The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-06-29

me John was missing. He'd been
out on reconnaissance patrol in that
numbering slow old Navy flying boat,
and there had been two messages
from him: Many Zeros sighted and
then about a minute later a final
one: 'Zeros closing in.' That left
only three Of the ones I knew in
gallant Patrol Wing 10, Commander
Peterson, Bill Hardy, and Duke
Campbell. None of them had been
able to tell her. and when / looked
at her face I found ! couldn't either.
Because it was the face Of someone
frozen with fear in a nightmare-so
frozen you knew she daren't move
to accept the truth If you told her,
so too was afraid.
I'm all the evenings that were left
(there were not to be many avoid
ed that lobby, because it was haunt
ed by a ghost-a pretty, pale, fear
frozen face that came running up
to you and asked, with hope forced
into q frightened smile, If you had
seen John. To me the most frighten-
ing ghost of all-the ghost of a dead
love which will not die.
''But there's something else that
should be told, only must 60 back
In the story little. The Army had
sent high ground officer to Sura-
baya on . special mission Of great
importance, and with about q mil
lion dollars deposited to his credit
in the Javische Bank. With this he
was to buy and equip with Supplies
three blockade runners which would
carry to Corregidor ammunition,
medical supplies, and food for those
poor devils on Bataan who were still
fighting on. Two Of the ships had
already left. A third was almost
ready tc 60.
''This officer left Java the twenty
sixth Of February. The day after
he left. his assistant, young Sec
ond lieutenant, called me up in con-
siderable anxiety. His chief. he ex-
planned, had paid him the compli-
ment Of leaving him in Surabaya in
entire charge Of completing the ar
rangements.
Nothing remained to be done ex-
cept the most important thing of all:
the officer before leaving had been
unable to find . radio operator for
this last ship. Without one they
could not start, because unless they
gave . prearranged radio signal
when they approached Corregidor.
the Rocks guns would blow them to
pieces. Could the Air Force possibly
let them have q radio operator?
Since the mission was a dangerous
one, the assistant said he would pay
q man who volunteered bonus out
OF the money his chief had left in
the bank.
''Now asking our Colonel for a ra-
dio operator was like asking him for
his right arm. But Java was caving
In, the situation was tense. Our Colo
mel hesitated, and then said that
while he couldn't order anyone on so
dangerous a mission, he thought.
even after we explained clearly what
1t was, we could get a volunteer.
"And we did. We told the men
the mission was most dangerous but
of the greatest possible service to
our country. And out of the line
stepped clean-cut, alert-looking kid
called Sergeant Warrenfeltz. Only
after this did tell him of the five
thousand-dollar bonus. We let War
renfeltz 60 down and look over the
ship, loaded with surgical equip
ment, food, drugs, and three hum
dred thousand rounds of .30-caliber
ammunition, so that she was practi-
cally floating bomb. He talked to
the captain "a Swede) and looked
over the Negro and Chinese crew.
There were two-one for topside
dressed like Javanese natives so the
Japs might mistake her for fish,
ing trawler. Then Warrenfeltz came
to me with written orders from the
bomber command and ! told him
the ports Of call. They were to
slip out at night, down the north
coast Of Java. through Lombok
Strait, then along the Netherlands
East Indies, then cut up east OF
the Celebes, running the Jap block
ade into the Philippines till they
came to- Manila Bay entrance,
where they would be challenged by
the Rock. And he was to answer on
the radio with the proper signal.
''Then he asked what were the
other ports of call. So told him
(it makes me creep to repeat it)
they were then to run the block
ade through the Jap-mandated is
lands past Guam (now held by the
Japs) to Honolulu.
What else?' asked Warrenfeltz.
grinning. He was game for any
thing. And told him his third and
last port Of call would be New York.
And then what? he wanted to know.
I told him if he got that far, he was
to have himself some fun, and I
was sitting down now to write him
out an order for thirty days leave.
''He knew what he was getting
into. We'd been flying over those
waters for months; he knew just
how thick the Jap surface ships
were, and also that they had hardly
q fifty per cent chance Of escaping
being blown up by Jap mine just
outside the breakwater. Why did
he do it? To help those poor devils
in the infantry, dying on Bataan.
He'd seen the cargo. And then the
money-he told me exactly what to
do with that, and the message I
must send, but we'll come to it lat
er. OF course it was all pretty ir-
regular, paying a man for heroism.
Maybe when peace comes, some
body in swivel chair in Washing
ton will start writing us letters ask
ing us why we did it, and ! don't