Evening star., 1944-10-28
$4,000 Watch in Cold
As Navy Observes
lis Day With Parade

lis Day with Parade
A crowd estimated by police at
$4,000 persons defled sharp, wintry
wind yesterday to watch the first
Navy Day parade ever staged in the
District.
Beating their hands and stamping
their feet to keep warm, the spec
tators lining Constitution avenue
waited patiently for as long as two
and a half hours to help the Navy
celebrate its l69th birthday
The parade, which, according to
police timekeepers, took exactly 81
minutes to pass given point. came
at one of .the most auspicious mo-
ments In history, while news of the
crushing American triumph over the
Japanese feet in the Philippines
was still coming in.
The spectators who cheered and
applauded the long lines of march,
Ing Bluejackets and WAVES seemed
acutely aware of the debt they owed
the fighting men Of the sea. But
they were no less appreciative of
the battalions of Marines, which in
cluded several hundred veterans of
bitterly fought Pacific victories.
In perfect formation, the colorful
procession swept into the parade
route from the formation area on
Fourth street, swung jauntily along
Constitution avenue to Seventeenth
street and proceeded south to the
John Paul Jones statue. Here the
marchers dispersed to watch exer-
clses sponsored by the Military Or
der of the World War.
Leahy Accepts Salutes.
At the reviewing stand, between
Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets on
the north side of Constitution ave-
nue., Admiral William D. Leahy.
chief Of staff to President Roosevelt,
who acted in the absence of Sec
retary Of the Navy Forrestal, ac-
cepted the salutes of the passing
units. Other dignitaries, including
members of the foreign diplomatic
corps, were in the reviewing stand.
, BY actual police count, 6,740 per-
sons took part in the parade. OF
these, police said, 4,249 were men
marchers, 2,029 women marchers,
and 472 passengers in automobiles
and trucks. Police counted 10 bands.
IL motor artillery vehicles, rs mill
tary vehicles, IL floats and 4 auto
mobiles.
Before the parade began, band
from the Navy School of Music play
ed a concert at the reviewing stand
and provided stirring tunes for the
paraders too far from the marching
bands to hear the beat. Marine |
bands leaned heavily on "Semper
F1delis,' marching tune based on the
Marine Corps motto. The other
bands concentrated on Anchors
Aweigh."
Marine Bagpipe Band.
That is, all except the Marine Bag
pipe Band from Quantico. Va.
AS the pipers snapped briskly along
the avenue. some one said: Il never
thought I'd live to see the dav"
Except for the absence of kits, they
could have been a regimental band |
Of Highlanders.
This curious anomaly in the Ma
r1ne Corps was born in Londonderry,
Northern Ireland, of all places. It
one night when a couple of
Marine oficers got into an argument
with some members OF the Royal
Ulster ConStabularv
4 rash fisherman, 1t seems. DROP
pee some crack about the Marines
not being able to do everything
play bagpipes, for instance. The
next day, marine sergeant was
hurriedly dispatched to Scotland
where he bought II bagpipes at $50
each. Volunteers learned to play the
weird contraptions. And in Nav
l943. the Marines ran off with third
prize in the famed Dormara Pipers'
contest.
The whole project almost blew up
In mutiny once when an overzealous
officer suggested going the whole
hog by outfitting the boys in kits.
The idea was quickly dropped.
Exhibits on Floats.
Another high light of the process
sion was a captured enemy direc-
ton finder provided for the affair
by the Naval Research Laboratory
at Anacostia. 1t bore the simple
legend: Radio direction finder re-
ceived from Tokyo for Navy Day"
Equally impressive was the Japa-
nese Betty" bomber-or what was
left OF it. The perforated
fuselage was carted up the avenue
on along trailer truck, followed by
another truck bearing miscellaneous
scraps of the plane-parts of the
wings, a wheel and a motor.