Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-02-19
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TOUR OF DUTY:

men are more fortunate than others.
Some men are richer than many.
Some men stay in love longer than
most-and most men never expert
ence the wallop that goes with being
at the bow-gun of a Navy patrol
plane "a Ply few feet over the
submarine-infested South Atlantic.
How even a veteran bOmbardier
can keep his eyes open or focused
on target out there in the open
boW-with the fierce wind binding
and bayonneting hints something
do not savvy The powerful
gun kicks the way Joe Louis punches
and shakes you violently the way
Lew Fields shook Joe Weber
AT any rate, there you are out there
under the huge propellers-several
feet ahead of the pilot--alone
Except for the hurricane-tempo'd
wind and perhaps a Nazi sub hiding
below.
was reminded of the time Sena-
tor Holman of Oregon and Senator
Chandler of Kentucky flew to the
Aleutians through heavy fog and
storm most of the way. And picked
up soldier at some Alaskan base,
who Immediately took his battle sta
ton and trained his gun on the skies.
Son." said Senator Holman,
'whatcha fussin' with that there
weapon fer that-a-way?" "I'm
being ready" replied the gunner, Gin
case we meet some Jap planes" :.
The white-as-a-sheet Holman turned
to the whiter-than-that Chandler and
intoned: "Ain't it silly what some
of us Senators will do to get into
trouble-When we don't have to-"
My good break came from missing
connections with the plane that was
to take me to the next port on the
tour Had made that plane
would have missed one of the biggest
thrills OF them all That thrill was
not my first flight in PBY-a huge
and comfortable Catalina Zone of
which helped sink the Bismarck); or
firing the bow-gun-or circling low
over oil specks that stained the beau
tiful aquamarine below The big
"oAioP SoiiiC oCNSl dl ldl6T
when we reached the base.
am not permitted to divulge
the excitement l witnessed at
this place The four para
graphs about it were blue-pen-
ciled even before had the
chance to correct the spelling
-. 1t was my first experience
with an official gremlin, too
For the first time in 22 years of
neWspapering l realized how
tame the toughest editors are.
All l was trying to jot down
was that some fellows were
luckier than other fellows
That some pilots had reasons for
being happier than others and
that the U. S. now has fewer
enemies than it had.
And so cannot reveal at this
time what all that excitement
was about cannot even
elaborate that the excitement
was enjoyed by lot of very
happy men, and that the reason
they were so excited and happy
was that certain other men, with
dialects, were unhappy or dead.
The ply on which l hitch-hiked
was manned by the most youthful
fellows encountered down there
Most were only 81. Some were %
or rs, and some were little more
seasoned But all featured
boards that must have been months
in blooming All the other fliers
met at various places were clean
shaver why the whiskers?"
I asked.
"They haven't been as lucky as
other chaps" explained an officer,
and SO they agreed not to shave
until they got SUBJ"
kept wishing that on this routine
flight would not prove a jinx to
them-and that they could get-a
shave.
AT the AdmiraPs morning confer
ence l was shown a dispatch that
told of merchant ship sunk the
night before, and that ply patrol
ling the area had radio'd seeing two
lifeboats with survivors But
when he returned to the scene later
he saw only one We were in
structed to keep our eyes open for
those survivors That saving
them would be even better than
sinking an enemy sub But
there was no trace of them 4
never learned whether they had been
rescued or not kept thinking
of them throughout the fight-know-
ing that brave men somewhere were
suffering-not only from the suffo-
eating humidity and heat-but from
the binding sum-
The Atlantic seemed as tame as
any Florida lake was instruct
ed to occupy one of the co-pilot's
pews-handed a helmet containing