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GOD IS MY CO-PILOT Col. Robert L.Scott wkuruiaji ' -" ?MtatnlLr Mi'rtw tTwU Sliwibi'li! Ma MfrtM M> MM M MWII Ownh MM Ms t*M- B? SUs ? kMtot MM ?MM, rt? M Mmmm'i Mot pM V*^M Ma^r MmI" mi MM. It to Mto MM miMl Men to Ma M flfhtsi ?HM Mat- 1" lata Mm >?>?? M iaj u< toaM M Ma rlrar tola CHAPTER XIX But an the day when ha finally Cat out an hia way to what ha wanted to da meat, tha Japs struck, at Peari gashsi* Ajax had Just landed at Wake Island, and, soldiar that ha was, hh had reported to the Marino Commander for duty. He waa hav ing breakfast with the CO (CO means Commanding Officer), Major Oevereaux, adieu the Japanese at tack came to Wake. j. . Ajax used to say that the unusual strength he demonstrated that morn ing waa due to the heavy supply of vitamin- pills ha bad taken. As the first bomb Alt the runway of the field, he ran with the others for the door and the safety of the slit trenches on the. outside. The door opened inward, but Ajax opened it outward, taking tha screen, tha door, and most of that and of the flimsy building with him. Part of the (leas hit.him.in tha face?and Chat cut whs the only wound ha re ceived in the bombing. But he car ried the scar with him when I last mw him in China. . Baumler got out of Wska Island the next day on the last clipper, but to Join the AVQ he was no longer going West. It was now necessary to go all the way back and around the other way, towards the East Anyway he managed to go by way of Washington and got promoted to Captain. I believe if Ajar had stayed in Washington just one more day, he would have been a Major. After seeing Ajax Baumler in a few fights, I wish that he had gotten to be a Major before he came to China, for he certainly was a fighter pilot. During the month of our battle of Pengyang, I saw Captain Baumler do some of the nerviest things I've ever seen any man accomplish. We had a few ships that had been strafed badly on the ground; some of them had been shot to pieces, and In others the engines or hydraulic systems had been damaged. In most cases-these same ships couldn't be got off the ground when the Japs came over; sometimes they were caught three or four times by Zeros, and consequently they were in a continual state of repair. One of these was old Number 104, the ship that Ajax had been flying. The ground crew had worked on it for days, but whenever they'd have it just about ready to be taken back to the factoty in Kunming for over haul, the Japs would catch it again. Finally one morning Ajax must have said, "The hell with it." For when the Jih-bao" came he went and got into the crippled fighter to take off before the Japs could get there to strata it again. He told me later that he was tired of seeing it sitting on the ground as a target; whether it would fly or not, he was going to get it taxying as fast as it would go and at least make it harder to hit than it had been in the revetment. Well, Ajax did better than taxy?he got off. But the story of it all reached me later on. I was on the ground that day, and didn't see it. But I heard Ajax talk tog an the radio, and J hoard bis six guns whan he caught one of the Zeros. Just a little later I saw the trail of black smoke that marked the enemy ship going down. I was Had to hear Ajax talking that morn ing; for a minute I'd thought that smoke might be he, going down in that luckless Number 104. All the hme he'd been flying the ship he'd been having to pump the landing gear up manually, for the hydraulic system had been shot up by the Jap strafer days before. Added to this, an exertion which is no pleas ant task at fighting altitudes, was a more painful experience. The cards were atacked even more heavily against Ajax in this jinx ship, for bis electrical system was shorting out. ud nis uie-on rrom iiengyang, as be (are the ahip the (on Baumler had felt a terrible electrical (hock through his sweaty hand on the stick uaaUul He couldn't turn the stick IqeM o? the ship would have crashed in the take-off run; so be grimly held on. Taka hold of the spark plug of your car some time while the engine is running, and you'll feel Just about what Ajax felt. But he . kept holding it until he was at an \ altitude where it was safe to turn the stick loose, get out his handker chief, and wrap it around die stick. Even after he had been through the fight and came in to land at Linghng he hed to take some more of the shock cure, tor by that time the handkerchief was damp and the electricity was jumping through it. He couldn't stay long on this last field, for the Jape were on the way back in wares; so he reeerviced and tasied out to take off. Though the engine waa an* miasing badly, Ajax couldn't wait?the Jap* would tx thero in a matter of minute*. Ha med a take-off with the cur rent (oio| through hi* arm* again and the engine (pitting and sputter lag?and at the end of the runwaj ha atill hadn't enough speed to gel in the air. He would swerve th? ship about and try the other direo tbfc. Finally after three ran* h? got the Ighter plan* in the air, pumped the wheels up by hand and continued doing it for five hundred miles?and so flaw back to Kunming. But it wasn't all hard work and no play in China. Some evenings we used to sit in our cave down at KweK lin and listen to the Tokyo radio. They would give us reports on the missions that we flew to Hankow, Canton, and the cities near Lake ' 'Puyang Hn?Hanchangand Knbigng. They'd declare that we were using barbarous tactics and that we were going to be treated as guerrilla* if we were captured. One night while we sat there calm* ly listening to the news and playing gin rummy, Tokyo news-analysts announced they did not think the American lighter force in China was large. True enough, said the radio, they had struck weakly at several cities, in their barbaric way bomb ing innocent Chinese women and children, and for this the American pirates would pay when they were prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Government, now fighting to liber ate Asia tor the Asiatics. We listened to the usual "blah'' without raising an eyebrow, until Radio Tokyo -continued: "We don't think the American fighter force in China is more than three hundred ships." There was a squadron that cams over from Assam to work with us, part of another group from India. In this squadron there were some fine fighter pilots, one of whom was Lieut. Dallas dinger from old Wyo Pilots of the China Air Task Force on tha alert at Hen franc. ming. dinger was another man who in years gone by in the West would have been a great gunman like Tex Hill. Only Clinger wouldn't have cared whether he was on the side of the Law, the Mormons, the Church, or Jesse James. He Just wanted to light. One morning Clinger was one pf a formation of three fighters over Hen yang. His combat report read like this: "I was flying on my leader's wing ? Lieutenant Lombard ? at 33,000 feet when we saw three enemy planes down below circling. There were larger formations reported around. Just then I heard my flight leader say: There are three stragglers?let's attack 'em." So we dove into them like mad. As I shot into the Zero on tha right of the for mation I saw that we were in tha midst of twenty-four other Zeros, all shooting at us. I got mad and shot at every plane that I could get my sights on. I think I shot one down but I was so busy I didn't see it crash." This was signed'' DALLAS CLING ER?2nd Lieutenant?Almost Unem ployed." wnai dinger naa reau/ ucrnc wmm the greatest piece of daredevil fly ing that any of us had aver seen. Instead of diving away from the twenty-seven ship circus as the oth ers had done, he had stayed and fought the old-fashioned "dog-flght" until the Japs just about took him to pieces from sheer weight of num bers. When they straggled home they must have been the most sur prised bund) of pilots in all Japan, for this crazy American with his heavy P-40 had done everything hi or out of the book. He fought right side up and upside down, from 31,000 feet doom to less than one thousand. As many Jape as could All the air behind Clinger would get there and try to hang on while they shot; but Clinger wouldn't fight fair and stay there. In the end, he came right over the field, diving from the en emy until he had outdistanced them enough to turn; then be'd pull up into an "Immelmann" and come back shooting at them head-on. He was last seen after the un equal fight skimming out across the rice paddies, making just about 500 miles an hour, with some ten to twelve Zeros following. For some reason they seemed reluctant, as though they didn't know whether to run after Clinger or leave him alone. He came in far lunch with his ship i badly abet up by thek turn But he had (hot on* of them down and ? had got another "probable.** i Down IJngling way an another ? morning, dinger went into an attack ' with hia engine acting up. After the i first contact with the ahemy, ha waa i forced to land, followed by tern en ' amy atrafers. Aa dinger maneu > vexed the tailing fighter into a ante landing, the two Zeroe came down > ahooting at hia rolling P-40. Dallaa from Wyoming got out cm the wing to Jump onto the ground, with hia ahip (till rolling. Juat then one of the Jap bullets went right through hia seat-pack chute, passing exactly between dinger's pants and where he aat on the parachute. He got ao mad he Jumped back in the forkptt and shot at two Zeroa aa they paaaed over hia noae. After all, Air-cooled, gtma are made to (hoot while die ahip la going two or three hundred milea an hour?but Lieuten ant Clinger said he got In a pretty good burst from his grounded fight er before the six Fifties froae. Johnny Aliaon had helped to train Clinger in the tactica of fighter pi lota. In fact, Johnny used to fly with every man in his flight on -his wing, at one time or another. In one training flight such as this ha took Clinger up and they practiced at tacking one another?"dog-flghting," the "pea-ahooter" pilots say. Up there at nearly 10,000 feet they came at one another head-on, time after time, until the moment when, as Johnny told me later, be waa sure dinger waa going to run into him. Alison, who usually forced others to give way, had to diva under din ger's P-40. They circled and tried again, and again Clinger kept right on coming, until, aa the ships drew together at well over six hundred miles an hour relative spaed, once more Johnny bad to dodge, and the Wild Man from Wyoming went on over Ms bead. They landed then, and by the time Johnny had climbed out of hie ship he had calmed down, dinger came nonchalantly over. Just in passing Alison said, "That was pretty good flying, Clinger; you fly formation well and you look around okay. But you want to watch those head-on runs?you nearly hit me up there. Did you know that?" Clinger shifted the weight of his body back to both feet. With his chin out, he answered: "Yes, Sir, Hajor?I tried to. You see, you've been flying longer than I have end I know I'm not as good a pilot as you are. But, Sir, I knew I'd come closer to you than you would to me." You can find the remains of a good many Jape in China, or some where down in the China Sea, who know that Clinger meant just what he said. He'd keep coming at them head-on and shoot them out of the sky before they got to him. The battle for the defense of Heng yang lasted through August, but we didn't just sit there on the defensive. We rapidly took the offensive as our best defense, and kept it up un til higher headquarters sent us a very classic radio: "You either did not understand or did not receive my last radiogram to remain on the defensive. Repeat quote on the defensive unquote. Signed, Chennault." At Nanchang, on August 11, 1S4], I shot down my fourth enemy plane that was confirmed. Though 1 hate the Japs with a passion, I felt sorry for that pilot, for he never saw me at all. But as I left his burning ship North of the runway that he had been taking off from, I thought of the boys in the Philippines and Java, and I wasn't so sorry. I had dropped my flve-hundred pound bomb on the hangars, when in pulling out of the dive I saw Lieu tenant Barnum, from Old Lyme, Conhectiout, continue his dive on a Jap ship, and begin to fire on it. I looked below. There was dust at the far end of the Jan field whore one enemy plane waa taking off. I lolled over and dovg^. pulling out about a half mile Booted the enemy at the moment he got off the ground. His wheels had Just begun to move to the "up" position as I got him deed in my sights and pressed the triggers. As the pilot died, his new 1-87-2 pulled straight up, then spun into the ground the few feet it bad climbed. I passed over it as the flames belched from the wreckage. I climbed for an enemy observation plane higher over Lake Puyang Hu, but the Jap outclimbed me, and though I fired at him several times from long range he finally fot away. On this trip, Barnum had shot down om enemy thin rod Ltartav ant Daniels, though unable to release his wing-rack fragmentation had stpafed the field with his bombs h.-gtng on. After tha attack, this pilot bad force-landed his plane in a rice paddy near Hengyang rather th?n bail out?and this decision to save the Ship for spare parts had been made with the six frags still paging from the faulty wing-racks. He got away with it, and Captain Wang was able to aalvage the fight er. When the P-Ws fot so shot up that we were afraid they'd quit rwitef end we'd lose them over the enemy lines, tee were called back to Kunming. There, sitting around tor two weeks while ws worked on the ASp* end anxiously looked for mail from home, the war seemed la> away. rro ax cosmjrvBD) ? - w * i jm J UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL Sunday i chool Lesson lMr Lesson for March 18 LaM aiMaiiii aad Scrtetarv taxta a? not law or lin WW M SW <2*4 ?U? all fldjr heart, ud with all tar "* 1* w*Bi *B ?b7 WW. m* U the ftret ud craat eommendmact lad Dm mi egd e ?T ento U. Tboe aha* Wee ttqr M|tt* 'he OlyMlL?MMOrtw SSlSMS. Our lesson present* a great Judg ment seen*?majestic, solemn, stir ring. Many confuse It with the Judg ment at the Great White Throne in narration M. But Matthew tS ia obrtoeajy tlw Judgment c$- aattoiss (a. 22) tor their treatment of Christ's brethren (e. 40), a word referring primarily to Jews, but also spoken of in Matthew 12:40-30. The lesson needs broader applica tion. however, so ere suggest that we allow the more general princi ples at Judgment occupy our at tention. We note that I. Judgment Divides (w. 21-23). The nations, coming before Christ when Ha shall have appeared in all His glory, shall And themselves sep arated Into two groups on the basis of their treatment of the brethren of^hrist I The fact that God haa draws a line of division down through all humanity and that each one of us is on one side or the other ts not a doctrine which finds ready accept ance with modern thinking, but it is nonetheless ft fact. No man established that division ?God Himself did it, and did it in love. To some it may seem to be a hard saying, but it is not, tor it comes from the lips of the gentle, loving Jesus. It Is because He loved us enough to give Himself tor us that any of us find ourselves on the side of that dividing line which assures us of eternal Joy and bleskedneis. They who stand on the other side of the line do so because they have not acoepted Cod's proffered salva tion to Christ. Reader, where do you stand? n. Judgment Declares (w. JM6). Our attitude toward Cod expresses itself to our attitude toward our fel low man. That which we do toward those about us Is not a matter of indifference, but is the basis tor Cod's Judgment of our lives. Each of us roust answer for the deeds done to the flesh whether they be good or evil. That is true even of the be liever (II Cor. 5:16), whose salva tion has already been determined by his faith to Christ. Here to our lesson, however, the failure to do that which shows forth Cod's lsw of lova is mads the ground of eternal Judgment. This Is not because an act of kindness itself can be regarded as the ground of division, but because the failure to give it or do it reflects an attituds of heart toward our God and His Christ, which is in reality a rejec tion of His way of salvation. judgment is ttius ? revelation of the attitude of the heart, which marks a man or woman as being either saved or lost. It majr be pos sible to so becloud the thinking at our friends ard neighbors that we max go through life looking something like a Christian, but whan Christ Judges, It will all be revealed to us. Notice the importance of a proper attitude toward those who need our kindness and help. All too often the only concern of men and women is to look out for "number one" and let the rest of the world shift for itself. Observe also that the Lord Idan ? titles 'Himself with Sis brethren? what is done to and for them is counted as done to and tor Him. Compare the experience of Samuel (I Sam. 0:T) and of Paul (Acta t:t). Touch God's people and you touch | Him. Fall them and you fail Him. Serve them and you serve Him. HI. Judgment Determines (v. 46). Tee, God's Judgment determines eternal destiny. Life eternal, or everlasting punishment, which shall It beT That is determined by God's final word of Judgment, but remem ber that He Judges in accordance with the attitude at heart and action of life on this side of the grave. Now, for that matter, is a part of eternity, and it is consequently of great Importance that we are right with both God and man now if we expect to be right throughout eter nity. We need to face this truth of Judg ment with complete candor and hen est baait-eearchlag. We agme with Dr. Douglass that "we must stand with awful concern before this sol emn truth. Do not hesitate to teach this because H is contrary to the current of modern thinking or shock ing to confront. It needs to bo faced in a brara spirit of realism. (As a teacher) you win do your pupils a great disservice if you try to shield diem from the grim implications of this truth." Yes, and also if you keep from tbem the glorious prospect of eternal Joy in the presence of God. The law of life is the law of love?love for God, and for Jesus Christ whom He hath sent to be our Redeemer, ami love tor Hie brethren. That law of love rules even in the day at Judg Gaily Be-Ruffled Frock for Tots E*OR a mite of two to six, a dainty 1 little frock with the swinging skirt and ruffle edging little girls love. She'll look as sweet as her smile in this adorable party dress. It's nice for school too in brightly checked cottons. * ? ? Pattern No. 8745 is designed for sizes 1 S. 4, ft and ? years. Size 8 requires a yards ef 8ft or 38-inch material. Send your order to: SB WINO CDS OB PATTB1M DEPT. 1158 Sixth Ave. New York, N. Y. patten desired. Pattern No .Stae Name Address m m m m m i ? I Dot mm 4mft fmd mm DmH t # lirt ??d ram. MO k> mMmmmrn a I.i . am BROS. COOGI OMR j f SLACK OB MINIMOi?S# I if Buy United States War Bonds <A wbtti t fm? uarnm fast ?jPrHIAT TtlATMINT HHP TOU r* 7*^* y ???"?>?? 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The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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March 15, 1945, edition 1
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