The Wilmington morning star., 1944-01-20
By PRESTON GROyFp

By PRESTON GROVER
AMERICAN AIR BASE NJ.
east India-(P-No show that ~ " III
Kramer put on for gin.p, goVS
Brooklyn cabaret custor9erS "ea'J
stacked up to the show he j. 9'ei
playing in on the edge of tho p DUN
ma jungle. D0N
Kramer. IS, of 593 Blake Anew.
Brooklyn, is in the life SAVING i L.e
ness. In Brooklyn he used i 'IS'
rundown night clubs. lack ~ Wy
come and tighten down outoa ~
then sell them. The last wss a,''
Embassy Rest on Flatbush aver, '
He was doing that when tba Ar ,1e'
caught up with him. '
81 am not a draftee." Krs,.
said, I am a seizure. The y,
had to come and get ne1 ~
little guy did not want 10 gAt IL; Sae
the Army but now that he !, ,'a
he's working his head off in r,, u
he says is the best job he o ora
had. He rounds up food, nedic S,s'
guns, shoes and even occasio r,f,
doctor to drop to American niIa,
compelled to bail out in tbo P p
ma jumgles while flying owe, 4 ~.
hump. '4s
In Brooklyn he always kr..,
where some night club silveruonw
or an extra bar or ten waitars
could be caught up in bnrrn
Here he is one of the Arrny's ba,,
scroungers. The Army does mt !,
sue red blankets. Kramer CO...
them because they are fine s fos
pacifying tribesmen whose helm !,
needed in rescue work. The ArrY
does not issue boxes Of trjnket,
as rule, but somehow thew sbor
up in Kramer's warehouse Tbs
natives love them, too. SOMETIME,
when there is a hurry call h.
shoes, blankets Or guns. he rar,
through barracks grabbing In
what he needs.
Technically he is a radio opera.
tor and in that capacity he file,
the hump. But few radio opera
tors ever work so frantically over
such long hours.
He is still only first class nr.
vate, although he gets more stuff
done in the course of day than
almost any major I ever saw.
Rank means nothing to him. He
has one of those rubbery, cajoling
voices with which he can call cor.
porals, sergeants and even some
officers to help him or run e.,
rands.
They know what he is doing. IL
sees that the rescue plane ha
everything needed by some strand
ed party.
I rode around with him one al
ternoon to gather up shoes, bla2
kets, socks, underwear and field
glasses; He also made arrange.
ments with the Red Cross to pro.
vide a chocolate layer cake On an
hours notice in case Captain John
L. Porter of Tiffin, Ohio, head Of
the rescue service, was found. Por
ter disappeared while hunting for
other lost fliers.
In his own private rescue ware
house Kramer has an accumua
ton of stuff which would drive an
orderly quartermaster bughouse
Sometimes stranded soldier asks
for beer. He gets it. There are
little boxes of candy all ready 10
go.
when a guy signals for Bible
I send him all three kinds, Kra'
mer said. How can I tell which
one he wants. They are what he
describes as the Protestant Bible,
the Catholic Bible and the Jewish
Bible.
Sometimes when fliers bail out
their shoes flip off as the para
chute takes hold. Getting shoes is
no easy job at an advanced pos!
in the middle of the night, but
Kramer never lets that stand in
the way.
The war cannot end too 500
for Kramer even if he does haa
job he likes immensely.
II have got a gorgeous wife thai
I am really crazy about" he said
Her name is Lee August
dancer"