The Washington times., 1917-09-18
CARPENTER TELLS HOW
HE BECAME AN AVIATOR
By GEORGES CARPENTER.

Dg OLOlSLSO
Apart from the vile sea, there was
endless chopping and changing on
the railway; no comfort at all, only
headaching excitement. And when
/ did reach Paris l was sick and
weary at heart, too hungry to eat,
and filled with wonderment as to
what l should be called upon to do.
And where was to be sent to 1 did
not know.
Georges Carpenter, the champion
Of Europe, the greatest boxer in all
France, the idol of his country" The
irony of 1t. For Carpenter as he
was but a few days before l realized
that there was no place. Only did
my country want Carpenter as a
common soldier; from days Of great
prosperity, from nights when made
a small fortune, from times when l
was feted and petted, was plunged
into days when men we're reduced to
a common level, when only the SOL
dier matters.
Paris, when 1 arrived from London,
was an unreal Paris-a made Paris;
its gayety all gone, tenseness and sor-
row everywhere. / discovered that
many OF my friends were even then
in the fight, and not one, but several,
had already been killed in the first
few days OF war.
And in the quiet OF my flat in
Paris l actually cried. and then ]
prayed that l should make good as
soldier.
Then CaAne Reaction.
To have given full play to my feel
ings WAS to give to myself the best
and most-needed tonic. And in the
morning the reaction came. ] was up
early and filled with the kind of ex-
element one can only feel when one
is very young and very sure OF him
self. I pictured great triumphs: 1
thought not OF disappointment. Only
did / believe that the war would be
over soon, and then-this said to the
half-laughing, hRlf-cryIng, Descamps,
from whom l was so soon to part
Then for willard, then for everybody
and anybody. and ! will be champion
OF the wOrldr"
Descamps, like the father to me
that he has always been. embraced
me, and l was off, as hard as 1 could
go, to the recruiting office.
AS / had volunteered for active
seryice-that f., as l have explained
my class had not been mObilized-I
had the right to choose the branch OF
service desired to enter. So ] pump
ed right away for the aviation sec
tlon. believing that II would take but
few weeks before / was flying in
the mir. And the prospect gave me
much joy.
Coming to Earth.
But l soon got one of the worst
knockout blows 1 have had.
The right to decide what service
l would go into was conceded i'm
mediHtely by the recruiting officials,
though now, when l look back. l am
sure the old, bitten-eared sergeant at
the recruiting depot smiled in his
sleeve at the highly-colored, entranc-
Ing picture he knew instinctivcly I
was painting in my mind.
Aviation" he inquired. "Cer-
tainly.'
And in less time than II takes to
write ! was told to take myself off
to a camp at st. Cyr. near Versailles.
I knew absolutely nothing about
an aerOplane or flying. All l knew
was that an aerOplane was a ma
chine in which one flew. But ! had
been up in one, and, do you know.
that lone experience made me decide.
that ] would go In for aviation.
II is quite impossible to tell in
cold print what a first flight is like. |
Any fear you may have that the ma
chine will topple over and you will |
come crashing down to earth disRp- |
pears the moment you are taken in
Nhn nfF. nnlu do faaI vi raN
Riding on afr, TO feel. to know that |
you are conquering something, is the |
explanation I would ofIer for the fas-
cination of the air service. You can,
perhaps, imagine my disappointment |
when, after telling the commanding |
officer at st. Cyr OF my desires, he just |
smiled.
"Oh, yes!r he said, 81 have heard !