Evening star., 1940-06-27
BY HENRY GEMMILL.

~A~-'AA'AAASANs
This Nation-anxious to enlist
$4,000 new men in the Army as fast
as it can-operates in the WASH
ington area principally through
Sergt. Norman w. Morgan, whose
arms are tattooed with an eagle, a
butterfly, dragon, skull and cross
bones, a bleeding heart, an Indian
girl and a f1uttering American flag
To meet this pictorial Army vet
eran and launch yourself upon
soldiers life you hike down to the
ancient Old Central National Bank
Building, 631 Pennsylvania avenue
NV, and take the elevator to the
recruiting Office on the third floor.
Experience. adventure, travel await
you" as the posters say.
To become a part of American
national defense you must prove you
have three chewing teeth in the up
per jaw and three in the lower jaw,
three biting teeth in the upper gum
and three more in the lower. And
when you close your mouth the up
per and lower teeth must hit.
Must Be Unmarried.
Recruiting Officer Morgan and
his staff devote most of their floor
space in the sandstone building to
checking up on this basic matter
and a few others. You must show
that you have approximately enough
intelligence to have carried you
through the sixth grade. 1t is re-
quired that you be single or di-
vorced, between the ages of 18 and
35, no taller than feet inches, no
shorter than feet inches and that
you have no serious police record.
1t is all right for you to wear glasses
If the eye defects are not too Sc
rious.
Minimum requirements on each
test are so lenient as to permit, in
theory, the enrolment of shoddy
human material. In practice, the
dingy office turns out body of
men, broad-chested and mentally
alert. Most are high school grad
yates, some have college training.
On Tuesday typical recruit, 18-
year-old Lawrence Free of 64 l
street NV, sauntered in and began
to go through the mill Recruiting
Officer Morgan talked with him
briefly. He was given papers to fill
out and told to 60 to District police
headquarters for certification that
he had no local crime record.
Yesterday he returned for physi-
cal and mental examination. His
flngerprints were sent to the Fed
eral Bureau of Investigation to
make sure he lacks a police record
in other cities. He was then sworn
in as soldier of the Regular Army.
Maps Own Career.
Like a large proportion of re-
cruits, Pvt. Free is bound for tech
nical work in the Air Corps. He
was dispatched last night to an
Army post near New York and will
soon sail, via Panama and Califor-
mia, to his station. Like others,
young Pvt. Free has plan for per-
sonal advancement through military
service and escape from life
which did not hold prospect of full
filling ambitions. I'm not here to
play around" he says.
Pvt. Free had two years of cadet
training in high school at Moultrie,
Ga, but for the last two years he
has labored as filling station at
tendant. He wanted to become a
transport pilot in private aviation,
but his father, an auto mechanic,
lacked money.
He is now determined to spend
either three or six years of enlist
ment, period in which he expects
to be trained as an air mechanic
and, by demonstration of exceptional
ability, as a pilot. When this goal
is achieved, he hopes 10 fly for
private airline.
Want Job and a Future.
Others with similar motives were
sworn in yesterday. Robert Crane,
10, the son of railway engineer,
left $12-a-week job as cashier be-
cause he wanted something that's
got a future" James O'Connor, 18,
couldn't find work after a year in a
G.. C G. camp. He may stay in the
Army all his life, he says 3espec-
tacled Jerry Fink, %, whose father
is dead, has been working as a win
dow dresser here then decided to
learn the trade Of plane mechanic
by enlistment. Remaining men