Evening star., 1943-04-15

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and draw his plane along the
ny IRA WOLFERT.
Synopsis.
Detail OF Napy Torpedo Squad
ron 3. headed by 1t. Larsen, terry
netD fighting ships from Norfolk,
Va, to Honolulu After short de-.
lay. str picked to reinforce Mid
,Odp Island. Yanks Dolunteer for
action ,Uhen losses 1uiH conlpcn-
safe for gains Last day OF lite
men check ships on island flying
field.
CHAPTER 4.
The men of Torpedo 8 who were
flying the old planes took oil from
the Hornet at sea. The crews in the
six new planes-the Grumman
Avengers-took of from Midway.
They were all in the air heading for
the Japs before the taste OF morning
coffee was we'll out Of their mouths.
That was Thursday, June 4. The
fellows at Midway we're dug out Of
their sacks at 5 O'Clock in the morn
ing. Holy crock, Doc" and so
forth, grab your sock. It's 5 O'Clock,
Doc" and so forth. Time. to get
up" Third Glass Ordnanceman
Lyonal ]. Orgeron stirred no more
than log might through the bel
lowing. He was replacing William
Lawson Coffey as tunnel gunner in
one of the planes. Cof1ey was top
grade mechanic and it had been
thought more sensible to let him
work on the planes instead of with
them.
Let him Sleep" whispered Mr..
Cof1ey, "Ill 60" Where the below
ing had failed to disturb Mr.. Or
geron, the whisper didn't. He snap
ped awake instantly. Hell no." he
cried, slapping his feet on the deck,
this is my pigeon" and looked
around the tent and saw most Of
the fellows had gone and grabbed
up his shoes and socks and shirt
and ran barefoot to the airfleld,
carrying his shoes in his hand and
crying, wait for baby"
No News Reported.
Back in Pearl Harbor, the men
who had been left in reserve knew
there was a battle going on and that
Torpedo 8 was in it and that there
was a lot to IL. That's all they
knew Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
and most of Saturday. In a situa-
ton like that. what has happened
doesn't rate at all. It's the i'm
mediate future that counts and the
past has to take its place at the end
Of the line.
Like most bomber pilots. torpedo
hombers are usually big men who
can't fit into the narrow cockpits of
fighter planes They are calm and
they don't worry until they have to.
That's the way Swede Larsen looked
those days and all the others. too.
big. for the most part. slow w-moving
and alm-seeming. But the calm
ness was just something they were
hiding behind.
They knew their business-going
In fast and low and drawing their
planes across the mouths of the
enemy guns. as if their planes were
handkerchiefs wiping of those
Gaming, franticaIly chattering
mouths, and knew that when their
number was called there were not
often any two ways about it. 1t was
not often in those days that tor
pedo plane had a chance to be shot
up or shot down with the crew get
ting out all right. In those days.
when a torpedo plane got it. it
usually took it head-on. 1t was
usually that the two, the torpedo
plane and the shell with the planes
number on 1t, dove head-on into
each other and all you saw out of
that was flames with maybe little
black streaks Of metal flying up and
out.
One Plane Returns.
The scuttlebutt, as the Navy calls
rumors, was flying around pretty
thick In those days. Some of the
rumors were good and some bad
Swede Larsen stuck close to the
command center and on Saturday
afternoon a commander in naval
air base defense gave him the score
on Torpedo 8. One plane had come
back. he said.
Swede spent a moment taking that
In. Whose was it?" he asked at
last.
Earnest's, the commander told
him. This was Albert K. Earnest, a
tall dark-haired boy from Rich
mond, Va. ...
The commander was very busy.