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GOD IS MY i ?, CO-PILOT ?Col. Robert L. Scoff VtMJU RlLtASE. Tfc. Hory mm twi alter ha WeM ma, mm icon rtam Ms wtest at Kaltr FteM. Taxaa. u< taka* a* MBbal Irlai. He kaa keea aa lutraeter *v lew yeaie rtn the wat breaki eat eat le tote he la eow lee eld tee combat ftjtaf. Alter appeallat la aeeeral Oca ermli. Scott le butlly olered aa epper toalty to get late the KM. He (tee a bomber te ladla, bet ea arrival la ( made a terry pilot, bat thle deee aet eatt c him. He delta Geo chaaaaalt. gate a , Kitty hawk aad aeea la lying the eklea over Barma, where he beceatee kaowa aa the "eaa maa air lerce." Later, he le J made C.O. el the ZJrd Fighter Group, but 1 he etlll keope aa kaocklag dewa gap f ptaaee. , ( - 1 CHAPTER XXVII I Another theory was that the reall- < zatlon that you had strafed enemy 1 ground troops, shot down Japanese i pilots, strafed troops getting out of 1 en enemy transport, or even killed I Japanese satellites, would come back to you at night, and you'd wake 1 up in horror at having "blood on 1 your hands." To that I say "Nuts." I Later, when the newness of com- < bat had worn off, I used to watch a ' Japanese pilot come towards me on ' a head-on run. picking me out, I I guess, because I was leading the i Group. I'd get my sights on him I and yell, perhaps a bit hysterically: i "You poor sucker, with my six Fit- ' ties that out-range your short-range little cannons that jam lots of times, I'm going to_blow you apart before you get close enough to hit met" Overconfldence, perhaps, for I didn't get every one who came at me, and I took lots of hits in my own ship? even had to dive away sometimes when two came dh me at once. But I'm still here, and from thirteen to twenty-two Jap pilots who fought against me are dead. You know that you have every thing to live for, and that the Jap has everything to die for. That's his only hope of reaching the heaven that we already have. Yes, they are suicide pilots; at times they will try to ram your plane, or. will dive their ships into our carriers. I've seen a Japanese dive low over Hengyang and circle while they shot at him with every thing on the field knd we shot at him with every ship above the field. But he flew his ship in a slow cir cle, as if he were blinded and couldn't see, or were only partly conscious. Then, with a half roll at barely three hundred feet, he dove his plane into the only building on the field?our thatched-roof alert shack, which burned with the Jap in his ship. When the wreckage had cooled enough we finally pulled his charred body out?and by his side was his Samurai sword, and through his body the doctor found one lone bullet-hole, severing his spinal cord near the small of the back. He had been able to move his hands but not his feet. But with his last conscious ness he had picked out one more object on our field to destroy for the gods of the Shinto Shrine. But they have fear too. Don't think they're supermen, for I assure you they're not. They're little, warped ? brain savage animal. with the complex of suppression? but they have fear, like any one else. Their fear is worse, for there's that phobia of having nothing to live for?the inferiority-complex they try to overcome. I once saw that fear on the face of a Japanese pilot when he knew he was going to die, and it did me lots of good. I told of it many times to youngsters in my Group and it always made them feel better to know that the Japs were afraid when they met them ? probably more afraid than we were. Oh, the Jap is a wonderful pilot when he meets no or little opposition. They come" in over undefended Chinese cities and loop and roll and zoom, shooting at the helpless pedestrians while arrogantly flying inverted on their bocks. But when they meet good American fighters, with pilots who know how to fight them, they are the most anxious people I've ever met to leave our territory and go "hell for leather" towards Japan. One day I flew up very close to a lone Jap pilot during a fight near Kweilin. I plated my sights right where his wing joined the fuselage of the 1-97-2 and steadily squeezed a burst from two hundred yards, holding the trigger down while I moved into closer range. Then I swerved out from behind the enemy ship, expecting it to stream fire and perhaps explode. I had seen pieces come off, and I had seen the canopy glass turn to a fine, shining powder that sparkled in the slip stream as the ship nosed almost straight up. But when it didn't burn, I skidded back across its tail, first with a look to my rear quarter. I saw into the cockpit. The can , opy had been shot away and I could see the Jap's face?and on it was a look of terror such as I had never seen before. The realization went through me with such force that as I nosed down to fire again I nearly cut the tail from the Jap fighter .with my prop. Then I savagely held a long burst from less than fifty yards while I shot the ship to pieces. Even after the enemy plane had fallen and I had flown through the debris, I found that I was con tinuing to fire at the empty heavens, for I had learned to hate also. No, the Jap is far from a super man. Bjrt tye must never again be little the fanaticism at the Japanese. Thiey are as dangerous as mad dogs. fhey think they will win?and they :an If we continue to underestimate hem. Strange things happen in the air, trange as the fiction of the ages, lix of us shot into a ship that de ached itself from one of the cir cling Japanese "circuses" we en countered one day East of Heng 'ang. When you meet the Jap in his arger-numbered formation, he at ince goes into the circling technique hat Baron von Hlchthofen made amous in the last war. This "cir cus" gradually moves in on or away torn their objective as a defensive naneuver, for in It the ship behind irotects the tail of the one in front Jut tactics were to dive through he "squirrel cage" and get snap ihots at as many ships as we could, >ut keep our speed to prevent their letting on our tails. It was in one of these attacks hat this lone Jap Zero left the pro tection of his other ships and began to do aerobatics?sloppy loops, wing >vers, stalls, and then another loop, rhinking it was a, trick, we were vary; but after two of our pilots had made passes on it, two more of us went down towards it As I kept jetting closer and closer to the ene my plane I could see that the pilot was evidently. hurt, but when I _____I Another friendly coolie who gave aid to Col. Scott. crossed the top of the strange-acting plane I saw that he was leaning forward over the stick control, ot^ viously dead. As the speed of the dive would build up pressures on the tail sur faces, the nose would rise, for a Jap ship is rigged that way. As the ship climbed more steeply, the pilot's upper body swung to the back of the seat in the normal position and the plane made a sloppy loop. For several minutes we watched the pilotless Zero in fascination. From 16,000 feet a ship that is shot down can dive into the ground in a few seconds?it can even spin in from an explosion in a little longer than that; but we watched this plane for twice the time that it would nor mally have taken. It worked closer and closer to the ground over the same area, as it lost altitude gradu ally in the maneuvers. Then, after the longest wait that I can remem ber having gone through in the air, in one of its dives from a loop it struck the hills below and burned. We could have burned it with a long burst many times during the min utes of our watching, but I imagine we were all spellbound at the spec tacle. No one spoke for several minutes as we turned back to Hengyang. Then some call over the radio broke the spell, and we Just marked the Jap oft as another confirmed Zero? another "good" Jap. Over in' Yunnan we fought the Japs a few times in Burma and had the sadness of another military fu neral. Those moments in the Bud dhist burial grounds were the hard est in China. As the Chaplain read the prayer and the flag-draped cas ket was lowered into the red earth of Yunnan, a small formation, with slow-turning engines that gave forth a muffled sound, would fly over the grave. There would be one vacant niche in the evenly spaced fighters, in honor of the brother airman who would fly no more. After eight months in combat I was sent with five other pilots to fer ry six new P-40K's over from the air base at Karachi. During our wait for the planes to be ready for combat, we were permitted to go to Bombay for the detached service. There, m this splendor of the Hotel Taj Mahal, we had a glorious time. In fact, it became very hard to real ize that a war was going on over in Burma and China, as we looked at the night clubs from Malabar Hill and from inside them too, at the horse-races for the Aga Khan's Purse?and at all the things that we had forgotten to remember. The return across India was a happy one, for we were ferrying new and higher-powered ships back to the war, and all of us were eager to try them out in combat. From Assam we took the old familiar trail that I used to fly with the trans ports, and it felt especially good to look around and see thoee friendly looking P-tfs along with me over the Burma Road where I had, hi arlier months, boon compelled to ly alone. The ahark-moutha had lot yet been painted on, but the sil louettea of the new fighters looked riendly nevertheless. A fast trip over the five hundred niles from Assam Is lifcy this: We're off from our base and bead ng 118 degrees across the twelve housand-foot Naga Hills to the first iheck-point, where the upper fork if the Chindwin forms the likeneis if a shamrock. Up to our left now, rom the altitude of eighteen thou land that we've attained so effort essly with the new ships, can be leen the higher snow-capped peaks if Tibet and Chinese Turkestan. Down below us the valley of the trrawaddy is low and green, but orbidding nonetheless. Ahead as we cross the "Y" In the little known 'triangle of the Irrawaddy," we see ihe real hills of the "bump" begin ? rise. Snow-capped peaks every where. Our map reads that our highest peak is going to be 15,800 feet; yet we well know from ex perience that we've tried it many times and we need to be very sure that we are at 18,000 to clear the mountains from the Irrawaddy to Tali Lake. Below us are the villages of the Miaows. We climb to 2&.000 feet to test the "suped-up" ships, and a ?mile comes to our faces under the oxygen masks?for this is going to ?urprise the Jap. We're going over the Mekong now, and from the time (hat has elapsed we've certainly picked up a toil wind?must be mak ing over three hundred. The gorge of the Mekong runs like a gash in the sinister country of Burma to the South, and we know it goes on and on towards Saigon and the sea. It's barely twenty miles to the Salween, and we make it so quickly that we begin to doubt that the oth er river had been the Mekong. Our ground speed is well over three hun dred as we see Lake Tall and start the down-hill run to Kunming. Now we catch the first glimpse of the Burma Road, North of Yunnanyi, and soon we see the small lake that is near our field at that town. The mountains to the North are very hi<?'u.a?d we k"ow they ?et higher and higher and stretch almost with out break to the East and the Pa cific. We she the hairpin turns of toe Burma Road near Tsuyung, and f?01? ^ T*,'re nearly home from toe Taj M^bnl and India. We dive over the field of our head quarters Just one hour and twenty five minutes from the time we took off from Assam, five hundred miles away. I can tell by toe smiles on the faces of the other men in the flight that we're all thinking the same thing: We have bad medicine for the Jap packed into the in creased horsepower of these new Kays ?our Warhawks. They are the latest of toe P-40 series, and roming to us this time of year we look upon them as Christmas pres ents from the States. The P-40 was in production when the war began. Then the decks were definitely stacked against us and everything was in favor of the enemy. During toe past year of our war these ships produced as no oth er fighter plane did, for they were serving on every front. Any pilot who actually fought the Axis ene mies in toe P-40 Tomahawks, Kitty hawks, or Warhawks will tell you ^.y ,a.re to^h and dependable. They win dive with the best of projectiles ?Including a bomb. All of us hope that the best fighter plane has not been produced, but we know that America will develop R. In the meantime, through those lean months when America had to fight on many, fronts with so little the glorious P-40 series paid off when the chips were down to a ratio of between twelve and fifteen to one twelve to fifteen enemy ships for every one of ours lost Some day, when the war is over and our sturdy American engines driving great American ships have won victory with air power, I hope and pray-wito all fighter pilots who have faced our enemies in aerial combat, from the hot sands of Libya to the cold tundra of the Aleutians from the jungle heat of Guadalcanal to those torrential rains of the Bur mese Monsoons?that some under standing group of citizens will go to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. 'Diere beside the statue that commemo rates the first flight of toe Wright Brothers, I hope that they will build a monument to the Curtiss P-40 with its Allison Engine. And now, with a few minor battles In the air, we saw Christmas in Chi na draw near, and I couldn't help wishing for fast action somewhere. After all, there's only one place a person wants to be at Christmas. I took off from Kunming one day Just before Christmas to inspect toe warning net in western Yunnan. It didn't take long to find out that it was very inefficient near the Bur ma border, where a steady influx of fifth-columnists and Japanese mon ey was filtering across toe Salween. Even then I knew that instead of getting toe Chinese officers who were in charge of toe net to Investigate, It would be much better to have a' few engagements with toe Jap over the failing net-area. There was no tonic like burning Jap planes ever tho country to improve tow function ing of the air-raid warning not ?TO m CONTINUED) .7 . ? ... mmm* IMPROVED1,1" UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL Sunday i chool Lesson Lesson for May 13 uiy? wb)wti and lertptura testa aa? Couna|y THE TRAGEDY OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM Nations as well as people come to crossroads in their history, and taking the wrong road then means future disaster. Solomon had built up a great national prosperity, but at the expense of heavy taxes. Ha had forgotten God, and was suc ceeded by a son who followed in his footsteps. Offered an opportunity to ease the burden of the people (I Kings 11-14), Kehoboam in his folly made it great er, and the nation was divided. The ten northern tribes, which were henceforth to be known as Israel, followed Jeroboam, and the two southern tribes under Rehoboam be came the kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam started with God's favor, and might have led his people aright, but Instead he became the king whose name stood for wicked ness (see II Kings 15:18). The story of that downfall is a sad picture of unbelief and failure. '? Religion Meets Polities (I Kings 12:28-30). Jerusalem, now in the rival king dom of Judah, was the center of Hebrew worship. While the people of Israel were free to go there to worship, Jeroboam saw that it might lead to their being led away from him. It was a shrewd political deduction, but it left God out of the picture. He established new centers of worship, where calves of gold were ?et up. They were probably in tended to be a symbol of God, but they bespeak the folly of mixing worldly things with the things of God. They become an abomination and a snare. The people responded to the ap parent interest of the king in their welfare, and worshiped at the most convenient place. Religion had met politics, and had let politics take the upper hand. 3?meone has suggested that when we begin to find ways to make our religion easy, we can be cer tain that it is the enemy of our souls who Is at work. When Satan begins to be solicitous about our welfare and suggest that it is too far to go to church, or that the weather is too cold (or too warm), etc., etc., we should be on guard. Religious ease was a big step downward for Israel, and it can be for any other nation. Where does America stand in that important matter? H. A Queen Meets a Prophet (I Kings 19:1-4, 13b-18). Elijah under the mighty hand ol God had defied the wicked king, Ahab, and his more wicked queen, Jezebel; yes, and all the prophets of Baal, and had been gloriously victorious (I Kings 18:17-41). The queen, who was devilish in her wickedness and determination to destroy the worship of the true God, threatened the prophet. He who had met the challenge of the hundreds of prophets' fled in fear before the relentless hatrtd of this venomous woman. The prophet felt that all was lost, but God revealed to him that even to that dark day there were many who were still true to Him (v. 18). It is a precious and encouraging bit of light to an otherwise dark scene Our main interest to this lesson is not the experience at the prophet but to seeing the cause of Israel's downfall. Here we see one great reason-every king of Israel was a wicked man. Some were better and amne worse, but all at them forgot God. A nation is on the downward path when its rulers forget God. What about our own nation? What about the elected representatives of the people? Do we choose men for pub lic office because of their Christian faith and character, or on ths basis of political expediency or af filiation? III. A Nation Meets Its Doom (ij Kings 17:7, 8). The hour had struck when God's heavy hand of judgment had to fall on Israel, the northern kingdom ol 10 tribes. Verse 8 of this chapter relates their carrying away into cap tivity to Assyria, and verses 7-8 tell us the reason for that judgment. Ingratitude for God's blessing (v. 7) led to the worship of other gods (v. 8). They knew God's hatred for the sin of idolatry, and His judgment upon those who walked in that way, but they went right I on. | Note to verse 9 that these things | were -lone "secretly." "The same thing is true today of many who | profess to be the people of God. The ! line at demarcation between the I church and the world is not clearly I drawn. We do well to note care i fully the outcome of this course ol , procedure on Israel's part (w. 8, | 18). The fact that Israel did these things secretly did not hide then from the eyes of Jehovah (Ps. 139 I 1, 2; Bob. 4:13)" (John W. Bead I bury). LNklMat I HOLLYWOOD I "ji. ? ? -???' THE DANCE is art. only one of ^ the seven lively aits; it's threatening to become the liveliest. In the movies it's always an up and - down caieer, if not actually lougn going, uur producer* have doled it out in fit* and starts?a number here, a finale there ? as if the; were afraid we could not take it in more than five minute doses. And except tor the Astalre - Rogers Vera-Ellen musicals and an occasional "Cover Girl" we've had mighty few that can really be de scribed as dancing Alms. In this connection, the late Mark Sandrtch was one of those rare pro ducer - directors who had enough foresight to cry, "On with the dance I" He did the best of those delightful ballroom romances with Ginger and Fred, and just before he died he was preparing "Blue Skies," a cavalcade of hits by my old (but only in years of friendship) pal, Irving Berlin. Only Local Overright But if Hollywood ? and excep tions like Mark Sandrich only prove the rule ? has failed to grasp the terrific possibilities of the dance, the rest of the country cer tainly hasn't. On Broadway and in the once so - called hinterlands something has been happening? something to which Hollywood can not close its eyes much longer. What has happened, my dears, is that the dance has come into its own. And by dance I don't mean Jive, although that, my spies report, is doing all right, too. I mean?and it's perfectly safe to come right out and say it?ballet. Only it's ballet with the curse off?pantomime and jazz and the classics and the joy of living, all rolled Into one. Today the big names are those like Agnes De Mllle, Jerome Bob bins, George Balanchine, and Da vid Liehine, among choreographers, and Leonard Bernstein, brilliant young composer of "Fancy Free" and "On the Town." There are bal lets in "Oklahoma," "Bloomer Girl," "One Touch of Venus," "Song of Norway," "Up in Central Park," "La Vie Parisienne," and "Carmen Jones." Anton Dolin and Alicia Mar kovs are demonstrating terpaichore in Billy Rose's "Seven Lively Arts." Vera Zorina, that gorgeous, elflike creature, is posing in Shakespeare's "The Tempest." And Bath Pago and Sgt. Bentley Stone have set New York town?and Commissioner Moss ? on their respective ears with a sensational interpretation of "Frankie and Johnny." Common Denominator Sooner or later motion pictures , and the dance are bound, to get to gether. The very soul of both is rhythm. In one sense they" already have. Isn't Wait Disney the great est creator of rhythm of them all? And we've had our "numbers" and our "specialties" by Velos and Yoianda, the De Marcos, Car men Amaya, the Hartmans, Katha rine Dunham, and countless others. We've even had a short or two with the Ballet Russe. And we've had Astalre, Gene Kelly, Jimmy Cagney, George Murphy, and that spectacular leaper Mare Piatt of ?Tonight and Every Night." Our dancing daughters have been few but precious ? Rita Haywerth, Betty Grable, Ann Miller, Baby Keeier, Eleanor Powell, Ginger (of course), and little Jena MsCraeken, who highlighted "Hollywood Can teen" with her "Ballet in Jive." The other day I had the pleasure of watching a sequence from "Won der Man," Danny Kayo's new one for Sam Goldwyn. Danny wasn't in it, but Vera-Ellen was. She sang and danced a number called "I'm So in Love." Sam hired her without even making a screen test after he'd caught her in "A Connecticut Yankee," and this time I'm betting on his judgment. Vera-Ellen (the ' last name is Rohe) is not only petite and blonde as Marilyn was; she can put over a song with re freshing charm and she's a dancin' fool. If Warners ever get around to making that Marilyn Miller film they'll be wise to have a look at Vera-Ellen. It it's O.K. with Sam GeMorya of course. Incidentally, Goldwyn, who is something of a wonder himself, has already snapped up Jereme Bob bins, who staged the dances for "On I the Town," to design numbers for Danny Kaye's next. Which brings ballet that much nearer to the I screen. ' | ? ? ? Over-Age at 15 Monthe Gene Tlerney thought for one ex , citing moment she'd get her daugh ter in for a christening scene in , "Dragonwyck." In fact, Joe Mankie wtes led her to believe it, then asked how old the baby was. She said, "13 [ months." "Sorry," said Joe, "She's 14 months too old." . . . Since so | much fuss, feathers, and furbelows . have been put on her in "The Dolly Sisters," Betty Grable thinks our oostume designers should get an award next year. Why not? Set de signers do. =3 SEWING CIRCLE NEEDLECRAFT Sun Suits for Brother and Sister Make two suits from one pattern I Pat m 90t has a transfer pattern of S tribe, tckets. necessary pattern pieces far setts sizes 1. I. J and 4. Due to an unusually large demand and irrent war conditions, slightly more time required In filling orders for a few ad ? most popular pattern numbers. Send your order to: Sewing Circle Ksedtecrmfl Dept. tt Eighth Ave. New Tech Enclose 18 cents for Pattern No Millions of people ??Serin* from simple Piles, hare found prompt relief with PAZO ointment Here's why: Pint. PAZO ointment soothes Interned arsns?relieves pain and Itching. Second, PAZO ointment Inbricatee hardened, dried ports? helps present cracking and eere? noes. Third. PAZO ointment tends to redoes swotting and check minor bleeding. Poorth, It's amy to nae. PAZO ointmears perforated Pile Pipe makm application simple, thorough. Your doctor can tell yen about PAZO ointment. flfPPOSITOKIIS TOOI prefer towmsuppoeltortce, so PAZO The**tame soothing relief that PAZO always glees. ????? ,|| SNAPPY FACTS awtio lunn I y hi mi MT Am yMr at w, 4%% d rtw rwfcliir nmimA hi Hm If. ft. wti lyltwHo la 194ft. ftft%, sad la 1944 SO*. At IIn iwraiaaf thao, airi tbaa 19% U lyatbetk. TIm tyNhertc rvbba Imtotry It a* log toap of Hi* rota off 100,000,* 000 poadi o yoor enough to off CMcogo ffor oao yoor. A aow Mad of tyatbetic rvb bee bat booa 9#v#lop#t frat lactic acfal (bottonalbc). The ft. f. Goodrich Company hot mod* experimental tfret of rubber produced from kok-taghyz, the ftve iian doodellon. RFGoodrich j xHldPm ^mmupmpn^ A fceorto hoMbald eodnpde drem-A i^MdfdtwafcrlliMi Ibtbiftl BALSAM OF MTMHI It i Ml ? ecbe of tra eetd end tueiaed amdet I Takes the ttfc* ead Itch oat ei baraa. ? d^pedlh^toMdZa^Seataoa | ?StbTqa or liinbt. I Kecpa badiliib hr the adaar? SC. HhMFOAD MWLCO,? L. M HH /""OOL?comfortable?gaily em ^ broidered and made or but 1 yard of material! The applique chicks are sister's; brother goes nautical. A MOTHER f ; - j A General Quiz ' ? The Qaeetione 1. Where is the longest canal in the world? 2. Are congressmen required by law to attend any session of con gress? 3. Who calls "track" in the sports world when he wants people out of his way? 4. What man signed his corre spondence and paintings with the figure of a butterfly? 5. Will food cook more quickly | in vigorously or gently boiling water? 6. Sinology is the study of what? 7. What is a milksop? t. What stadium has the largest seating capacity in the United States? 9. What bird has the swiftest flight for short distances? 10. Approximately how far does the earth travel each day on its journey around the sun? The Answers 1. In China. It is 2,100 miles long and was completed in 1350 after 600 years. 2. No. 3. A skier. 4. James Whistler. 5. The same. 6. Chinese language and culture. 7. A weak man. 8. Soldier fleld, Chicago (150, 000). 9. Humming bird. 10. 1,601,604 miles. Sad Disappointment Mrs. Clum?And is it a secret? Mrs. Redrier?Oh, no, not at all. Mrs. Clum ? Too bad! I did want to tell Mrs. Longjaw. Jenky always believed in eaD Ing a spage a spade till be hit his foot with one the other day. Going Down! Pop?So you refuted young Cottll man. Don't you know he d etc ended from e fine family? Daughter?Yet, end how he detcended. Dear Me Admirer?I admire your reper toire. Star?Yes, he was a repertoire on the Blaze before we became engaged. f S nap, Crackle,ftp/ ^ I KeDoffs*? FV* Krisplee equal the vhole rice I If f f I* Ml I I train In nearly all the protective food efe- / * f * W L Jl ^^mente declared laerntlel to hnman nutrition. / BMmTIFFJOINTS and BRUISeH Atlw ond Potiw ? ? W*? I
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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May 10, 1945, edition 1
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