Evening star., 1943-03-06

writing letters
home. ,~a
| rhe wa.T
| 5 m Z d far
- away. It WAS
Henr, MeI<mese. hard to believes
that only few miles away Flying
Fortresses were gathering speed
down r,unways and lifting of into a
the night for raids on France and :.
Germany. In reception room OF q
the lounge, Freddie Corcoran WAS
holding sports quiz and eeneralsS
bull session on baseball. boxing.
football and golf. Gathered about
him were more than a hundred Of
Our American flyers, hoping to win
a package Of cigarettes by Answerssc
ing his questions or asking one hAL.-
couldn't answer. 50
The boys with the silver wings. ID
argued over the long count In tho Z.
famous Dempsey Tinney fight, what :.
would have happened had Louis
fought Dempsey in his prime, what =.
happened to the Dodgers last year, :.
all about the various bowl games,
how Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth com "a
pared and was Ted Williams 4 bettef.ss
hitter than Joe D Maggie. Sc
They didn't look like fighters toss
the death As they sat there and a
asked Corcoran questions. Ihsy, =
looked like kids. They were boya -
who should be strolling campuse9
or worrying about date for ta1e
Saturday night dance back home.
Then Corcoran Asked q question.
Who" he said, was the last naansr
to hit four home runs In stngler
gamer" IL
ats
There was voice from the door.
Everyone turned. Standing there. &c
WEAKNESS written all over his face. -
stood boy with the silver winss '"4
on his lapel.
Il know the answer to that one.
SIR" he said. Eyes SIR, I know that
one. Give me my package Of cisa- =
rettes." who was IT," the NsdH
Cross man asked. MY buddy" their,
boy with wings said. MY pal Hesx
got four ferries last night be9ose1n
they got him. That's four home !,
runs IN my book" u.
"You can have four packs for that "a
answer" Corcoran said.
mo-" the boy said, ~just let me. :.
have one. I'll have TO smoke that
one, too, because my buddy won't BE- :,
back" He caught his PACK ofls
cigarettes On the throw. wallked~i
away but just before he wsutc
through the door he turned, even >
wearier now. and said IA = voice II
Ike man talking IN his slsep, "If1s ).
answer you expected, Er. was
Gehris, wasn't Il? know ttat, but. ].
my buddy was sportGman, too. He :
was sti1l shootine when they got
him" s
The sports quiz went right on. scl
The boys never stopped arguing ana =
debating. They have learned to
take the loss Of q buddy and stttlc,k
carry on. There was something !,
magnificent about hearing thsmrs
argue the merits Of Dempsey and
Louis when In q few hours tlaov 2
themselves would be winstne over ,
the Rhineland and taking On 4 foes
that can hit Is Dempsey and Louisss
never dreamed Of hitting. What onds
earth is a right punch or q left hookrs
to q cannon shot from . Messef- -
schmidt Or chunk OF hak from IN "A
anti-aircraft gun? NOTHING, yet 4.
these boys from California, Texas. - !.
Massachusetts, New York ana all =
the other States apparently gave it
no thought.
A bombardier showed us 70 the
checkroom when We left the clup. se
As the attendant was handing u
our cap ana coat We noticed 1 rows
OF heavy flying boots lined neatly :.
against the checroofn wall. Tti3y,Y
were al sizes from tiny sevens to -
big elevens.
"I'd like to hsye . pair Of them .
to keep my feet warm going hack
home" I said.
"Well, you might a. well have =
them Us any ono else" the bdn.sc
bardier said. They won't bA called
Tor ever. They belong to some boys
who went out i've days 40 and
they're still here"
Flying boots lined -pp ana waiting z
like the little tin soldiers. Nothtnx- Z
ever brought the war 70 close homo :,
to us. -
Distributed By kcNsusht svndAssts. hal, !,