Imperial Valley press., 1945-04-27
Marines Wife
To Get Fine
Silk Pajanas
By ERNIE PY-E

OKINAWA. by Navy Radio)-
One of these days Mrs. Leland
Taylcr of Q01 Francis COURT, Jack
son, Mich, is going to be the envy
of all her friends. For she is about
to come into possession of four
pairs of the most beautiful Japa-
nese pajamas you ever saw.
These are daytime pajamas or
drawing room pajamas-the kind
that some American hostesses wear
to cozy cocktail parties.
Mrs. Taylor's husband. who is a
marine corporal and known as
Pop found these pajamas in
wicker basket hidden in a cave.
They are thrilling tc look at and
soft to the touch.
Pop carries the basket around
on his arm from place to place un-
til he can get chance to ship them
home.
One morning I wandered down to
our mortar platoon and ran onto
young fellow with whom I have a
great deal in common. We are
both from Albuquerque and We
both have mosquito trouble.
This New Mexico lad was Pfc.
Dick Trauth of sos w. Santa Fe
street. Beth his eyes were swollen
almost shut from mosquito bites.
At least one of mine is swollen shut
every morning. We both look very
funny.
BOY VETERAN
Dick still is just a boy. He's
seen nineteen months in the ma
rines and a year overseas. He's a
veteran CT combat and still he's
only II years old. He has one
brother in the marines and another
in the army In Germany.
Dick writes letters to movie stars
and not long ago he got back a pic
ture of Shirley Temple. auto
graphed to his company just as he
had asked her tc do. Dick is very
shy and quiet and I had a feeling
he must be terribly lonesome. But
the other boys say he isn't and
JQdU ne gets dlOllS lllle.
One of the marines who drives
me around in a jeep whenever I
have to go anywhere is Pfc. Buzz
vitere of (2403 Hoffman street,,
the Bronx. New York.
BING CROSBY NO.2
Buzz has other accomplishments
besides jeep driving. He is known
as the Bing Crosby of the marines.
If you shut your eyes and don't
listen very hard you can hardly tell
the difference.
l first met Buzz on the transport
coming up to Okinawa. He and a
friend would give an impromptu
and homegrown concert on deck
every afternoon.
They would sit on hatch in the
warm tropical sun and pretty soon
there would be scores of marines
and sailors packed around them,
listening in appreciative silence. 1t
made the trip to war almost like
a Caribbean luxury cruise.
Buzzs partner was Pfc. Johnny
Marturello of 225 Livingston street,
Des Moines, Ia. Johnny plays the
accordion. He is an Italian, of
course, and has all an Italians
flair for the accordion. He sings,
too, but he says as a singer his
name is Frank -Not-so-hctra."
Johnny plays one piece he COM
posed himself. 1t is a lovely thing.
He sent it to the GI Publishing Co.,
or branch or whatever it is in the
states and I feel positive if it could
be widely played it would become
a hit.
SENTIMENTAL PIECE
The piece is a sentimental song
called why Do Have to Be Here
Alone?" Johnny wrote it for his
girl back home, but he grins and
admits they are ION the outs"
Johnny came ashore on Love
Day and his accordion followed two
days after. Now in his off mo-
ments, he sits at the side of the
road and plays for punches of Oki-
nawans that the marines have
rounded up. They seem to like 1t.
Johnny had a lot of trouble with
his accordion down south in the
tropical climates. Parts would warp
and stick and mould and he con-
tinually had to take the thing apart
and dry and clean it.
But it was worth the trouble. 1t
had kept Johnny from getting too
homesick. He brought it along
with him from America just for his
own morale. He knew the accord
ion would probably be ruined by
the climate. but he didn't care.
Il can always get a new accord