Vol. I—No. 15
U. s. Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill, N. C.
Friday, January 1, 1943
5c a Copy
The Xmas Moil
By B. F. Fricks, Y3c
A Chief Boatswain Mate once re
marked that mail specialists worked
only twice a year—Christmas and New
Year’s.
This may be true. Far be it from
this writer to disagree with higher
ranks on such a small matter. But the
fact remains that the mail specialists
at this Pre-Flight School worked hard
and long during the Christmas holidays
—hard enough to make everyone agree
that there is work aplenty in the post
office during the Yule season.
There is a famous slogan of the
Post Office Department, which says, in
part, that the i-nail must go through,
regardless. And as special assistants
to Santa Claus, the local post office
crew had to work long hours, extend
ing far into the night, in order to carry
that slogan out. That that aim was
achieved is revealed by the satisfac
tion of the officers, enlisted personnel,
and cadets.
A glance at a few statistics on the
mail load during the 10 days preced
ing Christmas will prove that state
ment. These figures, while estimates,
are conservative, but give an idea of
the work done.
Packages mailed during this period
were set at 6,000, with just twice as
many packages being received. With
a- station complement of a little more
than 2,000, it means that each officer,
enlisted man, and cadet mailed an aver
age of nearly three packages, and re
ceived an average of about six.
The cash in the stamp drawer in
creased slightly during this period,
with approximately $1,500 worth of
stamps passing through the window.
Added to this is a very conservative
estimate of $15,000 in money orders
being sold.
In addition to carrying out the
regular postal business, the specialists
aided the Government by selling war
bonds during this period. No figures
are available on this phase, but an
estimate is that applications were re
ceived for 100 bonds of different de
nominations. This is very cheering,
in view of the fact that an additional
100 bonds will give Hitler, Hirohito,
and Mussolini another sharp jolt.
Each day saw three deliveries of mail
arrive, and while normally the mail is
put in the different boxes by 0900,
1200, and 1700, it was, quite often, as
much as two hours late in being de
livered because of the heavy volume.
And to top all these figures, when
it is revealed that between 800 and
1000 bags of mail were received dur
ing this period, it is readily realized
just what work the post office crew
had to do.
To assist the mail specialists, who
include Gene Strowd, CSP(M); W. F.
Pendergraft, Splc(M) ; A. A. Barker,
Sp2c(M); and Burgess Leonard,
Sp3c (M), four civilian employees were
brought into the post office. They in
cluded Bruce Winslow, Reynolds Pri-
vett, Billy Thompson, and Richard Ed-
kins.
The specialists ask that all cadets
notify their correspondents to put on
future letters the addressee’s battalion
number, dormitory, and room number.
An example of how much this will aid
the quick distribution of the mail is
shown in the fact that at least 20% of
all mail received for the cadets has to
be checked through the directory.
The sigh you just heard arising from
the post office is the collective sigh of
relief of four sailors that another
Christmas season is at its end.
’Busters Face LaSalle Tomorrow Night
#
THESE FIVE CADETS, shown here with Coach Dyke Raese, will see
plenty of action tomorrow night in Philadelphia when the Cloudbusters
meet LaSalle College there. Standing, left to right, are Captain Gus
Broberg, forward, Howard McWilliams, center, and Walter Hoffman,
guard. Over the ball is Robert Masterson, forward, and between him and
Coach Raese is John Kraft, guard. Kraft and Hoffman are from Phila
delphia, the former having player three years of varsity ball with St.
Joseph’s, and the latter having starred at Roman Catholic high.
Presidents Birthday
Ball Planned Here
For January 30
Plans are now underway for a Pi’e-
sident’s Birthday Ball to be held Sat
urday, Jan. 30, in Woollen Gymnasium
as one of the thousands of such cele
brations staged annually for the pur
pose of raising funds for the fight
against infantile paralysis.
While final details of the affair have
not yet been formulated, Lieut. Fiank
L. Gillespie, Pre-Flight assistant wel
fare officer who heads the Chapel Hill
committee arranging the dance, yes
terday indicated that lively entertain
ment would be on hand, in addition to
the popular music provided by the Pre-
Flight orchestra. Officers, enlisted
men, university faculty, students, and
townspeople will all be invited to dance
on the President’s birthday anniver
sary so that future citizens may walk.
Admission will be for $1.00 per
couple, or stag, with all the proceeds
going into the struggle against the
great crippler.
As during the past nine years which
have been marked by similar celebra
tions of the President’s birthday anni
versary, the usual March of Dimes will
precede the Birthday Ball this month.
Some 2,500 special birthday greeting
cards are on the way for personnel of
the Pre-Flight School, to be stuffed
with dollars or dimes and sent to the
Commander-in-Chief. These cards
probably will be available for distribu
tion in mid-January.
Half of the money received during
the fund-raising campaign is returned
to the various counties to forward the
work in the local communities. The
other 50% goes to the National Foun
dation for Infantile Paralysis to sup
port its nationwide program of re
search, education and epidemic aid.
Serving with Lieut. Gillespie on the
local President’s Birthday Ball com
mittee are Mr. Harry F. Comer and
Mrs. William Richardson.
The next station smoker is sched
uled for Memorial Hall, Wednesday,
Jan. 6, starting at 1915.
New Year’s
to Victory!
Resolution, 1943 :
Coming Events
Jan. 2—Free movie at Village Thea
tre, “Nothing But the Truth” with
Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. Fea
ture starts at 1330, 1510, 1920 and
2100.
Jan. 3—Free movie at Village Thea
tre, “The Navy Comes Through” with
Pat O’Brien, George Murphy and Jane
Wyatt. Feature starts at 1310 and
1440.
Jan. 30—President’s Birthday Ball
sponsored by the Navy in Woollen
Gymnasium.
From:
To;
Subject: New Year’s Greeting.
1. It is a little more than seven months since this Pre-
Flight School was placed in commission, and through hard and intelligent
work on the part of the Naval and Civilian Personnel, and with the
cooperation of our fine Regiment of Cadets, this activity has attained
an enviable position in the Total War Effort during 1942. It is the
sincere hope and belief of the Commanding Officer that 1943 will see the
same high standards maintained. “All Hands” are congratulated upon
their past achievements and urged to continue their stride through 1943.
2. The Commanding Officer wishes you A VERY
HAPPY AND A VICTORIOUS NEW YEAR.
John P. Graff
Locals to Play Former College Stars
Against First Intersectional Foe
Coach Dyke Raese and the Cloudbuster basketball team left last
night for Philadelphia where they are scheduled to meet LaSalle
College tomorrow night in the first intersectional clash of the season
for the local Navy club. The game will be the second on a double
bill, Duke University meeting Temple in the opening contest.
Just who will start for the Cloudbusters, Coach Raese didn’t
know yet. Besides the cadets who started the Appalachian and Duke
games before Christmas—Gus Broberg, Bob Masterson, Howard
McWilliams, John Kraft, and Walter Hoffman—there are four
other players who accompanied the team to Philadelphia who were
certain to see action. Namely John Barr, the ex-All-American from
Penn State, Forest Kendall of Davis-Elkins, Bernard Schiffer of
®CCNY, and Kenneth Hashagen, for
mer University of Pennsylvania star.
In LaSalle the Cloudbusters have a
tough customer to beat. Their team
this year is considered one of the top
eastern clubs.
To date the Raesemen have played
two games, losing to Appalachian, 53
to 46, and defeating Duke, defending
Southern Conference champions, 46 to
41. The Appalachian defeat came as a
surprise, but the Duke victory con
vinced followers of the local club that
the Cloudbusters will be tough to
handle in the future.
Robert Masterson, former Syracuse
star, and Gus Broberg of Dartmouth,
lead the scoring for the Pre-Flight
team to date. Both have 25 points.
Others who have turned in commend
able performances have been Howard
McWilliams, center, and John Kraft
and Walter Hoffman, guards.
The addition of Barr, Kendall, Schif
fer and Hashagen will give the team
much additional strength. Barr is con
sidered the finest player ever to wear
a Penn State basketball uniform. He
was named to practically every All-
American team in the country in 1941.
Kendall, Schiffer and Hashagen were
good enough in college to be named on
the all-conference teams in their re
spective leagues.
For Kraft and Hoffman the LaSalle
game will mean a chance to perform
before the home folks for the first time
in a Navy uniform. Both are from
Philadelphia, Kraft having been a
three year letterman at St. Joseph, and
Hoffman having starred at Roman
Catholic high school.
The LaSalle game is the first of
three tough games to be played by the
Cloudbusters during the next eight
days. . On Wednesday afternoon Duke
comes to Chapel Hill for a return game
which will start at 1600. A week from
tomorrow night the team goes to New
York and Madison Square Garden for
a game with Long Island University.
After the Long Island contest all
remaining games will be played in
Chapel Hill with the exception of the
North Carolina State game at Raleigh
on February 27. All weekday games
here will start at 1600, and the Satur
day games are scheduled for 1400.
The present schedule, as released by
the athletic office, is as follows:
Saturday, January 2—LaSalle Col
lege, Philadelphia; Wednesday, Janu
ary 6—Duke, Chapel Hill; Saturday,
January 9—Long Island, Madison
Square Garden; Wednesday, January
13—George Washington, Chapel Hill;
Monday, January 18—N. C. State,
Chapel Hill; Saturday, January 23—
New River Marines, Chapel Hill; Sat-
See BASKETBALih, page 6
GREETINGS
December 29. 1942
The Commanding Officer
The Officers, Crew, Regiment of Cadets, and
Civilian Employees of the U. S. Navy Pre-Flight
School, Chapel Hill, N. C.
HALT
WHO
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THERE