Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-02-29
THE COMPLETE BEST SELLER astst.l
No Time for Sergeants
By MAC LYMAN
Copyright 1854 By Mac LYMAN
CHAPTER XVI


I had to go to the pressure chamber, ana
Sergeant King stopped me on the way out
and started telling me all about it again. He
said. "You can get to be gunner anyhow.
know you can. If you can just get through
the pressure chamber. you can make it all
right And they cant prove you've got the
bends or the sinus or nothing if you just keep
your mouth shut So you got to be careful.
see? You wouldn't want to not be classified
and have to stay here as latrine orderly all
the time, would you? So you watch 1t now"
And he kept on like that until all the
others outside started yelling to get started,
and then he let me go, and we marched down
to this theatre where they was going to lee
ture us about the pressure chamber. And just
as was making myself comfortable to nod
a little bit, really got surprise because down
in front of me was little ole Ben's head stick
ing up over one of the seats, and there was
Lucky next to him, and Irwin and Pete and
all the rest Of them! I couldn't even say any
thing for a minute but then I yelled out.
Ben! Benz" and he turned around and seen
me and said, ITS Will, yall It's Will
But about that time this Captain come
nodding and smiling out on the stage. so
motioned them I would meet them outside.
But then he said, GAS you were" which means
to be quiet, which we done, and started to
talking and thought he never would quit.
He was a ground officer-you could tell be-
cause he wore this bashed-in hat and flying
officers wear straight hats, and he kept saying
Roger and Wilco and things like that and
flying officers just say Eyes and mo" and he
kept talking about airplanes all the time
and he was the happiest one to be standing
out there talking of any had ever seen. He
told how they had planes that could fly thirty
thousand feet up and how there Warnt much
oxygen up there and you would be dead in
just few minutes without your mask and
ALL In,,S I. ~ 49,
airplanes that would go up to fifty thousand
feet and kill you in just ten seconds, and make
the blood boil right up inside your body, and
all about that too: and then started telling us
about all the other progress the Air Force was
making, and really got tired of it after
while.
But when 1t was over I went outside to
wait for Ben and them, and I mean it was
good to see them all too. Ben and Irwin and
Lucky and all of them come out and one of
them hit me on the back and then / hit him
on the back, and one of them showed me, and
showed him, and then one of them grabbed
my hat and popped me on the back of the
neck with it, and I stomped on his toes, and
We had real nice time of it. Then me and
Ben went of to eat together and seen that
he warnt down on the Air Force no more
but was right excited about it, and felt right
good about everything. I told him how was
permanent latrine orderly for while, and
Ben said, well, I'm going to be gunner.
think. believe that's the thing for me-" and
when he said that couldn't hardly believe it,
1t sounded SO lucky. I had mouthful OF
food and couldn't hardly swallow it even.
We're Gunners Together
I said, Me too, Ben. Amt that some
thing. though. That's just what I'm going
to be-"
well. I be logged" he said. grinning all
over. Maybe we can get together. ! done
passed everything now but the altitude cham
ber and we get that this afternoon"
We'll, We do too" said And I done
passed everything too, and there amt going
to be thing to that pressure chamber be-
cause Sergeant King told me all about it, so
guess we might make it after all"
So We talked good bit about it. and
before 1t was over, ] got about as anxious to
be gunner as Ben was. We ate and sat
around for a while, and Ben got to talking
about the Air Force and telling me all about
it. and he made it sound so exciting and
everything that you just couldn't wait to get
in-and then all of sudden, you would think.
Well. am in it. and 1t didn't seem like the
same place somehow.
We started back and he begun telling me
how 1t was almost as good as the Infantry in
q lot of ways. He said you just think about
1t. II man gets shot In plane. he's got
thirty thousand feet to fall, and the plane
might blow up, or he might even die because
of lack of oxygen, like the Captain was say
ing. There's lot of things that can happen.
And you know what they did in the last war.
Will? They give out Air Medals for every
five missions. That's how dangerous 1t was.
And you know what you got after thirty
missions, Will?"
There just amt no telling" I said.
You doggone well right there amt. You
got the DFC. by gosh. And you deserve it
too, Will Just think OF all the things that
can happen. So you get medal just like
that and you fly thirty missions, and what
have you got-you got at least four Air Medals
and DFC and that's five medals in all. plus
another one If you get shot or something. and
some others for just being there. How about
that?"
ut sounds mighty good" said.
yeah" Ben said. Il believe you stand
about as good a chance of getting them in
the Air Force as any place. You take my
REORGANIZATION that fought under Stone
wall Jackson; he fought in I don't know
how many battles, and he got shot four
times and lost one leg and got his head
Dashed in, and didn't get but one dinky little
old medal, Will. Why. that amt beans today.
Why, today, you can get a medal by just not
doing anything wrong. Yessir. viii. If we
get to be gunners. there just amt no telling
how many we can get"
Up to 20 Thousand
So took on about 1t a good bit, and we
finally got up to the place where they had
the pressure chamber and me and Ben got
to go in together. What they done was lead
us into this little place that looks something
like the front end Of a train engine. and
they talked to us some more about how we
should do; and then they give us these masks
and run us up to five thousand feet. But
we didn't have no bends or nothing, so then
they run us up to twenty thousand feet, and
the fellow said over the interphone. NOW
you're going to take off your masks and see
how long it takes you to get dizzy. Each man
watch the man next to you and when ne
looks like he has done it long enough, you
make him put his mask back on"
So we done that while too. and didn't
have no trouble with that either only Ben
wanted to see II we couldn't keep ourn Off