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Show 'Nothing Can Stop the Army Air Force!' With B-29s ranging over Tokyo almost al-most daily it's tough for the imagination to conceive that three years ago our air forces' only asset as-set was the moxie of its men. ... Bataan was saved at least once by the wizardry of our air force personnel, per-sonnel, who had plenty of Ingenuity as well as courage. . . . Enemy ships were trying to land troops on the shore one night. Though there were no bombers with which to stop them, our airmen weren't fazed. . . . Mechanics rigged up three pursuit pur-suit ships with a device whereby two 300-pound bombs could be attached to the wings and released by pulling pull-ing a wire. . . . The three ships made three trips that night and bombed and strafed the Jap boats, preventing the troops from landing. . . . What made their feat of stalling stall-ing the Japs and gaining time for us even more of a miracle was that most of the pilots had never before flown at night! The newspapers not long ago carried car-ried a story telling how there were no trees in the far Aleutians and that pilots had brought in a single tree, planted it and labelled it "Umnak National Forest." What the news story failed to mention men-tion was why the tree had been flown in for the exclusive use of a flier's pet dog. A flyer who had been stationed on an island for too many months developed de-veloped a crush on a half-native girl, who looked very beautiful after months In the South Pacific. ... In his barracks one day he was getting poetic about the girl when his buddy, thumbing through a movie magazine, suddenly turned to a photo of Betty Grable in a bathing bath-ing suit . . . "How's this?" excitedly ex-citedly asked the buddy, holding up the picture. The pilot took a brief look and snorted, "White trash!" On a recent bomber mission over Germany the flight ran Into serious opposition from both fighters and flak, and a B-17 was hit. A 20-mm. shell struck the top turret, and the gunner fell to the floor covered with blood. ... A colonel who had come along as an observer rushed back to give first aid and, seeing see-ing the lad's rigid form, thought he was either dead or dying. ... He was about to administer adminis-ter a hypodermic when the gunner gun-ner opened his eyes. . . . The colonel bent over him, putting his ear close to the lad's lips, expecting some last feeble words. . . . "Colonel," was the gunner's comment, "I'm beginning begin-ning to think there isn't much future in this racket." Despite papular misconception, boys of the AAF aren't as pin-up-happy as people think. . . . This verse was penned several months ago by a B-17 radio operator-gunner who failed to return from a mission mis-sion over Italy: "Oh. Hedy Lamarr is a beautiful gal. . . . And Madeleine Made-leine Carroll is, too. . . . But you'll find, if you query, a different theory. . . . Amongst any bomber crew. . . . For the loveliest thing of which one could sing. . . . (This side of the Heavenly Gates). ... Is no blonde or brunette of the Hollywood set. . . . But an escort of P-30s." Pet story or Gen. flap Arnold, chief of the AAF, concerns the Wright brothers, who had repeatedly repeated-ly tried to fly a heavier-than-air craft Finally, one December day, at Kitty Hawk, N. C, they did what no man had ever done before. They flew! . . . Elated, they wired their sister, Katherine: "We have actually actual-ly flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas" . . . Katherine ran down the street and breathlessly handed the telegram the news scoop of the century to the city editor of the local lo-cal paper. He read It carefully and smiled: "Well, well! How nice the boys will be home for Christmas!" A fighter pilot (veteran of the famed Flying Tigers) took on half a dosen Jap planes In dogfight and downed two. Then his ammunition ran out. . . . Ramming hla plane Into a third he balled out and managed to land safely near the wreck. Removing Re-moving the one undamaged machine ma-chine gun from the debris he carried It to his base where he promptly reported to his commander, Gen. Claire Chen-nault: Chen-nault: "Sir, may I have another airplane for my machine gun?" During a raid on Schwelnrurs several months ago one of our bombers. "BatUin' Bobble." was hit and two of her engines were knocked out. . . . For 500 miles the bomber hedge-hopped over trees, roof tops and enemy pillboxes. . . All the time as the plane limped along her crew kept praying the twt. smoking engines wouldn't blowup . . . When they finally reached hnm and the perspiring pilot climbed nut of the ship, his comment was. ' V marie a chapel out of that airplane today." |