Evening star., 1942-05-06


sSS's's''' still green in my
Henry MeLemors. memory and
black and blue in my bones plan
to refuse the invitation as gracious
ly as possible.
The boys at Benning-if you re-
member my dispatches from the
nursing home following my stay
there-nearly put me away for good
with their excursions in tanks, jeeps.
peeps, half-tracks, 2-ton and other
mobile monsters. AT the finish I
could have doubled for Kipling's
woman know, the rag, bone
and the hank Of hair.
have it on very, very good au-
thority that the armored boys at
Fort Knox consider their fellows at
Fort Benning sissies when it comes
to handling tanks, jeeps and the
other combat buggies. This being
so, a man who would voluntarily
take a ride with them would brand
himself as the type of fellow. who,
If he had been around, would have
volunteered to take Daniel a drink
of water when he was sparring with
the lion.
In talking to an officer from Fort
Knox. raised the question of where
all the superbly skillful drivers for
the armored units came from. No
other nation, and that goes for Ger
many with its celebrated panzer di-
visions, can match Americas armor-
ed forces for class. This despite ths
fact that armored work is coml
paratively new with US. Overnight,
almost, the United States Army
came up with the skilled men neces-
sary for the operation of any and
all sorts of fighting machines. And,
it came up with such men by the
| thousands.
The answer to the question is the
automobile. The symbol of soft
living, the automobile, was a bless
ing in disguise. 30
1t may have made our young men
soft in time of peace, but when war
came along 1t enabled them to step
right into the toughest, meanest.
hardest branch of the service and
be ready to 60 to town with a mini.
mum of training,
Other nations have to spend
weeks and months teaching their
| armored recruits the rudiments of
driving. Not so this country. Prac-
tically every youngster in the land,
thanks to hours behind every sort
OF car from an ancient model T to
a two-tone sports roadster Job, is
ready to step into the jeeps, the
peeps, the trucks and start whip
ping them over hill and dale. r.
**4s -
The feel of a steering wheel Ia
almost as familiar to him as the
feel of a knife and fork. Since he
was big enough to see through the
windshield he has been driving and
fooiing with cars. How easy he is
to train compared to the German
or Italian peasant to whom a car
is strange and awesome machine.
The workings of gears and clutches
and whatever else goes to make up
an automobile is nothing new to
him. In a pinch, he could have
hopped In and started operating a
combat machine without any in.
struction at all.
To the American boy, familiarity
with the automobile has been a tre-
mendous help in another field, too
I was talking to a man who builds
Diesel motors-Al Guiberson of Dali
las, Tex.-and he said it was amaz-
ing how quickly the American
youngsters mastered the business of
handling machine tools.
The business of making a motor
comes easy to him." Mr.. Guiberson
said. Farm boys come to work
fortified with the knowledge of ma
chimes gained by tinkering with
tractors. High school boys from the
corner drugstores grasp their new
work quickly, thanks to having
taken apart the innards of their
old knockabout, second hand cars.
This knowledge makes for a tire.
mendous saving of time and in
creases efficiency by 200 per cent"
But to get back to Fort Knox.
may accept the offer to take a few
rides, at that. The officer men.
toned a new combat machine-an
aqua-cheetah, think he said. The
aqua-cheetah is reputed to be a
sea-going peep. When it comes to
river 1t Just keeps going, makes
friends with the fish and swims
along, and eventually lands you on
the other side Of the stream.
A ride in that critter should be
something to remember, along with
your first cigar, your first pair of
long pants and the first time YOU
were allowed to take the family car
out all by yourself and 60 get your
best girl to treat her to a sundae.