Page Four
CLOUDBUSTER
Saturday, November 14, 1942
CLOUDBUSTER
Vol. 1—No, 9
Saturday, Nov. 14, 1942
Published weekly at the U. S. Navy Pre-Flight School,
Chapel Hill, N. C.
Under supervision of the Public Relations Office.
★
CoMDR. 0. 0. Kessing, USN, Commanding Officer
Lieut. Comdr. John P. Graff, TJSN (Ret.), Executive Officer
Lieut, (jg) Kidd Brewer, USNR, Public Relations Officer
★
Editor: Ensign Leonard Eiserer, USNR
Associate Editor: Orville Campbell, Y3c
Staff: Lieut, (jg) Dan Partner; B. G. Leonard, Jr., Sp.3c; Everett
Bracken, Y3c; David Y. Coverston, Y2c; Cadets Burt Saymon; H.
Wesley Bogle; Joseph Shapiro; C. W. Nordstrom.
★
Opinions and views expressed in this newspaper are those of staff mem
bers or of individual writers, and are not to be considered as those of the
United States Navy.
Articles and features may be reprinted without permission, provided
pi’oper credit is given.
Well Done
Not all the plaudits of the 15,000 grid fans in the Washington’s
Griffith Stadium last Saturday evening were inspired by the scrappy
resistance of the hometown Hoyas, nor by the power runs of Len
Eshmont, the spirited driving of Walter Wood, or the line-battering
of Lou Bufalino, although each of these elements—and others—
combined to give the onlookers a well-played first class football
game.
While football was indeed the principal item on the bill of fare,
the fans were treated between halves to a cadet exhibition that they
will remember perhaps after they have forgotten who scored which
touchdown and how.
Some ninety Chapel Hill Pre-Flighters made the journey last
Saturday to give the Capital city a brief glimpse of the training
underway here—and its results. Some of them, under the direction
of Lieut. Charles Speidel, head wrestling coach, boxed, wrestled,
tumbled, kicked a bit of soccer, dribbled a bit of basketball, and then
hurdled a selection of 10 obstacles to give the 15,000 fans an inkling
of how the Pre-Flight program is making tough, aggressive, self-
reliant naval aviation cadets out of physically average American
youths.
Highlight of the intermission entertainment, judging from the
response of an appreciative audience, was the selection of smart,
precision drills with arms unreeled by 40 cadets of the 9th Battalion,
tutored by Lieut. Robert D. Robinson, Pre-Flight School drill mas
ter. The strictly top-flight drill performance would have been a
credit to veterans of military life, and yet no more than three of
the group had ever handled rifles before reporting to Chapel Hill.
It was a representative group of Pre-Flighters demonstrating what
brief but effective training can do. The performance was a tribute
to the drilling skill of Lieut. Robinson and the aptitude of the cadets.
One viewing the exhibition could have no difficulty believing that
the following reaction of one Bureau of Aeronautics officer is
typical of that of the many Washington naval officers and fans who
witnessed the show:
'‘Your crack drill team,” this officer wrote to Lieut. Robinson,
“certainly amazed everyone with the show they put on between the
halves of Saturday’s game. Everyone got a big kick out of it and
you are to be congratulated on the results you’ve achieved in so short
a time. I wished I could say I was part of your organization when I
saw what you had taught your cadets.”
For all the cadets participating in the mass physical activities
and in the drilling, and for their leaders, it was a job well done.
In the True Naval Spirit
In the belief that there is something fundamentally heroic in
fac^g certain death with calmness, we are moved to narrate here
the final scene in the life of two sailors who went down with the
Lexington, showing to the end the true spirit of the U. S. Navy.
These men (we don’t even know their names) did not bring down
a squadron of Jap planes or sink an enemy vessel singlehanded.
When the Lexington was mortally wounded, these men, carpenter’s
mates, were trapped five decks below the flight deck. Above them
and to each side were flooded compartments, making rescue im
possible. The ship’s communications system was still intact, how
ever, and the officers could talk with the doomed men. The officers
asked the sailors if they knew what kind of a fix they were in, and
the answer came back, “Yeh, we know, but we are having a helluva
good acey-ducey game anyway.” Then later they said, “When you
sink her, put a couple of torpedoes near our compartments—we
don’t want it to last too long.”
When the Lexington finally was sunk these men, of course, were
carried down with her—gallant company to sail a gallant ship
through eternity.
Men such as these two carpenter’s mates typify and exemplify
the spirit of the American Navy. With such a spirit moving the
boys who sail the ships and fly the planes, there need be no doubt as
to the outcome of the conflict.
By Lieut. Eric H. Arbndt
Chaplain Corps, USN
Who among us has not run away
from responsibility? And who among
us has not thought that he actually
had been able to get away with it?
Who among us has not had the experi
ence of doing just this, only to find
that someone else rises to the occasion
to do the task from which he ran?
However hard we try, it is impos
sible for us to run away from our
selves. So often we have regrets—
shameful regrets—because we failed
to face, and do to the best of our abil
ity, the job which was ours to do. Our
conscience will not be still. Sometimes
we try to “make it up” in some other
way, after the determination that
whatever temptation, it will not move
us again.
In the biblical recordings of the Old
Testament, we have the story, familiar
to us all, of a man who refused to face
the responsibility which God dii’ected.
He, also, tried to run away, to find
peace only after repentance. That man
was Jonah.
Jonah, sent by God to preach in
Ninevah, rebelled and ran away. He
ran into a storm . . . the sailors threw
him overboard . . . the great fish came
. . . you all know that story. And al
though the tendency is to argue about
the accuracy or possibility of the
story, we fail to see the real lesson
which the story so clearly presents
that no man can find a hideaway from
his conscience ... or from God.
We cannot afford to be Jonahs to
day ! The present issues must be faced
with courage and determination. God
has given us a mind by which the prob
lems and solutions can be recognized.
God has given us a will by which we
are able to assume the responsibility
for His world. And God has given us
the gift of freedom of choice and ac
tion. We cannot, we must not, shirk
responsibilities now. The things for
which we stand are important to the
world . . . God’s world.
Sunday
Divine Services
Catholic
Masses 0615, 1000, 1045
Confessions, Friday, 1830-1930
Gerrard Hall
Jewish
1000, Hillel House
General Protestant
1000, Memorial Hall
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