Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-08
THE COMPLETE BEST SELLER
No Time for Sergeants

pulled real hard and tipped ashes this way
and that. but nothing ever come Of it. They
finally got the cowlings back on and Lieu
tenant Bridges was raring to 60, prancing
around and waving his arms and saying.
Snap it up. Snap. Snap. Snap" and things
like that, and finally the mechanics moved
the stand. and / heered one of them say,
I'VE ought to report 1t to- Operations. and
the other answer, Hell be gone before we
have chance. There amt a truck around"
Anyhow, what happened was. Lieutenant
Bridges started going around the plane yell
ing, "All aboard!" and making noises like
train with his mouth, and then he thought
of that old joke about, Get aboard and If you
cant get aboard, get q plank and he yelled
that one out lot Of times, and everybody
that warnt in started getting in; and de-
cided would ride UP front again and watch
them some more. It was real interesting to me
up there, and thought with. them all drunk
that way, it would be especially interesting.
so yelled to Ben just as he was climbing in
that was going to ride up front. and then
I weht to get the checks out from under the
wheel. But when got back, Lieutenant
Bridges had already slammed the door, and
when started to knocking on it, trying to
get in, heered one of the engines trying
to start.
Engine Competition
So for minute there, didn't know what
to do. beat some more and nobody opened
up, and then one Of the engines started
backfiring like an old car trying to start up
and took my cap of, so I decided to run
around to the back and try to get in there.
But then that door was locked too and about
that time, another one Of the engines started
with the wind blowing back so that had to
lean into it to keep from falling, so then
run around to the side of the blister to yell
at Ben to come unlock the door for me.
But about that time another one OF the
engines started suffering and taking on
and then the plane gave a lurch and
jumped forward, and stopped and then
lurched again, and started taxing of down
the runway, so all I could do was just start
running and take of after it.
Anyhow, I had to run that way for the
longest sort Of time waving my arms and
yelling for Ben. trying to get his attention.
was right down under him, but he just sat
there in front of the blister holding on with
his face pale and his eyes big, and all these
straps tied around him. And the only way
ever did get him to look around was by sling
ing handful of pebbles against the side Of
it, yelling out, Ben. open the door! Open
the door!" and running along making motions
with my hand to show him what I was
talking about
So then he started trying to get UP. but
that took him pretty long time because
of the way he had these straps fixed on him.
He had little locks around and about, and
straps coming down over his shoulder, the
way he said jet pilots fixed themselves in
their cockpits and thought he never would
get them OH. The plane kept on bobbing
up and down, going down the runway with
the engines backfiring, and kept running
f,s1rin tn q
to me Ben had to undo is straps before
he could even move. And then seen him
lean over and start undoing some around
his feet. But he finally made 1t. just as the
plane was stopping down at the end Of the
runway to rev up the engines. and seen
him get up and in q second after that
the door opened.
And Out We Go
Anyhow, what happened then. started
to climb in, but Ben held out his hand for
me- so took it and was just ready to pull
myself UP when the plane bobbed and the tail
end went up in the air and slipped back.
So instead of me getting in, Ben come sailing
out. He come flying over my head, his feet
going this way and that, and hit right on
my back and Ben kept going. And I guess
he must have hit right hard because he didn't
even know what was going on for while
after that; he just set there shaking his head
like he was trying to come to again.
And before I could do anything else,
there was this big roar from the engines and
1t started to move. 1t went OF humping and
I. sting and bucking like wild horse with
the tlaue straining to get up of the runway
like big buzzard reaching out and feeling
Of thu air with its wings. It got few feet
up ami slammed back down so you could see
the wheels squash down under the weight,
and then all of a sudden it kind of hoped
right up off the ground and went looming
along with its right wing going down until
1t nearly touched the runway. Then 1t wob-
bled back and forth until it was about a
hundred feet high, and then it wiggled few
more times and Strengthened out and tried
to climb, but then it just keeled over and up,
so to speak, And when it hit the ground with
the tail end flying of and burning, was
right glad we hadn't been in it after all.
mean something like that could kill you,
probably. If you were in it. The front end
didn't look so bad: it just went barreling on
down the way without no tail until it hit this
fence and stopped, but the back end had so
much smoke and fire around it, you couldn't
even see it hardly. I mean it looked pretty
dangerous that way, and guess lot of
other folks thought so too because in minute
I heered sirens all over the place, wailing
and screaming, and folks running across the
runway and everything else.
So to tell you the truth, when seen
what happened to that back end, the way it
was burning and everything, really didn't
care that me and Ben didn't make it, I
say nothing like that to Ben of course. but
that's just the way felt about it,
Tomorrow: It's AWoL they ere. says Ben.