Show 6 0 W washington D 0 FLYING MINUTE MEN the brass ring good for one free tide ride on the washington merry go round is awarded this ahli week to the civil air patrol this brass ring goes not to one man but to men and women they are members of the civil air patrol who have been fighting the war in little single motor planes flying y within the boun boundaries darles of th the united states and who carry the torch for the future of civil aviation in this country how long they will be allowed to carry that torch is the important question at present they are orphans of the storm carrying m military 11 responsibilities without m military 11 I 1 standing they fight submarines but they had to fight for weapons first the army and axe are slowly throttling they by refusing new equipment or repair parts thus thus in order to keep their gradually deteriorating teri orating machines going the civil air patrol is almost certain to be swallowed by the army the army has been wanting to take over because civilian fliers in wartime are considered a nuisance by the military with justification in some cases youths and fathers but the owners of private planes thought they had something to offer the younger ones went into military service others many being married men with families organized the civil air patrol which for more than a year has been flying the coastal waters and maintaining a courier service throughout the united states these are the flying minute men at first their submarine patrol was merely a spotting job it if they spotted a submarine they were supposed to radio a shore base and then hover around waiting for a bomber to come to the scene of action but they had so many hearth rending experiences that they clamored for bombs of their own they would dart low over the water discover a submarine location radio to a shore base hold the contact h hoyer er and pursue arsue and then sometimes anes lose the prey because the army never came along for months they called in vain for bombing equipment war department insisted that no civilians are allowed to carry weapons and thus the civil air patrol should not be armed the army army would not even release life rafts and as a result several CAP pilots have lost their lives on submarine patrol finally the restriction was waived and today these little single engine planes carry small bomb racks bombs and bomb sights tut but they have not been allowed to reveal the success of their submarine patrol war department calls it military information and insists that CAP shall say no more than that they have bave attacked submarines without indicating the result subs sunk but we can reveal that submarines spotted by CAP observers have actually been sunk the authority for this statement is maj gen follett bradley of the army air corps who also emphasizes that these flying minute men ha have ve provided their own planes tools radios and other equipment A year ago german submarines were sinking merchant ships within sight of the atlantic coast this brazen activity ceased after establishment lish ment of the civil air patrol tle the submarines were driven into deep dee p waters for the small planes flying cowand low and flying slowly were able to do a better job of spotting than big patrol bombers which whizzed past the scene too rapidly for close observation WHY IVRY THE JAPS KNOW here is an excerpt from the interior departments annual 1941 report which indicates why the japs japa know so much about the aleutian islands the floating plant kosel kosei maru with auxiliary craft consisting of 9 trailers trawlers lers was engaged from may to august 1940 in taking halibut and cod in bering sea about 1001 miles northeast of the bilot bilof islands wi with th one additional trawler during the last week or two of the season the vessel was reported to have left for japan toward the end of august this is the eleventh consecutive year that japanese floating plants have operated in these waters the number of vessels having varied horn from one to four with the usual complement of tenders notes note under international law it is impossible to prevent foreign fishermen from fishing in foreign waters 0 MERRY GO ROUND fl 41 war transport czar joe eastman says he gets a bushel of letters and postcards every week suggesting that lie bar mrs roosevelt from traveling old washington observers who have seen prey previous lous presidents dents suffer er from getting out of touch with the nation wish had two mrs Roosevel ts to keep him posted about U S sentiment any president who loses contact with the people is finished and every president especially in wartime ba hat ito to keep close to his desk |