The Coolidge examiner., 1943-05-21
The CdzoAI
Note Book

ROfsIHultuNdi ltpOAN AOA Nht 49, -
sos days since Pearl Harbor.
In this period dead. missing.
wounded and prisoners which com
prise casualty lists Of the army
and navy totaled 1887 or an av-
erage daily cal atty list of l55.74
men every one OF the sos days.
And while we're on war
costs In lives il would not be
amiss 10 let you know some
thing OF the costs in dollars
which average $22sb4 every
second Of the first 10 months
Of this fiscal year.
With I3 OF its original 20 boys
either in the service or ready TO
leave the senior class OF Coolidge
high school seems TO have set some
sort of a record. OF the group.
four have been in the service for
some time: three have left recent
ly: four have been inducted and
are awaiting call and one leaves
next week.
And not to be outdone too much
BY thu boys. three senior girls have
siEn.!ied their intention 10 take
nurses training.
Twenty-seven years ago this
summer we were among the green
est of the green who had DOTTED
civilian clothes to don the olive
drab OF the army. Our command
ing officer who guided the destin-
les OF our company was a young
first lieutenant. NJ. A s. Ming. az
native Arizonan. Today we enjoy
ed a brief visit with this com.
mander. now full colonel OF the
regular army. a distinguished Of
ficer with nearly thirty years OF
service TO his country.
Colonel Ming is enjoying a brief
leave from his duties as executive
officer of the army replacement
center at Fort Bragg. South Caro-
lima visiting relatives in Arizona
and California.
Since this eoIupnn has devei-
oped into an aiI-servlee issue
we are going TO sign Oft win
.sc.suta from = letter written 4
TO COOLIDGE friends by former
coolideian Captain Herbert
Des Georges who tells what
its like TO be In the thick of
things on the African front.
Things here are about the same
as they have been all along. Food
is getting a little worse than bet
ter. They have a new ration. ~
ration. that they are feeding us
and il Is even worse than the old
English ration used to complain
about. All OF which proves that
nothing Is so bad that IL couldn't
be worse. This ration is made up
mostly of dehydrated foods which
when cooked In a big kettle In
large amounts is not too tasty. We
are all waiting for the day they
tell US we are going to be issued
dehydrated water.
"A report. you have undoubtedly
heard over the radio since we
heard II on a broadcast from the
States. tells us that raid we made
on the port of Palermo is undoubt-
edly the best raid made by any
Allied force of as small a number
of planes since the war began. Our
ships hit an ammunition ship that
was alongside the dock. This in
turn set off ammunition that was
on the dock and coupled with 9th
er bombs dropped was the cause of
about eight pieces of shipping be-
ing sunk. The resulting explosion
practically tore down the town for
a radius of almost a mile from the
docks. Included in the destroyed
damage was a railhead. power sta
tion. naval hangars and any amount
of residential houses and ware
houses. Other raids of Importance
which have been made recently
are mentioned in the clippings
which | enclose.
How are things back in Cool
idge? Are the gatherings on the
front lawns in the evenings the
same? Do the people still make
picnic out of the watering of the
front lawns and do the kids sail
their boats down the irrigation
bitches and try TO bomb them with
their planes? 1t never occurred to
me when | used TO watch the Tay-
lor kids just below you, playing
war in the bitches. that in a few
months I would be as near to the
real thing as l am. II makes you
kind of appreciate the little things
YOU used to take so much for
granted at home when x,nu haven't