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Show PUBLISHED FOR HILL AIR FORCE BASE, FRIDAY, JANUARY noted musician is struck lightning and lives to fell ken o 1 Hard jTo Believe fs 7, 1949 19 NUMBER Courage and Devotion To Duty Win Suggestions Bring Cash Awards To Three Workers Special USAF Awards For Firemen For risking their lives to control a gasoline and oil fire at Cash awards, won by integrity, the Wasatch oil refining plant at Woods Cross, seven fire fighters have been presented to three Hill Air Force Base- employees who from Hill AFB have been presented certificates for meritorious wanted to "do their job better." civilian service ri; E. Whiting works in Supply Division's facilities service hranrh by the United States Air Force. Their efforts Two of the suggestion award winL,.r He and his wife live in the Congress Hotel in Salt Lake Citv. Whim as Hill a AFB on at when a he save to could carpenter still be "out in the ners were from the Supply Division helped $2,500,000 oil refining plant and held damage to rhe Was staying Mr ' whlt.ine had this to say"I like mv -loh at- t.h -fioirf pwwoc t ...... uoc my and one was from Maintenance only $250,000. u. n that kind of work. Although I was recently offered a job in HoiivwnnH t want to make my home in Utah because of the healthful climate and Division. fed it down. I people.") est. Receiving the awards were Ray Greenhalgh, Francis Croft, For devising an arbor for hole "Manv great musicians have had brilliant careers blasted into saws which would save time and Vaughn P. Sheffield, James C. Bean, Glenn A. Richins, Lawrence Uity by injuries to their hands. No greater tragedy can occur in material as well as eliminate a R. Taylor and William J. Bishel. A former employee of the field life of a true arusi wan losing cne use oi aeucate, responsive and safety hazard, Louis L. Smith of and chief, of the fire department Charles E. Whiting As told to Dorothy G. Nelson By - ask-o- w w.,.. t-- hands, for the physical paralysis or dismemberment is damage is usually done to the mind. When arthritis paralyzed my hands and scores of specialists told I would never play the piano again, I wouldn't acceDt it. I was Lrmined to try everything no matter how fantastic it sounded if it meant my deatn. hat's why I went to one of trained hlv the real minor ly m highest lorado's peaks and wait- - lightning to strike me. And for it did! Ike me back a half century background so that understand my apparently let's go ut a little for can j antics. by father was a deep-se- a cap- we lived in Boston. The ev and to occupied a prominent and before even iching the age where the bur- k of school is thrust on a young is shoulders, my parents started piano lily ice in the house I otlt'at the keyboard. At 7; I it my wrist. To strengthen it had mpnrlfxl rnv Hnnfnr like IPr pimended playing the banjo, for a while Eddie Peabody, now Agnized as The Banjo King, was Pennant Awarded Hill AFB Pilots teacher. per graduating from the Emer- l school of music in Boston, I wed under many great protests and was offered three schol- ips. But I had a yearning to right into the field of enter- 1 didn't want to waste pient I more time going, to school. ior tnirty years I played on the stages of New York and pit Jton. i was pianist and organist ncior Herbert's musical in New York and T f rawllori ji such people as John Barry- 1,1 eorge Cohan and Mary ord. I have Stars as Madamp Sfhiirnnnn- 'It. In my spare time I com- a few ODeras. and T mario lio broadcast a urhn n k wcm " ""ch iauiu f m its infancy. When sound In recognition of the efforts of personnel of Hill Air Force base toa eliminate aircraft accidents, Whiting ment. Arthritis paralyzed my hands. Big knots formed my finger joints and the pain was strong. I went to doctor after doctor, specialist after specialist,andfollowing taking all their instructions all their treatments. But each one eventually told me that the case was hopeless and that I would never play the piano again. My hopes were raised once when a doctor injected radium into the backs of my hands. But all the did was burn my hands so P came along I wrote musical radiumthat a scar the size of a such Pictures as "Down badly dime is still visible. lfle J Sea in Shiram n f o.vt tJifUi in Then someone suggested that I a bolt of lightwent the way 1 let myself be hit by !Kin, music was my life ning. tSi "It will either kill or cure you," my life was flowing along as a beautiful melody, they said laughingly. YZ haPPe"ed. I was in New I decided to try it. Without my H . d' (npsmre r" with my 23 piece a uuivinop the Maintenance Sheet Metal Branch was given a check for $39.00. Glen Forman of the Supply Stock Control Section won his extra money for suggesting transparent covers for stock balance reports. Thomas K. Ramage was presented a check for devising a new and better method of sealing medical kits. The awards were made under the U. S. Air Force's program to reward workers for suggesting ways of improving safety, efficiency, and working conditions. Last month alone, the Air Force paid out a total of $8,123 in awards for suggestions. Air Materiel Command, of which Hill AFB is a part, leads all USA.F commands in suggestions adopted. AMC has paid out more than $57,000 in awards, this year, with an estimated annual savings of two million dollars. or- - music, life was meaningless Page 4, Col. 2) any-(Co- nt. at the time of the blaze, also received the meritorious award. He was Howard R. Holbrook of Warrants Given To Hill Airmen Three enlisted men of Hill Air Force base have been sworn in as warrant officers and another airman has been notified that he too will soon receive a warrant. All four men are members of the Air Force reserve training center at Hill. Now wearing their warrant of ficer "bars" are: Alfred C. Saxon, Sahara Village, Stanley St. Sure, Clearfield and Howard Walter Schmutz, St. George. Awaiting his warrant is MSgt. Charles J. Burke. WO Schmutz first entered the military service at Fort Douglas in January 1940 as a private. Dur ing World War II he served over seas in the Asiatic-Pacifi- c theater, winning 6 battle stars. He is now acting engineering officer for reserve training center. WO St. Sure, aircraft mainten ance officer at the training center, entered the service in 1935 as a private. Overseas he served with the 12th Air Support Command and the 419th Bombardment squad ron. He was in on the Invasion of North Africa. WO Saxon, who hails from Ala bama, is now living in Sahara Village. He served with the 9th Air Force in Europe and was awarded two battle stars and an Army Com mendation ribbon. The fire, which occured on June endangered a million gal lons of gasoline, 75,000 barrels of crude oil, and 20,000 barrels of road oil that were in storage at the plant. It was thru the efforts of the Hill AFB fire department that the fire was held in check. "All members of the crew risked death as they battled the flames, for had any of the storage tanks exploded, flaming gasoline and oil would have been sprayed over the entire area, burning everything combustible in its path," according to Brig. Gen. William M. Morgan, commanding general of Hill AFB. It was without thought of personal danger that Mr. Holbrook, along with the fire fighting crew 20, 1947, of the Wasatch Oil Refining white pennant has been awarded to this base by Air Force headquarters. The pennant signifies three months of flying with no fatalities. The flying safety awards are congiven by the Air Force after sideration of many factors and are awarded on the basis of various aircraft being flown. The white was for pennant won by Hill AFB 5 aircraft; the white on the pennant denotes that less than 1000 hours were flowmby that particular Record-breakin- g became matters for and precedent-settin- g type aircraft during the three the Air Materiel Command, Wright-Patterso- n Air Force Base, month period. 1948. of the year of speed records by Major Shattering Receiving the pennant from Brig. during in the 6 r, mile flight of the 0 and the 9,400 Johnson M. William Morgan, General was in the year's events. ir Hill two items of with AFB, general refueling, being only V. Spencer, flying Robert Captain to the huge Jet planes, from the tiny parasite fighter, of0f,r nfficer for Hill. Captain for the headlines. will The gen pennant six-jof the created keep bomber, majority Spencer it - to return ths and then -, . most was to of them the introduced eral birthday during - v , . publicof,th Air Forces durine Seotember. v Flying saieuy . lOUieilCAlYYumw.".." V, AFB for reissue The the largest land-base- d bomber, is still a news item just as it was when it took to the air for the first time. Advances in safety items for fliers, of suits, prac tice bombing raids of major cities, Big Record Chalked Up By AMC During 1948; Jots In Limelight C-4- com-rv,aHi- B-5- 40-hou- F-8- n? air-to-a- F-8- 5, B-4- 8, et X B-3- 6, fire-fighti- coast-to-coa- st J ' . ng aerial photography were only a few of the items featured in the past year. As research during peace-tim- e must plan for any eventuality, the development of both offensive and defensive craft is required. The carried and launched from would fit of a 6 the bomb-ba- y into both classes. This tiny plane has a wing span of 21 feet and Is 15 feet long. It is launched from the "mother" ship, and will return for refueling and repair. It is designed primarily as a fighter protection for penetration work. Swept-bac- k wings characterized North American's "Silver the Charger", and it was in this radically different ship that Major (Cont. Page 4, Col. 2) F-8- 5, B-3- ' ' A flUllir" urn m " ?" F-8- 6, ff At ta - mJst landed at 111,1 T&nSSZ l'ropelled bomber ever to land at a Utan m Long Beach, California to Hill in an nour bombep whlch Com- pany, 'directed the efforts of his men and the use of the Air Force in combating the equipment flames, thinking only of the possible destruction of the entire oil refining plant as well as the adjacent community of Woods Cross if the flames were not controlled," General Morgan added. The certificates and emblems were presented to the seven firemen and Holbrook at ceremonies early Wednesday morning in the offices of General Morgan. At one time, the pilot reported that he was making a Ground soeed of 520 mph. The appearance of planes such as the past year. highlighted AMCs activities, during true this |