Show With The Boys InThe In InT T The e Armed Forces Forces AX AN TORY STOny SO The following story was sent by William E. E E Prudence to his mother inthis In InthIs thIs city Mr Prudence Is now some In the South Pacific and It will be remembered he was the first local boy to volunteer for service after ater the attack on Pearl Harbor An advance base In the South Pact Pact- nc When a a. 1000 ton seagoing tug braves brave A 14 Inch salvos os from a Japanese DB tle- tle ship while going to the rescue of a damaged AmerIcan ship It otters offers a arouch rough clue as to what the kitchen navy Is doing In this war Such auxiliary craft as tugs mine mine- minesweepers minesweepers sweepers and patrol boats do the scrub work while the big boys go out and fight More than once they have been called on to fish the combatant ships out ot of trouble Told recently for tor the first time what tho story of the tugboat Bobolink a converted minesweeper whose stern was blown off by n a mine explosion during the last war she has helped f salvage n ships from Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal and capped her career lost last November 13 when she towed n a heavy cruiser light cruiser and destroyer from a a. sea dotted with burning and sinking hulks be- be between between tween Cape and Savo Island There Isn't m much ch more a boat of this size can do to help win the war Its It's the odd the jobs little Jobs Jobs- that we get said her captain Lt James L. L Foley of California he said It without rancor Tied up at Tugboat Alley at Pearl Harbor the morning of December 7 the tho Bobolink valiantly broke out the ammunition for her two 3 inch guns and peppered away at the Jap planes which swarmed past her In search ot of bigger game The Bobolink claims an assist In the destruction of one enemy plane which crashed Into the water nearby Following several months of convoy and patrol duty her real career began when she reached Guadalcanal Novem- Novem ver 2 1942 There she transported avia- avia aviation aviation tion gasoline bombs and cargo back and forth between and Guadalcanal The Tho Marines on Guadalcanal laid bets she would not make more than four trips They lost their bets Foley recalled but we deemed to become one of their favorites orites They nicknamed us the Ex- Ex press The first call for assistance came from an American destroyer which mes- mes messaged messaged that she was dead In the water from shell hits We had no more than started to pass the towing wire to her than bang two large caliber shells dropped astern ot of us at 2000 yards Foley said Two minutes later wo we were straddled and the tho destroyer which was supposed to be dead In the the- water got under way at 15 knots but quick The salvos were coming from the now famous Unsinkable Jap battleship of the Kongo class yards away A virtual wreck from repeated torpedo and bomb she continued to blast away with her main batteries until she was scuttled later on There were two more salvos Foley went on and both the destroyers and the tug were running like hell Twenty fIve minutes later the destroy destroy- destroyer er really went dead In the water he said and the Bobolink towed her to a patrol boat bont which took the destroyer Into port It wasn't until December cember 22 that we had enough time so I could order an upkeep period Foley recalled For seven days das we cleaned out our It was a nice feeling to get t things cleared away the BObolink Is still on duty Her crew of 68 men has done eight months month's without liberty but there hasn't been much complaining Foley said It If the Express ever hits n a liberty port ho he added the natives are going to remember us for lor a long time A LETTER WOULD BE Dear Sam I have meant many times In the past months to thank you for The Record and for accepting my suggestion that you reserve a column for the fellows In tho service that want to get In touch with each other Believe me mall mail call Is always welcome but It Is doubly so when you read about a buddy you have wondered won won- wondered dered about for sometime yet found It ItI I difficult to contact I have an especially Important reason for writing you this time however I would like through the columns of The Record to reach If possible the friends of my brother J. J L. L Harrington better known In school as Leonard leaving school or more so since he was commissioned In the Leonard has moved so 80 often otten and so fast tast that it has been difficult for those ot of us In the family to keep In touch with him himat I at times As a result he has lost touch I with many of the friendS he used to write to A recent letter from his base In India mentioned his extreme joy in receiving small mall of any sort since this and an oc- oc occasional occasional movie Is the only diversion known at his station Leonard received his commIssion as Second Lieutenant In the Air Corps on December 12 last year and was Immedi- Immedi Immediately immediately sent to North Carolina without benefit of the usual ten days leave cus- cus customary tomary after such a course From North Carolina he was sent to FlorIda and embarked for tor IndIa by plane arriving In the co bat zone less than sIX weeks after receiving his commission He has since then been assigned to air transport duty and from his letters has no doubt seen plenty of excitement Of course he can give no details so t the I exact nature of his from us However one hint as to what might have happened was a letter re- re received acme time after atter the Sicilian In- In Invasion invasion In which Leonard stated that he had been away from his base In India for nearly a month and had flown miles mUes closer to home It might be rea- rea to guess that he might have had same rome part In the fun In Africa and Sicily Air navigation of Cf course Is quite In- In cresting and I continually envy him I dont don't seem to be able to get any farther han ham the battle of Texas and latest ru- ru nors ners are to the tho effect that we will all t medals medal for foreign duty after a year yearn yeara n a this prairie country Thanks again for tor The Record Its It's al- al always ways welcome For those who wish to on r uga r roar Army Demonstration Continued from Page One For example pounds of ot copper lead and zinc go Into a jeep while more than pounds of or copper are needed for tor a light tank which was demonstrated ed In the battle he said saidA saidA saidA A 50 caliber machine gun ammunition ammunition ammunition tion case contains 70 per cent copper and 30 per cent zinc while a bullet Jacket has 90 00 per cent copper and 10 per cent zinc A flight of or 50 bombers will con con- consume consume consume sume this ammunition at the rate rato of or seven se tons of copper per minute That means tons of at ore are representing the labor of or three or four tour men for tor the en- en entire tire the month he be disclosed Tho The demonstration was under the direction of at Colonel Alexander T. T McCone Mc- Mc McCone M Cone headquarters first Eighty divi divI- division sion slon artillery and includes an antiaircraft antiaircraft antiaircraft craft gun drill antitank gun drill cargo truck and jeep trick tank demonstration and an attack on a fortified position |