The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-03

GeorgetOWn IN the snort space De-
tween Sunday morning after break
fast to Tuesday evening before sup
per, storming the White House and
Eleanor just for luck and by way
Of O last stop.
Bert Brandt, the Acme photogra-
pher who tried to keep up with
these As Paratroopers for some 80
hours Of their 72-hour leave, is now
total wreck. But so are the dow
ayers, debutantes, diplomats and
statesmen who entertained them
and--well, maybe It's Just as good
the Paratroopers have gone back to
Fort Braggs, N. Q. rs
It all began when somebody In
the headquarters company Of the
604th Airborne Infantry decided It
would be nice for some Of the
boys to take q little vacation in
Washington. They had no money In
particular, though Paratroop SOL
dierS get $50 and their officers 500
O month extra pay. But II takes
more than lack Of funds to stop o
Paratrooper.
HELD UP" A BANK
No kidding, when these lads dis
covered they were short Of money,
they simply went to q bank In Fay
etteville, N. G., and borrowed IL.
There was no fraud or deceit about
the deal. Openly they declared they
wanted the money to finance o
hinge In Washington, and In Fay
etteville, N. G., there is q banker
who lends thousands Of dollars to
Paratroopers who want to 60 on
buSts, with no more security than
the signature Of their captain. The
captain, by the way, came along.
Paratroopers are like that.
Forty-five soldiers signed up for
the junket. They sent along as adj
vance man Sergeant Technician w.
e. Chapman, who arrived In WASH
ington Saturday night and started
to arrange things. From there on
the rest Of Washington's social
whirl went into comparative slow
motion, stopped colder than q strob-
oscopic freeze. Everywhere the
troopers went they went double-
time. Going from one party to an
other In GEORGETOWN Sunday night,
they made a wrong turn and went
two miles out Of their way, but they
arrived less than Is minutes late,
and with wonderful appetites for
food and dancing that lasted till
nearly midnight. Then they broke
up into smaller private parties In
various apartments around town.
It was like that all the time. The
$1,000 went farther than they
thought 1t would, for everyone
wanted to entertain them. Matrons
recruited the best dates In town
from the JANGLES, the Junior
Ariny-Navy Guild League, made UP
Of daughters Of Army and Navy
officers.
On Capitol Hill the Paratroopers
dined In the Senate restaurant. II
they wanted to see some particular
senator from a home state, they
said, "Send for himl" He came. The
senators, made flowery speeches
which the boys applauded politely
but they weren't much impressed by
the way Congress did business and
they said so.
ELEANOR .
CHARMED THEM
They saw all the sights - Su-
preme Court, Lincoln Memorial, and
so on, ending up at the White House
Tuesday morning. Only Is Of the Is
turned out on first call for the
White House visit, but they ran
there, about four blocks from where
they stayed two-in-a-$10-room
Stragglers swelled the number tC
over 40 but the last man missed the
formation. That was Private Easton
He got to the White House front
door but a footman there wouldn't
let him in.
Mrs. Roosevelt charmed the SOL
diers into the closest they came tc
surrendering. Eleanor knew al
about paratrooping, and she told the
boys some things they didn't know
i about operations Of another para.
troop unit in Africa. One Of the sol.
diers wondered If the President'l
wife had been there with 'em.
On the Presidents desk, one Of
the men left his silver wings. q
Paratrooper's most treasured pos.
session.
Only man who didn't run through
all this was Technical Sergeant
Chapman. who had sprained ar
ankle in landing after jump Just
before the party was to leave fol
Washington. That did not stop him
He came along and really had more
fun than anyone else. Everywhere
he went. celebrities autographed hii
plaster cast. He'll probably .weal
that thing right into QeFmany.