Evening star., 1943-04-23

Ihad seen Gable
Henry McLemore. before today was
in Hollywood at the Mocambo. I
believe he was wearing a dinner
jacket then and hundreds of gals in
the place were staring at him as if
he were a rescue ship and they
were stranded on desert island.
Every time he looked up some one
wanted his autograph and his
slightest gesture was greeted by
bowling and scraping from the staff.
When I saw him today things
were bit different. I met him in
the tail-end Of muddy 2-ton truck
that was hauling officers from their
quarters to the mess hall. 1t wasn't
formal meeting. I was chasing
the truck down the road and it was
just about to get away from me
when some one stuck out an arm
and said, Grab hold. There is
always room for one more, brother"
II grabbed hold and was yanked
aboard.
Looked Tired.
When I went to thank my bene-
factor, there was Rhett Butler. He
was wearing the wings of the Air
Force, the bars of captain and his
uniform wasn't strictly Samuel
Goldwyn or Twentieth Century Fox.
Adrian would have frowned on it,
too. 1t had as many wrinkles as
Methuselah's elbow and it looked
as if its owner had been riding in
day coach for four days and nights.
Gable looked tired, too. His eyes
didn't have that "Boomtown" luster,
but were weary in appearance.
when in the hell did you get in2"
asked. mot too long ago." he said.
How va feeling" I said, with
that natural gift of conversation
that has stood me in good stead
for SO long.
mot too bad. In fact, pretty
good. 1t feels a lot better to get
into the theater of action. I think
Ill like this a lot" q
Just Another Soldier.
All this time the truck was round
ing corners on one wheel, doing the
strange things that only an Amer
lean private can make a truck do
on English roads and we were stand
ing up with nothing to hang onto.
Gable was just another soldier in
that bus and could very we'll make
1t to mess the best way he could.
He may have been a half-million-
dollar-a-year man in the States,
but he was just a three e-hundred-
dollar-a-month man on this base
with his biggest job to do.
Gable liked it. You could feel
that he was on his own now. He
was a soldier not an idol. He was
gunner not an image on celluloid.
He asked me question. Where
can I get some laundry done?"
Lots Of places" I said, "but it'll
take a week or more"
Guess I'll have to do it myself"
he said. II think I can wash the
stuff all right, but I wouldn't swear
about my ironing technique. I
haven't done much ironing lately,
you know"
We got to the mess hall. Every
one tumbled out. We had beer at
the bar. We sat and read STARS
and Stripes" "Yank" and the
papers from home that were
month or more old
Amused by Announcements.
Now comes the funny part.
was appearing on Red Cross pro-
gram that night, program where
Freddie Corcoran and I sit around
with enlisted men and talk about
everything on earth, especially
sports. To advertise the program
the base public address system.
which bellows like the London si-
rens, announced this on the half
hour, every half hour. I'm person
tonight, Henry McLemore. In per-
son tonight, Henry McLemore."
don't mind telling you that
felt pretty foolish sitting there with
Gable and hearing my name called
as if were great star. It even
amused Gable.
What time is your show" he said.
Il don't want to miss it. You must
be helluva entertainer" He looked
at me. looked at him and we
both smiled.
You can put this in your book or
In your hat or in your pipe. Capt.
Gable is a regular guy, a tough guy,
a guy who wants to do his share
no matter what it Is. He doesn't
need those cameras to make him
look good and he's a lonesome man,
too, If you can imagine man like
that being lonesome.
distributed by McNauzht Syndicate, Incl
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