that sdmeone mentioned.
“There’s nothing to worry about.
You either have it or you don’t.
Do your best and you will make
it.”
I think a few words should be
said about our Squadron Command
er. Mr. Anderson has done a
wonderful job whether you have
stopped to think aobut it or not.
He has really tried to keep this
squadron on top in everything that
we have done. We owe him much
of our thanks for what we have
accomplished as a group for I
doubt if there is another man who
could have done as well with the
tack that he assumed. Let’s keep
the spirit that has been developed
here as we move to another phase
of our training.
“Propwash” has been fun and it
has been a pleasure writing what
little I could scrape together the
last minute. I remember seeing two
fellows reading it once so it wasn’t
written in vain. All cracks or re
marks were purely coincidental and
meant well. So long and lots of
luck to you all.
first Wing Ball was held and we
really enjoyed it . . . all the grand
gals from Houston and Bryan . .
we could hardly wait for the
next one . . . our academies drew
to a close and then we went on
flying status . . . you got up early
in the morning and paced up and
down wating for the airport bus
to come and get us ... it finally
came and all the way to the air
port we wondered what you were
going to fly; P-38’s or P-4Q’s.
. . . then we saw the little Inter
states and decided that if they
would fly then they were good
enough for us ... we got along
didn’t feel like sitting down after
our instructor gave us our daily
lecture ... of course we had our
characters on the flight line too
. . . “Dead Stick’’ Chapot, who cut
the switch instead of throttle . . he
almost got out of his ship at 300
feet . . . and our own “Cater
pillar” Carnehan, who got out of
his ship one fine morning drag
ging yards of silk behind him—
his ripcord ring caught on the
door catch . . . and ‘‘Rosie” Ros
enthal who always used all 80
feet of the runway’s width for
his takeoffs . . . then came rainy
weather and we had to go to
ground school and pray for a clear
day so we could fly some more . .
and finally that last check ride
... a little jittery, we climbed into
the ship and took off . . . after the
whole series of maneuvers % was
completed, we landed and got out
. . . our instructor said that he’d
make us take him up again but he
valued his life too much ... we
smiled then because we knew that
Not so many months ago we
heard a lot of griping concerning
the slow delivery of War Savings
Bonds bought through the GI pay
roll reservation plan. Many soldiers
cancelled their reservations. Others
pointedly refused to buy Bonds
through the plan because of the
long delays in delivery.
The Army, however, was aware
of the problem and did something
about it. They slashed a lot of
red tape and fixed it so Bonds
could be delivered more speedily.
Fifteen days, they promised, would
be the longest period a soldier
would ever have to wait before
delivery.
The Army has kept its prom
ise. There are no longer any
waits or delays in processing
Bonds for soldiers. A special War
Bond Office at Chicago speeds them
along as fast as they are procesed.
This week, however, the War
Bond Office disclosed a significant
piece of news. It said that allot
ments being received for Bonds
“were not nearly sufficient to ful
ly utilize its facilities.” In other
words, the office wasn’t being
given a fair chance to demonstrate
its system of speedy delivery be
cause military Bond purchases had
bogged down.
It looks, on the surface, as if a
lot of soldiers had avoided buy
ing War Bonds by using the argu
ment that deliveries were too slow
and they might have to wait for
ever to get their Bonds. Maybe
this is true and maybe it isn’t,
but the implication is there.
We think it is now time those
guys who complained about slow
Bond deliveries stepped forward
and did something about getting
on the Bond buying list again.
The line forms on the right . . .
Spotlight on Sports
By Bill Platt
Newspapers usually do not like
to write farewell articles and us
ually readers do not like to read
them so I will make mine short
and snappy. Since I am leaving
this morning this will be the last
time the Spotlight on Sports col
umn will bear my name. I have
enjoyed writing it for you and I
hope you have enjoyed reading it.
Squadron II has been very ac
tive in sports and a look back over
the activities since they have been
(See SPOTLIGHT, Page 4)
we had made it . . . now it’s time
to say goodbye to you of the 308th
and to our Officers, the finest there
are, and to the friendly Aggies and
their customs ... we have learned
much in our brief stay here and
we will carry every bit of our new
knowledge to the battle fronts
with us and use it all toward the
final glorious VICTORY.
MARINES
Let Us Do Your Alterations
Lauterstein’s
WE HAVE
OUTLINES
In Almost All Subjects
Student Co-op
Phone 4-4114
One Block East of
North Gate
FINAL REVIEW
On behalf of Squadron Two, I
would like to convey our thanks
and appreciation to Captain Hill,
Lt. Pickens and all the other offi
cers of 308th C. T. D. who made
our stay here a very pleasant one.
Our preparations to leave are
being made rather reluctantly, for
I’m sure that all of use are leaving
with a bit of hestiancy, knowing
we’ve had a very enjoyable “stay”
here at A. & M.
To our Commanding Officer, Cap
tain Hill who has been more than
his rank would imply as well as a
gentleman, a man and a regular
“guy” to the men of Squadron Two,
I extend my best wishes and the
best wishes of my squadron for
your continued success and hap
piness.
And another au revoir to Lt.
Pickens, our tactical officer— the
man who has listened patiently ( ? ?)
to some of our lame excuses—a
man who talked our troubles over
with us and always suggested a
way to get the job done—military
from beginning to end, business
like and effective but neverthless
a real man not to be easily for
gotten.
It would be appropriate at this
time to tell “you all” and to public
ly recognize some of the men of
Squadron Two who have contribut
ed greatly to the welfare of the
Detachment.
First, the newspaper staff com
posed of Jack Shaw as Editor-in-
Chief, Alan Goldsmith, as managing
editor, Misters Rosenthal, Stump
and Platt round out the group of
men who have virtually been the
newspaper. These gentlemen de
serve no small amount of credit for
the many tiresome midnight hours
they have given for the creation
of an interesting paper. Our thanks
to them!
Secondly, the band members.
Those from our squadron are stu
dents Callahan, Greenhalgh, Ogle,
Rosenthal, Shaw, Goldsmith, Lamb,
Furnari, Column, Ringle, Oliver,
Higgins, Geary, Gorham, Alverez
and Campbell.
The effort of these gentlemen
has been appreciated by the whole
Detachment. Should there by any
Tommy Dorseys or Gene Krupas
in the new squadrons, join the
band and make the men of this
Detachment feel proud to march
behind you or to swing out at the
“Wing Ball” with their best girl
well in hand.
Our athletic program which was
begun by Wing Athletic Officer,
Edward O. Martin and carried on
by Joseph E. Platt, has made an
enviable record since its’ birth and
through its’ existance up to date.
The Detachment golf honors
were won by Squadron Two. This
team composed of those “Tee Aces”
DeGroft, Wright, Martin, Platt
and Miller, defeated the other
squadrons in a match at the Bryan
Country Club.
The cross country run inaug
urated recently was won by Squad
ron Two also. Mr. Sellers, Cuneo
and Davis finished in one-two-three
order. Incidentally, that trek was
a tough one—I know for I partici
pated and came in second—that
is, second from the bottom on the
list.
In conclusion, let me say again
(See SQUADRON, Page 4)
By Harold Borofsky
Battalion Sports Editor
Aggie Team Takes Shape; 65 Issued Uniforms
Yes sir, the Aggie team is get--
ting along swell, as you have no
ticed if you’ve been down Kyle
Field way lately. Since Tuesday,
when 65 boys were issued uni
forms, the pigskins have been fly
ing out of hands and off toes with
great regularity, and Coach Hom
er Norton is quite optimistic about
our chances this season. However,
the coach is not saying that we
will have any easy going. On the
contrary, the road is going to be
a long and hard one.
If there is one thing that is our
greatest handicap it is the lack of
experience. This shortcoming can
not be stressed too greatly, for it
will be a deciding factor all
through the season and will have
to be worked on a great deal.
Many Navy V-12 boys will be play
ing in the conference this year,
and many of them have had a
great deal of college football ex
perience. It is quite a different
matter to work with a bunch of
boys who were good in high school
teams. As the coach so pointedly
puts it: “there is no substitute
for experience—absolutely none.”
At the first regular session the
boys practiced falling, tackling,
passing and punting. The main ob
ject is still to see just how well
each boy can handle himself, as
this is a very important part of
organizing the team. There seems
to be no lack of candidates for
any particular spot, and that
should be ample assurance of at
least two or three top-notch men
at each position. There is, how
ever, a very noticeable lack of
weight at all positions. Though
there are a few “heavies,” the
team as a whole will be much
lighter than any previous Aggie
team. Accordingly, it might seem
that the plays will be more on the
fast and shifty type than other
wise, but don’t think that means
there will be no power plays. Only
a well-balanced playing scheme can
provide what it takes to win
games, and that’s exactly what
-we’re going to have. The power
plays will be there when they’re
needed, and you can bet your life
there’ll be plenty of push in them.
Not forgetting the 60-odd boys
who have not yet been issued their
uniforms, they are doing a swell
job in their workouts and will be
used to bolster the team from time
to time. To you men; don’t feel
discouraged because you didn’t get
a uniform, because you don’t seem
to be doing so well, or because you
feel that the coach isn’t looking at
you. The coach is always keeping
his eye on you and it is up to you
not to slacken your work.
Also not forgetting the first
game with Bryan Field on Sep
tember 25th, which will fall during
our tentatively scheduled holidays,
it would really be a sorry affair if
the corps didn’t get back on the
campus for that week-end. How
about it. Army, let’s plan to be
back at the end of the first week.
After all, the team isn’t even go
ing home! That also reminds us
that the Texas Tech game will also
fall during those holidays (if the
holidays work out as per the latest
bull sessions). Here is the latest
schedule released by the athletic
council, and it should be the stand
ing schedule:
Sept. 25—Bryan Air Field—Col
lege Station.
Oct. 2—Texas Technological—
San Antonio.
Oct. 9—Louisiana State Univer
sity—Baton Rouge, La.
Oct. 16—Texas Christian Uni
versity—Fort Worth.
Oct. 23—North Texas Agricul
tural—College Station.
Oct. 30—University of Arkansas
—Fayetteville, Ark.
Nov. 6—Southern Methodist Uni
versity—College Station.
Nov. 13—Rice Institute—Hous
ton.
Nov. 25—University of Texas—
College Station.
Both the Texas Tech and the
L. S. U. games are scheduled to
be reeled off at night.
Sports Spibs From Here and There;
470 Report For Play in Conference
Latest count lists the number of
prospective football boys in the
Southwest conference as around
470. Of course this is an unusually
large number of men, and you can
blame it all on the Navy. When
the Navy decided to let its trainees
play in the conference it brought
about the largest squads we have
ever boasted in this section. Even
without Baylor, which has dropped
(See KYLE riYA.D, page 4)
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