Show 74 U W jmj aga aga washington D 0 i FLYING MINUTE MEN the brass ring good for one free fade on the washington merry go round Is awarded this week to the civil air patrol this brass ring goes not to one man but to men and women they are members ol of the civil air patrol who have been fighting the war in little single motor planes flying within the boundaries of the united states and who carry the torch for or the future of civil aviation in this country how long they will be alli allowed swed to carry that torch is the important question at present they are orphans of the storm carrying military responsibilities ties without military standing they fight submarines but they had to fight tor for weapons first the army and are slowly throttling them by refusing new equipment or repair parts thus in order to keep their gradually deteriorating teri orating machines going the civil air patrol is almost certain to tie 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 tary with justification to 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 milles a organized the civil air patrol which tor for more than a year has been flying th the coastal tal 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 heartrending experiences that tha t they cl clamored am for bombs of their own they would dart low over the water discover a submarine location radio to a shore base hold the contact hover and pursue and then sometimes 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 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 but they have not been allowed to reveal the success ol of their submarine patrol war department calls it military information and insists that CAP shall say no more than that they have attacked submarines without indicating the result subs sunk but we can reveal that submarines spotted by CAP observers have actually a ily been sunk the authority for or this statement Is maj gen follett bradley of the army air corps who also emphasizes that these flying minute men have provided their own planes tools radios and other equipment A year ago german submarines submarine s were sinking inking merchant ships within sight ot of the atlantic coast this brazen a activity ceased after establishment lish ment ot of the civil air patrol the submarines were driven into deep waters for or the small planes flying low ow and flying slowly were able to do a better job c of f spotting than big patrol bombers which whizzed past the he scene too rapidly for close observation WHY THE JAPS KNOW here Is an excerpt from the interior departments annual 1941 report which indicates why the japs know so 0 much about the aleutian islands the floating plant kosel maru with auxiliary craft consisting ot of 9 trailers trawlers lers was engaged from may to august 1940 in taking halibut and cod in bering sea about miles northeast of the bilot bilof islands with one additional trawler during the last week or two of the season the vessel was reported to have left eor tor japan toward the end of august this is the eleventh consecutive year that japanese floating plants b save ave operated in these waters the n umber number of vessels having varied from one to four with the usual complement ot of tenders note under international law it Is impossible to prevent foreign als fishermen from fishing in foreign waters water MERRY GO ROUND fl war transport czar joe eastman says he gets a bushel of letters and postcards every week suggesting that he be bar mrs roosevelt from tr traveling avelin g old washington observers w who ho have seen previous presidents suffer buffer front getting out ot of touch with the nation wish had bad 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 aspeci es ily in wartime has to keep close to his bis desk |