Evening star., 1943-07-01
|2-Month-O Old Copies of Star
Read AvidIy in Africa
By {, Staff Correspondent Of The star.

By E Staff Correspondent Of The star.
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
BASE, North Africa (By MaiD Its
one Of the thrills Of lifetime to
read a wo-month- -old file of The
Star half mile above the brown
peaks Of the Atlas Mountains, in the
co-pilot's seat Of an American gen.
erals transport plane, after not see
ing a copy Of it for more than three
months.
After arriving at an interior air.
field with transportation orders for
Algiers, the transportation ofilcer
said that I could get in four hours
earlier by taking a plane which
would leave in few minutes. There
sat an air force officer reading late
March copy of The Star He was
devouring it, line by line. He turned
out to be Maj. w H. Riggs, 1924 @
street, formerly of the Federal Crop
Insurance Bureau, now intelligence
officer of an air force squadron.
First News in Weeks.
THE pilot" he told me. has got
a whole file of Stars. It's the first
news from home I've had for good
many weeks"
A native of Cleveland, Ohio. Maj.
Riggs lived in Washington at the Q
street address with his wife and
daughter Jean for almost year.
When he was assigned overseas duty
about six months ago his family
moved to Florida to live.
The pilot turned out to be Will
liam D. Hart, 947 Virginia avenue
S.W.. former Tech High School
football star and prominent In Cath
olic University theatricas. Few
Washington boys have had more
thrilling career in North Africa than
1t. Hart, now plotting the plane Of
one of the commanding generals.
The general didn't happen to be
using it this day and had given Or
ders that it help out in the regular
transport service.
Cited for Bravery.
1t. Hart was wearing the silver
star, awarded, in the words of the
citation, for exceptional bravery dis
played in helping carry a wounded
enlisted men from the vicinity Of a
bombed airplane in the dazzling
illumination OF enemy dropped
flares, along a path strewn by anti
personnel bombs, and in the face OF
continuous enemy action. The cour-
age and heroism displayed by 1t.
Hart at great personal risk and dam
ger reflect great credit on himself
and on the military forces of the
United States"
He lost the first plane he flew in
Africa, he said, when German STRAIT
ers made two runs over the field
where it was parked one night and
peppered it with bullets. It has since
been restored and is known, quite
appropriately, as Patches" 1t has
$50 patches in it.
Men Devour News.
AS his present assignment indi-
Gates, It. Hart is one of the most
trusted pilots in the North African
air force. Once it became known
that there was file of Stars aboard,
the papers were passed around and
were read from cover to cover by
about 80 men, mostly pilots from
interior fields, hungry for even two
month-old news from home.
After joining the Air Corps on
July 8. 1871, 1t. Hart went over
seas in November, 1912. and about
two weeks later was awarded the
Silver Star.
He has a brother, Richard, who
works at the ship testing base at
Carderock, Md, and his mother,
Mrs. Elsie Hart, is an employe Of
the Treasury Department.
At the airport the plane was met
by Maj. Thomas L. Suter.
Maj. Suter, the son of DR.. and
Mrs w. Given Suter of ~ H street
NV, served in the First World War
with Maj Gen James H. Doolittle
under the command of Brig. Gen
Billy Mitchell. He won his wings
and was commissioned second lieu
tenant in the Air Corps Reserve at
Arcadia, Fla.
During the early part Of this war
Maj. Suter worked with Col. Charles
Sweeney In selecting men to be
trained as pilots in the Eagle Squad
ron. He left for overseas duty in
July, 1912. and was a member of
the African invasion campaign.
A graduate of Eastern High
School, Maj. Suter studied further
at George Washington University.
His wife, Mrs. Mary Shaw Suter,
lives at 10000 Lorain avenue, silver
Spring, Md. and a brother, Mai.
James M. Suter, is stationed at
Fort Eustis, Va, as venereal disease
control officer.