The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1918-10-30
DON'T KILL FLYER
WITH SAD LETTER
IS ADVICE GIVEN
BY United Press.

BY United Press.
Washington. Oct JQ.--Be careful
Of letters you write to an airman.
This is the emphatic advice sent
out this week to families and friends
of our niers by the u. s. air medical
service. While Ut first glance it may
appear somewhat strange that the
service should attempt TO dictate asI
to what should not be written to u
flier, a moments thought will reveal
the fact that letters are vital point
in helping to win the war and main
tain army morale 1t is bad enough
for any soldier to receive the kill
10y" type Of letter from home-the
ono telling about grandpa and all OF
the babies being sick, the landlord
pressing for the rent. and how the
sweetheart is receiving marked at
tention from Stacker who has not
been drafted.
But it is much worse for a flier to
receive bad news from home for the
reason that his highly specialized
training and work in the air keeps
him in a state Of high tension and
often he is more susceptible to un-
pleasant news from home than the
man on the ground.
by all means avoid writing that
piece of advice, be careful and don I
take any chances while in the air,
which so many people write" admon-
fishes Lieut.. Col. Isaac H. Jones, of
the U. S. air medical service. III d
flier ever is to become an air fighter
he must take chances and take them
often, too He understands that and
is perfectly willing. But when he
receives letter from one Of the
folks, telling how she dreamed the
night before that he had crashed to
.he ground in a nose dive, it is quite
lieble to have bad psychological ef-
feet upon the boy. He may get to
thinking 100 much about it, and this
combined with inconsistencies may
spoil his mental condition, or even
make him ship shy rendering him
unfit for flying for a day or more.
at Love Field, Dallas, Tex, there
was young cadet whose wife used
to write letters that failed to cheer
and always begged him to be careful
He worried about his wife and smok'
ed cigars to excess, even before and
after breakfast, probably because
smokes consoled him somewhat. He
did not sleep enough, and this COM
bined with the nicotine no doubt dull
cd his brain to such an extent that
at crucial moment he was not
sufficiently alert and was killed when
his ship got into q tail.spin
Sometimes cadtes worry over the
letters from sweethearts and others
SO that instead Of getting hours
sleep at night they obtain only three
Or four, especially in Texas in sum
mer when the nights are very hot.
Then when they are in the air in the
morning these men become drousy
and fall half asleep so that crash
is quite likely to happen, whereas, il
they were sufficiently rested to re-
main alert so that the droning Of
the motor and the vibrant singing of
the wires would not incline them to
drowsness they would be perfectly
safe The flight surgeons and phys
ical directors arc doing wonderful
work to counteract air frances and
other troubles Of the flier and the
people at home must cooperate with
them
Send them cheerful news, even il
it is necessary to avoid telling the
the whole truth. DO your part to
keep up the morale of our air ser
vice"
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