The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-24
BY ERNIE PYLE

In lH6 WCo LIN IANAE ~
(delayeO-One of the first friends
I made aboard our aircraft car
RE was tall, well-built, mustach-
ed sailor named Jerry Ryan.
He wears dungarees, smokes a
pipe sometimes, and always his
sleeves rolled up. He's from 016
West Locust-stD Davenport, Ia,
but his wife is living in lndianap-
oils. He is Boilermaker First
Class.
Jerry had served one hitch in
the Navy before the war. He knows
all the little ms and outs OF how
to get along. Everybody likes him.
He isn't especially laxative, yet
it's safe 10 say he knows more
people than anybody else on tbs
ship.
Ryan is what is known in the
navy as "a good man." He's skill
ed in his work, he's dependable,
and he's very smart. He'd die be-
fore he'd curry favor with anybody.
He's the kind an officer can de-
pend on utterly-if that officer
plays square with Ryan. But he
gets a pretender so quickly it would
make your head swim.
Ryan's concept of right and
wrong is very sharply drawn and
the Irish in him doesn't hesitate
when a crisis comes. The other
boys were telling me of an in
cident-
1t was one of the days when Jap
bombs hit his ship, off the Philip
pines. A great hole was torn In the
deck. Several men were killed, and
many wounded. Bodies Of their
comrades were still lying mangled
on the deck.
| A sailor came up to look at the
damage, and said almost exultlng-
ly "Oh boy, this is great. Now at
last they'll have to send us back
to America for repairs
Without saying word Ryan
turned and knocked him down.
Ryan runs what is known as the
'oil shack" From this little do
main the condensers are regula-
ted. He has dials and guages and
phone and Cupboard on which
are kept hourly records of oil pres
sures and water levels and all that
stuff.
The shack is a little room
about the size of an apartment
kitchenette. with a metal work
bench and drawers full of tools, and
one folding canvas stool.
Ryan's oil shack is a social cen
ter. There is always somebody
hanging around. You can get cup
of coffee there, look at sea shell
collections, see card tricks, or IND
out the latest rumors that started
on the bridge five minutes ago.
Jerry brews coffee for his guests
in a nickel-plated pot over an cleo
trio grill. The pot has a red hash
mark for one hitch of service in
the Navy. And soon he is going to
award it the Purple Heart. 1t got
dented in the Philippines typhoon.
Some nights we pop corn in the
coil shack" The boys folks send
them corn in cans, and they beg
butter from the galley, and pop er
up in a skillet on the grill.
One of Ryan's friends who comes
to eat popcorn is a Negro-a tall,
athletic fellow from his home town
of Davenport. They were on the
ship together for year before
they found out they were from the
same place.
The colored boys name is Wesley
Cooper. He is a cook. He was a
star athlete back home. He's the
best basketball player in the whole
crew. When he gets done with the
war he has a scholarship waiting
for him at the University of Iowa.
Wesley comes down to the shack
almost every night after supper.
He smokes curved stem pipe, and
holds one hand up to it, and listens
and grins and doesn't say much.
We were popping corn one night.
One of the boys said ewes, how
about getting us some more but
ter?" And another one said ewes,
bring some salt, will your" And a
third said And bring me a sand !