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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1985)
Tuesday, Noverriber 12,1985/The Battalion/Page 7 Enola Gay symbol of activity, wealth to Pyote residents Associated Press PYOTE — Almost 32 years have passed since the four-engine B-29 ^Enola Gay” lifted off the austy run way at Pyote for the last time, but it will long be remembered. The Enola Gay unleashed the atomic bomb over Hiroshima. And for the West Texas residents of Pyote, the plane symbolically rep resents the birth and death of what they called the “Rattlesnake Bomber Base” and an almost overnight trans formation of the sleepy town into a hub of wartime activity. Bulldozers scraped away mesouite and sagebrush from the sandy plains outside Pyote, a town of 300 people 50 miles southwest of Odessa, in September 1942 and replaced them with ribbons of concrete for Pyote Army Air Field. The 19th Bombardment Group — the first to face the Japanese after Pearl Harbor — limped back to the United States in January 1943 to be come the parent organization at Pyote. For the town that had three cafes, two stores, a post office and a sel dom-used train depot, the air field became a bonanza. Soon there were 10,000 soldiers and 1,500 civilians there, with B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-29s filling the sunny West Texas skies as eager Army aviators learned their trade. For Pyote, it was an economic re birth akin to the glory days of 1928 when the city had almost 40,000 resi dents as oil gushers in nearby Winkler Gounty Drought fortunes. Unknown to Pyote, however, top- secret flight training was under way over the desolate landscape of Wind- over, Utah, by early 1945. B-29 pi lots were boning up on how to pin point the drop of a single, bulky bomb on target. Contrary to some reports, the Enola Gay had not yet been to Pyote Army Air Field, according to Lenora Price, Pyote’s retired Ward County commissioner, town historian and museum director. But the plane’s flight over Hiro shima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, would have an effect on the town of Pyote 10,000 miles away. By Decem ber 1945, the once bustling air field had only four officers, two enlisted men ana 613 civilians left to man it. The Enola Gay first came to Pyote in 1946 and was displayed on the flight line for curious aviation en thusiasts. Not until Jan. 12, 1952, was she placed in temporary storage at the field. The base officially closed in Sep tember 1953, after a brief flurry of activity for the Korean war. ‘Class clown’ training for circus job Associated Press LEWISVILLE — Then there was the time they put up a big sheet on the Lewisville High School audito rium that read “This school is for sale” and listed the principal’s tele phone number. And then there was that Monday when faculty members arrived at work to find a chicken farm set up in an interior courtyard. The ringleader was Doug Boyd. Now Boyd, always the class clown, is learning to be a clown with class. The 18-year-old is completing 10 weeks of training at the Ringling Bros, and Barnum Sc Bailey Clown College in the circus’ winter quarters in Venice, Fla. Boyd will take his finals Saturday at a live show that also will serve as an audition before circus producer Kenneth Feld, who could make Boyd an apprentice clowp. Friends who saw his clown, mime and magic acts at parties and variety shows — including teachers who now laugh about his sometimes dis ruptive pranks — see Boyd’s chance to become a part of The Greatest Show on Earth as a natural progres sion.- After all, life with Boyd often was usually a three-ring circus, his class mates said. “We had theater together (at the high school),” said senior Kelly Fiore, 17. “He definitely contributed to the craziness in that class.When we needed someone to create a weird or bizarre character, Doug could always think of something.” Boyd developed his comical char acter into Rusty, the clown. “He got me into clowning,” said Ren James, 17, a senior. “I’ve watched him as Rusty, and Rusty and Doug are two totally different people. lie becomes the clown.” At Lewisville High, Boyd was known as “Bigjohn, the mascot for the school’s ‘Tighting Farmers,” as well as ringleader of the Bell Crew, whose offbeat pranks kept students laughing and administrators alert, Wright said. “Nothing damaging or deroga tory,” Wright said. “Their pranks were always good-natured.” Boyd told The Dallas Morning News he has wanted to be a circus clown as long as he can remember. And at circuses he went to see as a kid, “I used to go back and talk to the clowns,” he said. Thought for Food for Spring! Spring Registration is here! riovember 11-15 ^ BRE AKm S T ^ Xs 0 Well, whatever, we have a plan for you. Choose your plan at registration and leave your dining worries with us. Your best deal is the 7 DAY PLAN (20 meals) at $691.72 ($2.23 per meal). This is the best buy for your dining dollar. But your schedule may be different. So here is another deal. The 5 DAY PLAN (15 meals) Monday through Friday for the non-weekender, is $644.42 ($2.68 per meal). If you want to be even more flexible, try the ANHY 12 PLAN. Choose any 12 of the 20 meals. For late risers who still want to eat on the weekend, this plan is $625.49 ($3.36 per meal). If you're still undecided, consider the AGGIE POINT ACCOUNT. Eat anywhere on campus with your I.D. Card. The AGGIE POINT ACCOUNT is a success. Look at this bonus system for lump sum deposits. DEPOSIT BOM US POIMTS $150-$299 MOME $300-$399 300 $400-$499 600 $500-$599 1000 $600-$699 1800 Some persons purchase both a board and a point plan. ATTEMTIOM FACULTY and STAFF: The AGGIE POINT ACCOUNT is now available to you for dining anywhere on campus. For details about the AGGIE POINT ACCOUNT call 845-5421 or 845-3005. "Quality First" Department of Food Services 4 TIS THE SEASON TO GET SHOT (For the yearbook anyway) v The schedule has been changed for yearbook photos: Juniors, Seniors, Vets, Meds and Grads can have their photos taken thru Dec. 13. os will be taken above Campus pnter at North.sate. No pictures will be taken at the Pavilion (tXSN'T Be A TU/CJtey AND WA/T ’7/Z TA£ LAST DAT/) J