GOD IS MY i
?, CO-PILOT
* CoL Robert L.Scott W-NJU. RtLLASt
?? # 1 ?? ? iiuuuaf
Hi Wert Polmt, Bobvrt tan tla kto
?kfi u b|y FtoM ud ukn ??> combat
. trial. Whoa tho wax breaks oat ha b
aa las tree tor and la toU be la too old
M aeaebal Bytos. Bo appeals to several
: Oaanrate aat la finally ylvea aa op*or
amity to art Into the firht. Ha Ilea a
bember tote India, where be la made a
?erry pilot, bat thla does not aatlafy him.
Altar vlartlar General Ckaaaaalt be ieu
a Kitty hawk, and aooa becomes a "one
. mas air laree" over Barma. Later be U
made eommandlm oOeer aI tho nrd ?
Flakier Group. MaJ. Alison teU three
bombers one day and lands In the river.
His plane sinks, bat the Chinese |et It
sat by a S.SOt year-old method.
CHAPTER XX
When strange things would hap
pen, we talked about things of the
sort which had once been told in
story books. All of us agreed that
when this war was over, there would
be nothing that had ever happened
in fiction that wouldn't have actually
happened in this battle of the uni
verse. For instance:
Likiang is a city in China far up
an the big, northern loop of the
Yangtse-Kiang. It is China, yes, but
that part of China is as wild as Tibet
and Arabia. The people are called
"Lotos," and they must be descend
ants of Genghis Khan. I had flown
ever the place, for it was just North
cf the ferry route from Assam to
Kunming, and I had seen the flat
clearing South of the village that
could have been an emergency land
ing field. I noted that it was close
to nine thousand feet above sea lev
el., and therefore not a field to use
?Bless one had to.
Capt. Charlie Sawyer had crash
landed just South of there, closer to
Talifu, and had been unable to iden
tify himself. While the wild-looking
Lolo tribesmen were getting set to
execute him with ancient-looking
fiint-lock muskets, Sawyer said the
holes in the barrels looked twice as
hif as fifty-calibre bores. Just at
the crucial moment, however, when
his fate looked darkest, some new
arrival in the party saw the identi
?cation card that Sawyer had been
pointing to. It was inscribed in vari
ous languages, and with pictures.
The new arrival didn't recognize the
Chinese flag, or any of the lan
guages, or the Generalissimo's sig
nature "chop"?but he saw a star.
As it happened, it was the star of
India over the imprint in Hindustani.
Then the tribesman pointed to the
same star on the wing of Sawyer's
ship?the insignia of the Army Air
force. Sawyer was saved, and later
he was feasted on wild buffalo and
nee wine.
But why? Here in the wilds of
the Lolo country, where very few
. white men had ever been, the tribes
.. *? were more familiar with the
white-star of the Air Force than with
any written language. We learned
the principal reason later.
A report had come in to General
Chennault's headquarters that a na
tive village in the Lolo country, be
tween Lake Tali and I*ikiang, was
?nder siege by the Burmese north
ern tribesmen who had crossed the
Salween, perhaps under the direc
tion of the Japanese. Two of us,
Holloway and I, were sent to look
the place over in two P-40's. We
were told by the General that we
could determine whether the town
was under siege by noting whether
?r not the usual pedestrian traffic
was passing in and out of the city
gate. All the cities are walled, and
are obviously very far from roads
?r from civilization.
We made our observation and re
turned with the report. The village
was besieged, and we had seen the
horsemen encamped a half mile
around the city wall. We loaded up
and went back with six eighteen
kilogram frags on the wing racks
end plenty of fifty-calibre ammuni
tion. I also carried a Very pistol
and all colors of shells.
An nnnl/1
iu nc bubiyu uic wwv?u, *vc vwuiu
see the villagers watching us; then
we dove on the besiegers and
bombed tHem from a thousand feet.
The lines of prehistoric cavalry
broke and retreated towards the Sal
ween and Burma. We machine
gunned them until they spread in
panic. Then I used the Very pistol,
shooting first green lights, then red.
Holloway said it was the best dis
play of fireworks he'd ever seen. We
checked up for several days, but the
raiders hadn't come back, and nor
mal pedestrian traffic was passing
through the city wall. Holloway and
I, with two of the General's P-40's,
had stopped a war.
The white star of the Air Force
had been seen by those villagers,
and they had told the surrounding
country that we were friends. Per
haps the constant sight of transports
from India to China and return had
made the big,white star a familiar
symbol. At any rate, the Lolos who
were about to execute Sawyer rec
ognized it, and to them it meant
more than written languages and
sealed orders. Such is the strange
ness of this global war.
More true fiction came out of the
larfo country during the autumn. A
Ferry Command pilot, Lieutenant
Aronson, "lost an engine"?which
means that his engine failed?on his
trip from Assam to Kunming. He
barely made the big meadow that
was South of the town of Likiang,
in the hairpin loop Of the Yangtse.
After several days we went in there
to look the improvised landing-field
over, in t|^ hop* that m oould fly
another tWHispdrtto Sin* with'a good
engine, or carry in the mechanic!
and the tools with which to repair
the bad one.
In every organization there is al
ways one person who holds up the
morale, some one who makes the
darker moments brighter and who
can bring a little sunshine into the
tense reality of war. Out in the
China theatre, and especially in the
23rd Fighter Group, my most unfor
getable character was Lieut. Henry
Elias. This pilot was a Southerner,
like most of the others in the China
skies. When I first reached Heng
yanjj he was acting as assistant op
erations officer to Ajax Baumler.
He had a reply for every person,
and a come-back to every Joke. He
was definitely a morale builder, and
you can ask anyone if they're not
as valuable at the front as ammuni
tion.
Elias had been on several raids
and had shot down two Japanese
when I heard the first Joke about
him. "He'd been on an attack to
Nanchang, and as the ships turned
for home in the fading light of late
afternoon, some one in the rear of
the formation observed something
peculiar. Up ahead there were five
These pilots are tired oat bp al
most constant alert without relief for
21 days.
P-40's with their sleek silhouettes
showinfpwheels up and everything in
proper order. But off to the flank,
in almost the position of the number
three man in a Vee formation, was
one ship with its wheels extended.
Some one called on the radio, "Hey,
Elias, who's that flying in formation
with you, with their wheels down?"
As the words sank into the con
sciousness of the flight, and of Elias
especially, their ominous signif
icance became apparent. Elias
jerked his head around and looked
at his wing man. Even to an in
experienced eye, the silhouette was
unmistakable. It was a Jap Model
1-97, one of the old fixed landing
gear types. The entire formation
tried at once to get it as they finally
realized what it was. But they had
the laugh on Elias. Just as he rec
ognized the Jap, the enemy pilot evi
dently recognized the P-40's in the
twilight before darkness?perhaps
he saw the leering sharks' mouths.
For as Elias shoved the nose of his
ship straight down and dove for him,
the Jap pulled his ship straight up
and climbed for the sky. Later,
when our imaginations began to em
broider the joke, Elias took the kid
ding in good part and always had a
comeback.
A small two-seater biplane, a
Fleet, came to Hengyang from
Kweilin one day with a Chinese of
ficer. We looked the little ship over
as it came into the field wide open
at some seventy-five miles an hour.
"We now have just the bait we
need," I said. "Lieutenant Elias, I
want you to borrow that Fleet from
the Chinese. I know a trick to make
the Japs lose lots of 'face' and air
planes."
Elias had laid down his Opera
tions reports and was listening at
tentively. "This ought to get you
promoted," I went on. "Now you
get that plane and service it tonight,
then early in the morning you take
oS for Hankow. Alison, Baumler,
and I will be along later and will
arri -e over the Jap city before you
, do." Elias was looking at me in
wonder. "Then, when you get there,
fly over the enemy airport at thirty
five hundred feet?that'll keep you
just above their small-calibre fire
and they can't shoot accurately that
low with the big stuff. Over the field
you fly with one wing low, kind of
skidding, cutting your switch on and
off so the Japs will think you're
either wounded or over there with a
bad engine."
Elias was trying to figure out
whether I was serious or not. Then
I added: "We'll be up there in the
sun, and as fast as the Zeros come
up for you, we'll knock them down.
After all, Elias, if they get you, a
Fleet isn't worth much."
But by now Lieutenant Elias was
walking out and calling over his
shoulder: "No sir. Colonel, I just
want to be a plain pilot?I don't
want to be no ball of fire."
Well, we saw the value of Elias
when we lost him, for in this second
battle around Hunan ha failed to re
turn from the strafing raid of Sep
tember J, 1943. We had taken six
teen P-40's back to Hengyang when
we had gotten them in shape to fight,
had landed there just about dark
to surprise the Jape. That's the
, i
night the Fleet landed and the night
I had been kidding Henry Elias.
Next morning we got into the air
before daylight and went for Laka
Puyang Hu. near Nanchang, where
the Japs were moving the Chinese
rice out by junka and barges?rob
bing the breadbasket of China in the
yearly rape of the rice. Hill took
eight of the P-40's and I took the
other eight.
Elias was on Tex Hill's wing. We
split at Nanchang and my eight
went to the South to catch some
gunboats that had been reported in
the Sintze-Hukow Strait, near Kuki
ang, coming from the Yangtse to
the Lake. I beard Hill call that he
had caught the rice ahlps and was
burning them. Later he told me
that he found twenty-six of them,
junks and steel barges; he sank
some and saw others with their sails
on fire, floating for shore where the
hungry Chinese coolies would sal
vage the rice.
Through the four passes - at the
Japs Elias was right on Tex's wing,
but on the fourth pullout he dropped
behind the formation, perhaps to
shoot at something Hill hadn't seen.
Maybe he'd seen a Jap fighter and
had gone for it; we knew there were
eight Zeros supposed to be over Nan
chang. Elias didn't return with the
flight, and for two days we carried
him as "missing."
Then the Chinese net reported that
a group of Chinese soldiers had seen
a lone American P-40 engaged by
four Japanese Zeros. The Ameri
can had fought them but his ship
had been shot down. The American
had jumped out in his parachute and
four Japanese had strafed him on
the way down.
The body had been found, with the
identification flag number listed.
The pilot's name was Lieutenant
Elias. All of us watched for Japs
bailing out, so that we could shoot
one or two down for Elias, but we
didn't get the chance.
'We sent Captain Wang down to
Kian to get Elias's body. Wang had
to travel a hundred and sixty miles
by buffalo cart, by alcohol bus, and
on toot, but he finally got there. The
trip took him twenty days. When
the body ot our lost pilot finally ar
rived at the field from which he had
last taken off, it was in a Chinese
coffin that Wang had gotten at Kian.
We placed the flag over the grim
reminder ot war and sent it by
transport to Kunming, to lie beside
his other brother pilots in that Bud
dhist graveyard in Yunnan.
And so it went: tragedy?humor
?tragedy. For on the same raid I
had led the other eight ships, with
elements led hy Hollo way, Schiel,
and O'Coanell, and had caught the
Jap gunboats, ten ot them, at Sintze
Hukow Strait. They were coming
to Puyang Hu to convoy those rice
barges?but we were going to in
terfere with their rendezvous.
Even as we circled them from six
teen thousand teet, I think they knew
they were going to have lots of trou
ble. They had to stay almost in
line, nose-to-stern, for they were go
ing through the narrow strait. We
circled warily tor a minute, looking
the sky over for enemy fighters, then
spiralled down. As soon as we got
close enough to the Jap ships to see
distinctly, we noticed that the sea
men were jumping over the side
into the water. Only a few seemed
to have remained to fire the anti
aircraft guns, and Schiel and Hollo
way silenced most of those with
their initial pass.
v I think most of the ammunition
had been fired at us while we cir
cled at sixteen thousand feet, for
we were the whole show now. We'd
rake the steel decks from stem to
stem and then swing out low to the
water and come beck with quarter
ing shots from the beam. We were
so low that we were actually shoot
ing up at the decks of the boats. I
saw many human beads above the
water as the Japs tried to swim
from the boats, and I fired at them.
Those bullets ricocheted from the
water into the steel side of the gun
boat and went on through. As my
range would reach the "sweet spot"
of some 287 yards, where the six
lines of tracers and armor-piercing
Fifties converged, it would sppear
as though an orange-colored hole the
size of a flour barrel was being
burned into the side of the Jap ves
sel at the water-line.
We S-ed along the ten-ship line
and shot at them all from both sides.
On the second pass, two of the ves
sels were listing, and others were
smoking. On the fourth attack, sev
en out of the ten were smoking and
burning and some of these were on
the bottom with their masts barely
out of water. Photographs taken
later from an observation plane
showed that seven had sunk immedi
ately in the strait, and that the oth
er three had sunk within a thousand
yards of the battle area.
I was so happy, so excited and
eager, that I tried to be glamorous
that morning. After the fourth at
tack I had called to re-form and
head for the rendezvous point to the
Southwest. But as the ships left the
target, I saw something I had to go
back for. It was a Japanese flag,
waving defiantly from the mast d
one of the sunken gunboats. For
getting caution, and with the other
seven planes speeding away to the
rendezvous point, I dove to straia
the flag in a gesture at bats,
(TO ax coKTnruxD)
?"improved"-?
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
Sunday i
chool Lesson
BY HAROLD L. LUIfDQUIBT. D. D.
gasr
Lesson for March 25
Councu^ to i?il(tiw Bduuttoe: used bar
THE LAST WEEK VJ
lessow Ttrr-uittbn a-.ii*.
GOLDOI TKXT?BlMMd to ha that e*ra
?tt> to tb> hum to tte Lnrt; iKninn. to
tlw hlstMst.?Mittlwv U:(.
The official presentation of Him
self to the Jewish people as their
King, their rejection of Him and,
what was even more solemnly mean
ingful, His rejection of the Hebrew
nation because of their unbelief?
such are the stirring events which
face us as we go with our Lord Into
the last week of-His earthly minis
try.
The first event in that sequence
is the one we study in our lesson
for today, namely, the coming of the
King to Jerusalem.
I. Preparation and Presentation
(w. 8, 7).
The King comes, but even in His
hour of royal triumph He gives to
His followers the unexplalnable but
inestimable joy of meeting His need.
1. "The Disciples Did As Jesus
Appointed" (v. 8). He had need of
disciples who would do His bidding
without question or hesitation. How
precious is such obedience I Let us
also go and do what He commands.
He needed the oolt and the ass.
How simple and lowly was that need,
and yet hbw glorious that man was
ready to meet itl
God's plana are worked out in the
little things as well as the great.
Prophecy was being fulfilled here
(see v. 5) by a little thing. Is God
waiting to carry out some great pur
pose through some little thing which
you are withholding from Him? Why
hinder Him any longer?
2. "And He Sat Thereon" (v. 7).
Though He did not come with the
pomp and trappings of an earthly
potentate, the King of Glory came
to His people to offer them for the
last time the opportunity to receive
Him.
He asks you to yield your life to
His kingship. What will your answer
be?
n. Acceptance and Rejection (w.
8-11, 15, 16).
1. "The Multitude . . . Cried . .
Hosanna" (w. 8-11). The fact that
before the week was over some of
the same voices cried, "Crucify
him!" should not obscure the fact
that there were childlike believers
(v. 16) who really had faith hi
Christ.
There is something Inspiring about
that picture of enthusiasm and de
votion. Real faith in Christ ought
to result in a fervor of spirit which
will stir our hearts and our cities.
Are we not altogether too dead and
formal in much of our worship to
day? Do we not need more holy
enthusiasm for Christ and for His
Church?
2. "The Chief Priests and Scribes
. . . Were Sore Displeased" (w. 15,
16). Small wonder, for not only had
the children put them to open
shame by recognizing the Christ
whom they had ignored, but He had
also luined their polite religious
"racket" which produced for them
such a lovely profit.
Mark this?when anyone is dis
pleased with Jesus or with His chil
dren or with His work on earth, you
can be sure that there is a reason,
and not a holy, upright or good rea
son either I
HI. Judgment and Compassion
(w. 12-14).
wnai a remarsaoie pictureI in
the midst of flaming judgment and
destruction we And His loving com
passion upon the blind and the lama.
Folk who think that Christ has no
message but love nsad to look on
Him as He cleanses the temple. On
the other band, those who think that
He has t? word but judgment need
to behold Him as He stands in the
midst of the overturned tables and
debris and heals the needy.
1. "Jesus Cast Out . . . and Over
threw" (w. 12, 13). He knew where
to begin to cleanse the city. He
started iu the temple. Absolutely
right is the man who suggested that
the place to start to clean up a city
is net in the slums but in the
churches.
Yon will not be ready to clean out
the tavern or that other low place
where the gang hangs out in your
town until you have cleaned out the
church if sin is being harbored
there.
The same is true of the individual.
A regenerated heart will bring a
reformed life, not vice versa. You
can live only after you have been
bora.
L "He Healed Them" (v. 14). The
very haiyis which had just over
thrown the tables and cast out the
money-changer* now gently touched
the lame' and the blind with healing.
The eyes which had blazed with holy
indignation now shone with love and
compassbsi. The scene of judgment
and chars became the house of
prayer asd at answered prayer. On
the very spot where one man had
received condemnation, another re
ceived hauling.
Each one received that which Ha
sought by his own attitude and action.
How will you, my dear reader, meet
Jesus?as your Judge or as your Sa
viour? You must make the choice.
Choose Qrlst today.
Truly Bright
By M. B. McKINLEY
McQur* Newspaper Syndicate.
WVU Tuturti.
A REFUGEE child, homeless, hla
^ clothes hanging In shreds,
slouched against the high wall that
bordered the narrow street. He
gazed apathetically before him, but
when the near-by gatehouse doors
suddenly opened and a foreign wom
an, accompanied by her amah and
coolie, emerged, his eyes bright
ened.
This tair woman, with the light
brown hair and gray eyes, re
minded him of the one who used to
lire near his home. She had been
kind to him and had often asked him
in and given him sweetmeats. Per
haps this one would be like her, and
give him food and a bed to sleep on.
With this thought in mind he
followed Lydia Denton as she
walked listlessly to the Wong com
pound.
Lydia had not wished to attend
this feast in honor of the arrival of
a son and heir to Mr. and Mrs.
Wong, but Wong was a valued busi
ness acquaintance and her husband
did not wish to offend him.
The serving woman, her black*
hair oiled and smoothed into a neat
bun at the nape of her neck, glanced
at her mistress. She had not been
the same since the bombs of the
"little black devils" had struck the
hospital and she had lost her wee
son. After that there had been no
more happiness in the Denton home.
The child peered into the basket
the coolie carried. Red eggs?and
fruit and sweet cakes! The eggs
must be a present for the mother of
a newborn son, and the sweet cakes
and fruit would help defray the ex
penses of the feast.
In the Wong compound the serv
ing woman proudly proffered the
knitted wool Jacket. The coolie emp
tied his basket of eggs; red eggs
for a son.
At the earliest possible moment
Lydia took her leave, and the amah
reluctantly followed. Outside the
gatehouse the boy was waiting and
A
, "P _1?
"I lived In ? boase with a wall
around It."
the serving woman (topped to speak
to him. "What is your name?" she
asked.
"Truly Bright," was the answer.
"Very good indeed." This was a
common name tor a child in her
country. She opened the square of
paper she carried and handed him
a cake.
When they reached their com
pound the child went in with them.
"Where did you come from?"
queried the amah.
"A long way off," the boy re
plied. "I lived in a house with a
wall around it. I used to play in the
garden until the' day strange sol
diers broke in and 1 hid. When
they were gone I came out and?
and?" his voice faltered "?my
father and mother were lying there
but they couldn't speak to me. Some
neighbors took me and we walked
and walked. Then I lost them and
went with a man on a boat Ha
brought me to this city."
The serving woman turned to her
mistress. "He has no home," she
said, "may I feed him?"
"If you wish," Lydia replied in
differently. Her mind was fixed on
a plan. She intended to leave this
country and go to America.
One day she paused outside the
room she had fitted as a nursery.
She had an impulse to bid good
bye to the dear wee clothes and
the dainty belongings. Slowly she
turned the key and went inaide, too
engrossed in her memories to notice
that Truly Bright was behind her.
He stood still, his eyes roaming
from the lace-trinnned bassinet to
the baby carriage.
He saw the mistress touch a small
flannel garment and gently lift a
silken coverlet. Suddenly a delight
ful thought came to him and he hur
ried assay on slippered feet as noise
lessly as he had come. Presently be
returned, his face aglow, a small
bamboo basket in his hand. "For
the new baby," he said happily.
It was as if scales had fallen from
before Lydia's eyes, permitting her
to see clearly for the first time in
months. Her selflah absorption in
her sorrow had poisoned the air
around her and had caused her to
forget her duty and her love for her
husband. She took the basket and
tears rolled down her cheeks as she
looked at the contents. "Perhaps"
she whispered brokenly "?per
haps?"
in the woven nest were three eggs
crudely colored red. Red eggs tor a
son.
y
SEWING CIRCLE NEEDLEWORK
Make New Slip Covers for Spring
CLIP covers are pure magic in
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t2 yards of 35-inch material or If
pards of 50-inch material for a
lofa with three cushions. Direc
tions for six different styles of
kofas and davenports are included
in the instructions.
? ? e
To obtain complete cutting, sewing and
finishing instructions for Davenport SMp
covers (Pattern No. 8SJS) send M cents
in coin, your name, addreae and the pat
tern number.
Due to an unusually large demand and
current war conditions, slightly more time
is required In filling orders for a few af
the most popular pattern numbers.
Send your order to:
SB WING CimCLB NIKDUVOBK ll
I1M Sixth Ave. New Terh. N. T. B
Enclose IS cents for Pattern
No
Name v II
Addrwa I
"SMJD
%0. ""666
0old PiynmUmu m dtrmtmd
?Boy War Savings Bids
y Flavor Delights Millions/ \
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V"Tka feats An Brut Fsa??" ? Mtft&jfp I J|h
KcOoa't Corn Flakes brinf yon nearly all / _ ' jH
A the protective food elements of the whole I p n D Afl /;r#5?
fiam declared essential to hsmsan nntntsoo. I U U tl N I I
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^OUSUi^A^T^
WMZZ AT WAXTr/U?
^M&US,/HAf j-'
WIUi In ditto of *11 to# ihortacn.
Tour meal* teem to tut* Ju?t u
(ood u ererl How do yon do tt?
twi> There't nothing Uko froth.
hot rail* to ptrk op a meal, wmt
And I har? a whole book at eaa?
redpee to uee with rMactonaan'a
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f I'M SURE 6LAD I LEARNED }
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^ B COMPLEX! l^ViRT/
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m
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Into jrour baking with no great ka* "Tt>SRnra\ m ,
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jfl
I ..RUBIN
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quick
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|^Bbb&BI!HHI