Evening star., 1934-07-01
BY LIEUT.. J. II. FOSTER, JR.

United states.
BY LIEUT.. J. II. FOSTER, JR.
The soldier of fortune idea, which
many men never outgrow, lured me,
more than two months ago, to South
America as member of the &C. E.
F. the Colombian Expeditionary
Force. Those months, happily re-
duced from an expected six months
or longer, have taught me a whole
some respect for the advantages of
my native land.
In looking back on this never-to- be-
frogotten experience. live over again
the inward excitement of last April
II as "a American pilots and greater
number of mechanics boarded ship,
to get under way.
A few weeks before word had spread
that some one at Roosevelt Field was
recruiting pilots to go to South Amer
ica Rumor had it that pay was to
be very good A number of pilots
were without jobs. due to taking over
of the airmail by the Army. and in
Army circles many young officers felt
they soon would be without jobs as
the Army handed the airmail back to
private companies.
Contract for Six Months.
A New York commercial pilot, hold
er of an Army reserve commission,
was recruiting a force of pilots and
mechanics to train the Colombian air
force. The contract was to be with
the Colombian government for six
months, with option of renewal. The
pay was to be $3.50 a month for me-
chanics and $500 a month for pilots
half payable in Colombian currency
and half in United States dollars. II
looked good to Army mechanics max
ing from SIT to SIS a month and to
second lieutenants in the Air Corps
making SITS a month, with good pros
poets of losing that.
A meeting was called at the hotel
suite of a Colombian representative
for the purpose of signing contracts
The pilots gathered and, as the con-
tract was gone over. the first doubts
began to arise in our minds.
n NlduoC, WOIdC 1dIllCl dIHUlku-
ously. permitted us to become officers
in the Colombian army, and another
pertained to penalties to be inflicted
by Colombian courts, military anc
civil. These clauses were explained
| away very eXpertly by the Colombian
| representative. Last, but not least
was clause to the effect that, in the
event of war. we bound ourselves te
| aerial combat against Colombia's enc
mics. This aroused serious doubts be-
cause of the threatening trouble be-
tween Colombia and Peru over Leticia
But the Colombian representative sale
trouble between the two countries was
practically impossible. We overcamt
our doubts and contracts were signed
and an advance check given for ex-
penseS and one-half months salary.
Passports Held Up.
AS members of our party continued
to apply for passports, the State De-
partment, not wishing United States
citizens to become involved in trouble
between Colombia and Peru, ruled
passports already issued would be re-
voked unless the contracts were re-
vised. A new contract was drawn up
and signed, although no one I know
of received copy.
The last passports were not received
until just before sailing time. Then
in taxicabs, the entire crew of "a
pilots, some 20 mechanics, a dozen
wives, one sweetheart, one mother-in-
law and three dogs scurried for the
boat.
After an enjoyable trip, with stops
at Port au Prince and Kingston ano
much popping of corks, we arrived at
Cartagena.
We we're met by the commander oi
the local military garrison and his
aides, resplendent in white uniforms
and swords. Official cars were wait
ing to take us to the Hotel Americana
where we we're to be quartered al
government expense After a day OF
so of inactivity. we were introduced
to Comdr. Strong, formerly of the
United States Navy, who was ir
charge of rebuilding the Colombian
Air Corps
Throwing aside all pretense. Strong
stated that war with Peru was i'm
minent and inevitable. He wanted
us to form a fighting squadron i'm
mediately and prepare to go to the
front to do battle with Peru at q
moments notice. We discussed his
proposition The trend was toward
sticking to our contract, which called
for instructing, not fighting. although
some of the boys were willing to fight
if they could be assured they would
not lose their American citizenship.
Strong and our leaders flew tc
Bogota and informed the minister
of war, Alfonso Araujo, of our decision
! He was so angry that he would not
even converse with our leader in
English, although he speaks English
exceedingly we'll. There followed
days of idleness and waiting fol
orders.
Attacked by Dysentery.
At about this time We had our first
experience with the dread tropica
disease. amoebic dysentery. Practi-
cally all of the party were taken with
severe pains in the stomach, and the
worst sufferers went to the Andean
Hospital. operated by an American oil
company, with an American staff
One of our boys. Jack Squires, had
the worst case this hospital ever pulled
through. Fortunately, every one af-
fected was treated in time.
Finally, it was announced the party
was to be divided. Four big boat
pilots and two other pilots were to &c
to Buenaventura to patrol the coast
down toward Peru Buenaventura is
the hell-hole of Colombia, and Bob
Allen and 1 got the assignment for
the two pursuit planes. Several OF
the pilots and mechanics we're to 60 tc
Cali. in the interior, where the pri-
mary training school was to be To-
Gated. Some were to remain ir
Cartagena, where the advanced school,
was to be.
The new planes began to arrive
from Barranquilla. We had seven
Curtiss Hawks and four Falcons
There were no facilities at Cartagena
for land planes, and they were al
equipped with pontoons. There was