The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-11-23
GROUND CREWS SHOW FERvOR
 ON THEIR JOBS
BY JOHN L. HAMPTON


 Randolph Field, Tex, Nov. 2I = (U.P.) = How good are the men who Keep Elm Flying" Well, they're as good as the peo- pie who build lem and fly lem, and that's a triple threat you cant beat.
 It takes 10 men to maintain the precision machinery of each plane
 Usually the ground crew is com. posed of men wflno have worked close to machinery at some time ir their lives. In unison they have the fervor of one former country preacher of the Praise the LOrc and pass the monkey wrench school of thought when they get into their coveralls.
 Each crew services it's own plane. From the concentration and pride they take over the ship you'd think they were personally bombing Tokyo. Even so, they are the nler behind the man with tlze gun, or bomb, or sextant who does the joh and they leave nothing to chance.
 Invent Valuable Gadgets
 These strong right. arms of the Army Air Forces" at fields over the nation include youngsters who fin- ish Army technical schools with ar amazing detail of their trade.
 They come from everywhere and a by-product of their patriotism IS invention. Just little gadgets, sometimes, but maybe these are labor and tine-saving whoppers.
 Big, pink-cheeked T. A. Gar rett, Jr., from Richland Springs. Tex. used to be well driiler in West Texas. He says that inspired his aircraft ignition tester for Ran dolph's basic trainers.
 Technical Sergeant P. T. Cook of Sherman. Tex, earned himself an extra stripe by using salvage ma terials to design an electrical in. strument test bench. Result: Test. ing time cut from day or more to less than one hour.
 s. E. and L. B. Reitz are brothers from Broadacres, Brookville. Pa. They collaborated on a skillfully designed wooden scale model of a breaker-point assembly for aircraft engine magnetos. It's being used in the aircraft mechanics training school here.
 The boys have their minds on winning this war. It shows in their promotions. Staff Sergeant R. c. Cole of Moorehead. Miss, is a crew chief at 19. Corporal Johnny Walker 10 ie fha v,ooY-noIi,ad &Han ,,a il,a when Major General H. R. Har- mons staff plane takes of. Walker is tousle-headed kid who used to hang around the VIVA radio room at English Field, near Amarillo, Tex.
 Private Frank Yurka, Jr.. quit corn field near Virginia, Neb.. for set of aircraft tools. He hasn't heard of his aunts and uncles since the Nazi butchery at Lidice, Czechoslovakia, near where he was born.
 Fellow-mechanics take interest also in Ralph Destefano. nov radio mechanic. He used to climb over Philadelphia aSs . steeple- jack.
 Harry Wright of Chicago says ne enlisted because If 6 guy can keep 52 freight and 12 passenger ele- vators running in a mali order store he can keep a squadron of planes in the air" And so he can.
 Bill Blakey left a ranch near Hobbs. N. Y, and Ben Kurzrok quit a New York pawn shop to learn what makes engines tick.
 Dean of the mechanics set is recently-made Lieutenant 4. J. vielock of Bound Brook, N. J., who helped build the first streamlined plane flown shortly after the World War. The pilot was James Doolittle.
 There are innumerable jobs 10 be done and nobody has noticed an easy one yet. But an air field has a peculiar kind of fever and if you want to see men on their toes. take a look at these sunburned, hard ened chaps at Randolph, the West Point of the Air"