Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-08-11
HELP EACH OTHER

night before But they lived IN
The same tent and helped each
other q lot
II was Crossley who'd taught
Flynn his General Orders IN
structed him in map reading, ori-
entation and the more theoretical
points Of infantry training.
And il was Flynn. handy with
his hands az anything from a bar
room brawl 10 mendinC a broken
crank case who'd given the spec
tacled eX-teachcr a helping hand
in taking apart and assembling
the automatic rifle and machine
gun, and in rolling his full pack.
RIFLE RANGE COACH
In the evenings they sometimes
went 10 town together, and It was
Crossley who generally brought
the big man home. kept him out
of trouble. Flynn IN his cups
minded the frail-looking LouiSi-l
anan. somehow felt that the latter
had plenty on the ball.
SO they rot to be close friends
In the replacement training centerl
where they were undergoing the
stiff basic eight weeks course,
and they hoped they would be sent
10 the same outfit when II was
over
Private CrosSley was scared half
TO death when they went on the
range for preparatory fire. He'd
never handled a gun before, and.
the thought of squeezing the trig-I
ger on the Enfield came near
paralyZing him
They used the coach and pupil
method al the camp; it's UNIVERSAL
in the army todav. When a man.
goes up on the firing line 10 shoot,
another soldier accompanies him.
adjusts his sling. watches his
stance. lends advice and encour-+
a-ement.
Flynn got the platoon sergeant.
2 griZZled old regular with a
quarter Of a century Of service be-
hind him. 10 assign him as Cross
ley's coach.
GETS SECOND HONOR
In the preliminary firing. Cross
-ey shot wildly at first. and then.
under the calm influence of his
friend, began 10 see the bull's-eye
with more telling effect
He wanted 10 qualify as a
marksman. lowest o. the three
degrees. and one to which all in
fantrymen should achieve or for
ever hide their heads in shame
On the record firing the follow
Ing day, with Private Flynn again
coaching. the boy had lost his
fear of the rife and came through
with a beautiful 1863 one above
that necessary for the secoad
grade OF good shots sharpshooter
OF course, he wasn't in a class
with Flynn, who was as COM
pletely full Of confidence as a
Filipino Scout armed with a bolo
alone in the jungle al night. save
for a few JapS on patrol he had
spotted and was laying for
BULLETS HIT TARGETS
There were only two expert ri
flcmen in Company r that DAY,
and 10 sharpshooterS, and PVT.
Dave CroSsley was one OF the lat
ter. Now he and Flynn and other
Company b soldiers were marking
targets for another company OF
the same battalion. and The youth
was thinking proudly Of his line
record on the previous day.
Automatically he raised and
lowered the target helped Flynn
paste little squares of black and
white paper over The bullet holes
designate the score with round
markers on both ends OF a Ions
stick
Two hundred yards away they
were blazing away on 80 targets
Many bullets pumped into tho
carthcn breaStworkS behind them
but most Of them found The tar.
gets American soldiers are OK.
trsordinary good shots and that.
no military secret
II was proved by The Coion.al
in Washington s army and in tho
wars that followed. down through
the MeuSe-Argonne and Tie Marine
and on Bataan
The 80 calibcr bullets Whlz1cl
through the targets and buried
themselves IN q thoroughly
beaten zone" At the edge Of s0m'
woods beyond.
FIRING STOPPED
II was BY chance that Priyatt
Crossley was gazing into the firing,
of timberland when The dog darte,
out of the underbrU5h other
saw the little animal, too. most o.
them stood IN a coma as the bul
lets clipped the ground stirred ul
little pocketfuls Of dust The do.
barked ioyouSly. investigated Gael
hit Some one yelled toohshly
Hey. get back
The few seconds Of mCnfa
paralysis paused for CrossIcE an'
he shouted, Cease firing SGci