Evening star., 1944-12-31

Day and night, C-54 cargo
planes, especially fitted to
carry 18 1Dou1ded men, roar
oUer the Atlantic, bringing in
jured American soldiers home.
BY Walter McCallum,
Star War Correspondent.
SOMEWHERE IN BRITAIN, AN ATC
BASE (By MaiD.-"Hey. Nom, I'm
home. Yeah, I'm in New York. Just got
of plane. Sure, I'm okay. Got a hole
in my shoulder and another in leg,
but I'm okay."
The mother, back in Colorado, nearly
tainted at the telephone. She knew
her boy had been wounded over in Ger
many. She thought he might be evac-
uated some time and be invalided home,
but it was Oo her mind something far
in the future. And here was her boy, at
an airport in New York, on the way
home, He would be home in a matter of
hours.
"He flew the Atlantic Ocean in an
airplane," she would tell the neighbors
later. He sounded good, and I think
he's all right"
The kid back in New York went on
over the phone. Yeah, Nom, call up
Sue and tell her I'm on the way and not
to make any dates for while. I want
to see lot of her It's been long time,
you know Gee, Nom, It'll be swell see
ing you and Pop and the kids
1t Was a Long Way
The mother put down the phone. She
thought a minute. What lot of things
to do to be ready. A bed and all Johns
old civilian clothes, all the things to do to
get ready for boy coming home, maybe
for good. Maybe John wasn't badly hurt
The boys didn't talk about those things
much. Perhaps he could help with the
farm, and maybe he would be all right
after a while. She wondered about the
phone call. 1t was long way to New
York, and phone calls were expensive
On that item she needn't have wor.
ried. 1t Is all part of the Air Transport
air evacuation service. Not many hour!
before, John had been at French air.
port near Paris, lying on litter, not TOT
many hours from front line hospital
The phone call from New York to Colo
RADIO was a minor item compared witt
getting John and his comrades bacl
across the Atlantic in one OF the bi
C-54 airplanes, now being used to trans
port wounded men hack to the Unite'
States.
How 1t Started
Gen. Marshall and his staff started
Staff, United States Army, embarked q
the Washington Airport and few t
Paris direct. Early in December Al
Transport Command started direct al
evacuation Of wounded from the Pari
area. The first plane carried 16 pa
tients, crew Of 6, flight nurse an
medical technician. Up in the cockpi
plotting the giant ship was Maj L. "
Moomaw Of Presque Isle, Mo. He ais
piloted the first C-54 from the Unite
States to India in 1912.
1t isn't secret that the plane used b
President Roosevelt in some of his trans
Atlantic hops has been used in pioneer
ing the air evacuation service. At AT
headquarters here they don't like to hay
that plane alluded to as the President
private plane. Although it is availab
for F. D. r. whenever needed, the plar
still Is an operational airplane, use
for many other purposes and Is no
ATC people say, held at an airport net
1 Washington exclusively for the use (
t the President
e Evacuation by Air
Prior to the operation of direct a
n evac service from Paris, an airport
the green lowlands of Scotland was tt
g chief air base for overseas transport
S Evacuation by air is the create
n morale stimulant you can give these me
You'll see when you talk to them
: said 1t. Col. r. J. Lipin Of Baltimol
= medical officer in charge of evacuation.
y You wouldn't guess, looking at the k
= there on the litter on the floor Of tt
n hospital, that he was doomed to sper
h part of the remainder of his life in be
e. He was grinning and smoking cigarett
e putting out blue rings ali over the rool
ir The attendant, who hadn't read tt
IS little white card attached to his slee,
1T asked what size hospital slippers
Is would need, Large, medium or small
= The kid broke into another grI
Dunno fellow. I left my legs in Franz