The Eighth Air Force Historical Society
Massachusetts Chapter
The Mighty Eighth
Volume 14, No.7
All Officers Reelected at fall fling! Two resign from Board of Directors Two appointed. No recounts needed. Hanscom Air Base Gracious Host. The President's Message By William "BILL" Campbell This is your president, Bill Campbell, reporting. My bomb group had its reunion in Las Vegas, Nevada. We picked that location because some of us are getting old. We appreciate a quiet town where we can enjoy afternoon tea and talk about world literature. The Massachusetts Chapter of the Eighth Air Force Historical Society wound up the last century in very successful fashion. Our meetings were well attended despite the arctic type winter. New members rang our doorbell and were made welcome. Our min-meetings at the Walpole McDonald's proved very popular. This may be because most of our members function better when they can smell food. The winter did interfere with outside activities but we intend to make up for that during the warmer seasons. Watch our computer web site for information during the next months. We are already looking forward to our famous yearly boat trip and our hosts, The O'Meara's, have sent us a letter which we have reproduced in Vapor Trails. We are offering speaking programs to schools, clubs and organizations. Will you be ready to tell of your experiences? The Chapter wishes to thank once more the staff of the Officers' Club at Hanscom Air Base and the staff of the Walpole McDonald's ' for their continued hospitality. We give very special thanks to the Hough's Neck Yacht Club, our hosts at sea the O'Meara's, and all who remember and honor our veterans. See you at the Spring Fling. Why not bring guests to meet and eat with us and maybe we can get them to join our flight. Secretary McKernan writes in his February report. (condensed version) A staff member of the O Club informed the members that beginning in March an official base sticker will be required on all private vehicles entering the air base. John Brennan distributed materials in which he is seeking assistance to identify "Nose Art" as part of his efforts to assist the staff at the American Airpower Heritage Museum, Inc. in Midland, Tx. Henry Bengis led a discussion about the declining attendance at veterans reunions. Lionel LeBlanc requested the membership to consider pledging financial support for a proposed military aviation museum in Nashua, N.H. It was voted down. Henry Oi reported on veterans benefits. VP Al Ducey announced that he had obtained speakers from the VA for the Spring Fling. Hughie Jones was welcomed back after being ill. An official meeting of the Board of Directors was scheduled for March. Possible Field trips were discussed including Bradley Field, Westover Field, and the USS Massachusetts. The meeting ended, most repaired to the dining room and lunch. An election of officers was held at the Fall Fling. There was no opposition. The election was accomplished by nominations from the floor and a show of hands. Colonel Dimple and Master Sergeant Chad were not needed to do any recounting. Helen Smith, a loyal member who served in London as a WAC when buzz bombs were falling, resigned from the Board of Directors, as did Charlie Coughlin. Charlie was always ready to help the Chapter with his wit and knowledge of air force affairs. Two members have been appointed to serve in their place although no one will be able truly to replace them. The new members of the board are George MacNeil and your editor. George is an Associate member who served many years with the Air Guard at Hanscom. He has already shown himself a hard working member who has already made himself a popular addition to the crew. Age and infirmity are catching up to World War Two veterans groups where flights of 109s and Zeros could not. It is important that new members be recruited if we are to keep the spirit of The Mighty Eighth and all of our other air forces alive. Here is an example of what is happening. Our ubiquitous former commander and world famous raconteur, Henry Oi, was holding forth at a green baize covered table at which were seated a group of adult males. One of them noticed the badges on his eye shade. "What's the Eighth Air Force?" asked one of them. Henry was amazed to find that not one of the men knew! Of course there's always a chance they were trying to throw Henry off his game. TEXAS TALK AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (Al Audette found this on the Internet and shipped it on to us.)* Colloquialisms are expressions common to a particular region . The Razonzbacks have left the White House and the Texans are in occupancy. Since they have all the windows open we have been able to hear a few bits of Texas Talk. Could you translate iffen you had to do so? 1.) The engine's runnin' but ain't nobody drivin'. ( Not too smart.) 2.) Tighter than the bark on a tree. (Stingy). 3.) Big hat, no cattle. (All talk and no action.) 4.) We've howdy-ed but we ain't shook yet. (Have met but not formally introduced. 5.) He thinks the sun comes up just to hear him. (Stuck on hisself!) 6.) She got tongue enough for ten rows of teeth.( Dad burn that woman can talk!) 7.) It's so dry there the trees are bribin' the dogs. ( Need rain real bad.) 8.) Jest cuz a chicken has wings don't mean it can fly. (Appearances can fool you.) 9.) Hey, podner. This ain't my first Road-day-o! (I'm no greenhorn!) 10.) His mama had to tie a pork chop round his neck just to get the dogs to play with him. (Lacking in beauty.) 11.) Those two ate supper before they said Grace. (Living in sin.) 12.) Time to paint your ass white and run with the antelope. (Stop arguing and do as yer told.) 13.) You can put yer boots in the oven that don't make 'em biscuits. ( You can say what you want 'bout sumpin' but that won't change the facts.) *Al, we hate to tell you but a posse is forming! How To Survive A Heart Attack When Alone! Full version sent to us by Al Audette from the newsletter Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital . Reprinted from The Mended Hearts, Inc. AND THE BEAT GOES ON. You are driving alone five miles from your local hospital. You've had a hard day at work. You suddenly experience severe pain in your chest that radiates out into your arm and up into your jaw. You're trained in CPR but you don't know how to give it to YOURSELF! The article states that a person whose heart begins to fail has about ten seconds to do something about it. Here's what to do. Start coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep prolonged breath must be taken before each cough. Cough like you are trying to raise sputum from deep in your lungs! A breath and a cough must be repeated every two seconds or so until health arrives or the heart begins beating normally again. (Emergency flashers and digital phones can help here.) Here's how the process works. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs. Coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps restore normal rhythm TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THIS AND MAYBE SAVE A LIFE! Wild Elephants Attack Indian Air Force Base Biswajyoti Das, writing for Reuters, reported that wild elephants are wreaking havoc on Indian Air Force bases in Assam. The giant critters lumber across the runways and also put high tech equipment in jeopardy. The airfield at Tezpur from which your editor flew as a radioman in a converted B-24 on the Hump gas baul is especially threatened. We saw wild elephants outside the air base in our time. None on it! There were native guards keeping the runways elephant free. There were other nasty animals. A tiger was shot among the GI cans in back of the mess hall. We could hear the damn things coughing in the jungle as we watched movies in our open air bring your own chair theater. An Indian rhino basked in a mudhole as we took a hike off base one day. Some dummy threw clods at it and it began to shake itself and move. We stopped walking and ran. DAs also writes that the Indian Air Force is planning to cut much of the forest near Tezpur. Experts say it is impossible to drive the herds numbering in the fifties or even the hundreds back into the jungle. The elephant population has grown by 40% in the past 20 years. That was when the Assam government banned the capture and private ownership of pachyderms. There are now more that 5000 in Assam. Herds and humans are in frequent conflict as the beasts invade populated areas and destroy rice fields. People are going hungry because of elephant attacks on granaries. Before one questions why this is allowed to occur recall that this country is protecting the voracious marine predator, the seal, upon which in more sensible times a bounty was placed. Our fishermen, not the ever hungry seals, are then blamed for the fish shortage. And some in this country are more concerned about the comfort of the caribou rather than our own citizenry, many of whom, especially the elders, are finding it difficult to pay to heat their homes. Oil production in the north country would help America toward independence from OPEC and other foreign oil cartels. We hardy folk who manage to survive winters like the one that has just ended have developed certain regimens to insure our physical and mental health. We try to eat well and have heartwarming beverages available. We wear long johns and heavy sweaters. We aren't frightened a bit by threats of global warming. Sometimes it even sounds good to us. If we are lucky we have a decent library nearby where we can get books that men, especially veterans, enjoy. Most of us like history and adventure, books that bring back memories of our early years or illuminate some of the great military events of our time. Your editor has found a number of such books and recommends them to you. He read them on blustery winter days and snowy nights but they will be just as much fun for you to read on a summery porch, with your toes in the Atlantic or in a shady spot where you can catch the breeze from the lake. OPERATION DRUMBEAT AUTHOR: Frank Gannon Publisher: Harper Collins Operation Drumbeat was the name Hitler and his admirals gave to the great German submarine offensive against America's east coast shipping. The author says that the German U-boat offensive gave the United States Navy its greatest defeat in our countries history. The attack on Pearl Harbor had greater shock value but the ships sunk in Hawaii were for the most part obsolete or readily replaceable. The freighters and tankers sunk in the German offensive were not replaceable until more than a year had past. Admiral Ernest King was a battlewagon admiral who held the British in low esteem according to Gannon. He refused the help and advice of the British, felt convoys were useless, called the British skill on plotting the course of U-boats as "toys and games." He made little effort to install air surveillance of the East Coast and was against using smaller craft to track and fight submarines. One of his most incomprehensible errors was failing to order seacoast cities towns and even amusement parks to observe blackouts. This meant that American vessels going north or south along our coast were backlit like targets in a shooting gallery. Gannon follows the fortunes of a U-Boat commander whom he met and interviewed after the war. The commander was one of the few survivors as the war later turned sour for the Germans. This is explained fully in Gannon's second book on U-boat operations. BLACK MAY tells of the epic defeat of the Nazi unterseebooten in May, 1943. The Nazis ended the month of April, 1943 winning the Battle of the Atlantic in what they called "The Happy Time". One month later the U-boat forces were reeling. The Bay of Biscay which led to the great submarine pens on the French coast (which no doubt some of you bombed) was now a death trap for subs. Were you stationed by the North Atlantic, the Canadian Maritimes, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Cornwall or any of the other bases which provided air cover for slow moving convoys. Then you know what it was like to hunt and try to destroy the deadly subs. PBYs, Halifax bombers and the mighty Liberators turned the tide against the Enemy. The British even modified Libs to VLF Liberators. Very Long Range. Three fuel tanks were installed in the bomb bay and just one for anti-sub weapons. Missions were frequently 20 hours in length. The mighty pocket battleship Bismarck was so damaged by Faery Swordfish Mark 1 fabric covered biplanes that it could only steer in circles. It was sunk by a pack of British cruisers and other warships. The British also had great success with undersized war ships which some wag named the "flower" class. All the vessels bore names of flowers. Can't you just see a Monty Python skit where the Python crowd is standing over a chart table and the commander is saying "Violet, you follow Rose and Ivy, pay particular attention to any periscopes you see." Or picture a seaman's bar in Liverpool and in walk a bunch of tars from Flower Class warships. The beer fumes are thicker than a Newfie fog. "Eh, mate, wot ship you from?" "Pansy!" "Wot you say?" The sailors answer in unison. "Buttercup!", "Daffodill!" "Forget-Me-Not!" "Damn right I won't . Put up yer dukes!" POW! POW! SMASH!" The author doesn't describe the problems of Flower Class crews as I have but he does say the men had less and less trouble in port as their sub-killing reputation grew. Forty-one U-Boats were sunk in May, 1943, and 37 others were damaged and had to flee to the sub pens. Yankee shipyards were turning out Liberty ships faster than the Germans could sink them. Escort carriers appeared to provide further air cover and the Liberators kept the subs submerged and unable to fight at their maximum potential. Worse luck for the Germans was the loss of so many experienced crews. The fighting caliber dropped dramatically as losses mounted. Among those lost was the younger son of U-boat Admiral Doenitz. Chickens coming home to roost. Remember experiencing or reading about missions where 10% or more of bombers were knocked from the sky? The death rate for Germans who served on subs was 70%. That's right. Only 30% survived the war. An Almost Pearl Harbor Scratch the Carrier Kitty Hawk! The Los Angeles Times Moscow Bureau filed a story Nov.16,2000, that might have been one of the biggest and saddest American defeats for our Navy since Nazi subs ran amok on our East Coast in 1942 . The story was also published on Web site highfrontier.org/nov.172000 htm. Robyn Dixon and Paul Richter, Times staff writers , authored the piece. The carrier Kitty Hawk was cruising in the Sea of Japan when two Russian fighter planes appeared out of nowhere and buzzed the elite carrier from one end to another at low altitude twice! The story quotes the Russian air force chief as saying the hot shots took pictures of crew activity on the flight deck. "You can clearly see the panic on deck" Gen.Anatoly Kornukov is reported to have said. A Russian military analyst with the Collegium of Military Experts in Moscow said the Americans should have found, warned and, if necessary, intercepted the Russian intruders long before they approached the ship. He called the episode " a surprising lack of vigilance and discipline". Add this near tragedy to the attack on the Cole and the apparent carelessness in sinking the Japanese trawler off Hawaii and even, at this writing, the efforts to award the coveted Black Beret to almost anyone. It is reported that manufacture of the Black Berets will take place in Red China instead of the U.S where our uniforms are always made. Mounting opposition to this move by the Clinton Administration in its last days may force a change by the time you read this. Another thought occurs to your editor as he writes this. Why was a dramatic and portentous story like the simulated attack on the Kitty Hawk so poorly reported? Wouldn't you think our powerful newspapers and TV news show would spend some time on such an event. I suppose they don't want to worry us. More Book Reviews You like military history? Are you interested in combat flying? Did you do any? Do you wonder what I!t was like in other theaters of war? Try "Fire in the Sky" by Eric Bergerud. This is a big thick book that traps you the moment you start page one. I've recommended it to some of the Chapter members and they agree that once you start it it kind of takes over your life. "Fire in the Sky" tells of the air campaigns in the South Pacific. The main action takes place over the islands of Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Truk and all the little hell holes in between. Want to know how tough the territory was? The atmosphere was brilliantly clear. Air crew gazing down into the waters near New Guinea could see hungry sharks swimming about in great numbers looking for their next meal. Suppose your plane was in trouble. New Guinea was nearby. You are going to have to bail out over New Guinea or ditch. You chose ditching. You have a far better chance of surviving the sharks than you do the Guinean jungle .One more thing! B-17 crews loved to be accompanied on missions by B-24s. Seems that the Japanese much preferred to fight Liberators and attacked them first. Bergerud has a second book on the South Pacific. It is "Touched by Fire. The Land War in the South Pacific." This is probably the best history I've read about fighting in that area. I cannot recommend either of Bergerud's books too highly. Interesting note. Bergerud says of General MacArthur that he was a "flawed personality but a magnificent general." Bergerud writes that he was always very careful with the lives of his men. MacArthur fought the US Navy and powers in Washington who wanted to go slam -bang into every Jap base in the South Pacific and hang the cost in American lives. MacArthur preferred to go right by them whenever possible and leave them marooned. When the war ended over 250,000 Japanese troops were sitting looking at the sky and ocean, armed to the teeth but with no one to fight. It is important to remember that much of the criticism of MacArthur came from those who told us Mao was an "agrarian reformer" and were also hopeful a defeated Japan would fall behind the Iron Curtain. MacArthur prevented that. David L.Robbins thrilling "The War of the Rats" tells of the battle for Stalingrad through the eyes of expert snipers whose task it is to pick off Nazi officers at distances where the officers think they are safe. It's a morale buster for the Germans! The Nazis bring in their expert sniper to try and pick off the Russian marksman. There's a movie "The Enemy at the Gates" recently filmed in what was East Germany about the snipers at Stalingrad. Skip it. The book is better and you get it from the library for free. Robbins's other recent book, " The End of War, a Novel of the Race for Berlin" follows three people through the last few months of WW2. There is a Life photographer, possibly with a death wish, who must be up front whenever possible. There is a Russian who has found himself abruptly stripped of his officer rank and flung into a penal battalion. You know what a Red penal battalion was like? You had the Nazis dug in smack in front of you. You had the NKVD (secret police) behind you ready to shoot you if you faltered. Mine field ahead? Forward march. But I don't have a weapon! Pick one up from a corpse! The third character is a young woman cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic which continues to give concerts until the Reds are in the front room,as the saying goes. Robbins gives a fine picture of what life was like on the receiving end of the air raids. Read it It's fiction whereas the books reviewed above are histories. They both are so exciting and fascinating to read that you could say, "The history reads like fiction and the fiction reads like history." We liked the scenes in crumbling Berlin the best. DEAR SECRETARY JACK AND MEMBERS OF THE EIGHTH AIR FORCE, WE WANT TO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE HATS AND THE PLAQUE. I'M SORRY THIS IS COMING TO YOU SO LATE. WE REGRET NOT BEING ABLE TO ATTEND THE BANQUET AND WANT TO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE INVITATION. AS I BELIEVE MARK HAS ALREADY TOLD YOU THE BRITTANY-O WILL NOT SAIL AGAIN. HOWEVER, FEAR NOT! WE WILL HAVE ANOTHER BOAT READY FOR THE YEARLY VOYAGE FOR VETERANS. WE LOOK FORWARD TO THIS DAY AND SEEING ALL OF YOU AGAIN. TAKE CARE AND KEEP IN TOUCH. SINCERELY, DIANE, MARK PEGGY AND RICH Directions to Hanscom Air Force Base Take Rte 2A off Rte 2 or 128 or take Rte 4/255 off 128. The Air Force Police will check you off from a roster we'll supply. Click here for a map to Hanscom. NEW MEMBERS Our treasurer tells us that the last time we printed a list of new members was two years ago. So let us welcome the new members whose names are printed here. The Chapter welcomes Robert M. Gibbons of Clinton. Bob is a retired secondary school teacher . He taught Science. Bob has always been interested in aviation and military History. His hobby, and it really is more than a hobby he is so expert, is modeling WW2 aircraft and ships. His specialty is Japanese aircraft and navy vessels. Bob lives with his wife, Caroline. They have a son, Scott. Join the 8th! To print an application, click the seal above. Watch your Wallet! You're sitting in front of the television asking yourself when latrine humor became acceptable as something both funny and worthwhile. You wince as barracks language pollutes your home. Hey, what is this? You marvel at the lack of talent flashing vacuously across the screen. You begin to think you could do better. Maybe a book about your experiences. You chuckle to yourself when you recall how prop wash blew off the Major's cap and landed it in a puddle of grease. You remember the first mission you flew and how you dropped a lit cigarette down the collar of your flight suit right after takeoff. People would love to read about such events. Sure they would! It can't be that hard to write a book. The new computers even correct your spelling. You remember seeing an ad in the back of the magazine in the basket by the end table. It says something about authors being needed, even wanted. You begin to put your thoughts down on paper. Months later you have hundreds of pages of your reminiscences in a big pile. Your wife is looking at you funny. You ship your would-be book off to that publisher whose ad you saw in the magazine. Will the publisher like your work? You get a reply very quickly. " Wonderful !". "Sure to be a classic". "Send us a check for so many dollars and we will print up so many copies of this masterpiece." " We'll give you a list of bookstores and other places that might buy your book or give you counter space for a commission on any sales you make. You may make scads of money. You'll be famous. You'll be on TV." Or maybe you'll be on your way to the Poorhouse. You could be dealing with a shady member of what they call the Vanity Press. They operate on your vanity and your wallet simultaneously. If you are truly rich go ahead and pay to have your work published. Some do. Every once in a great while one of these works actually winds up a money maker. The rest wind up with stacks of books moldering in the attic or in a corner of the cellar. Here is the only rule you need to follow. If the publisher wants you to pay for printing your book, run, do not walk, to the nearest exit. Instead, store the manuscript in a trunk. Your great grandchildren will find it eventually and be delighted. They may even sit down and read it. HOW TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON Come to our monthly meeting at Hanscom Field. Third Thursday at Oh Eleven Hundred. Come to our min-meeting, first, Oh Ten Hundred, First Tuesday. McDonald's Rte. 1 and Union Street, Walpole. Call a pal who does go to the meetings. Check our website: http://www.geocities.com/eighthafhs Call an officer. No, not a cop! One of the officers whose phone and email address is listed on the back cover. SERIOUS STUFF.... THE DUE$ QUE$TION!!! All are welcome to join the Eighth Air Force Historical Society. Dues are $20 a year! (It was just raised by the national organization.) You pay us twenty dollars only when you first join! After that, the National organization will bill you for $20 once a year. That's the only money involved. You get two issues of "Vapor Trails" and four issues of the highly professional Time magazine-sized "The Eighth Air Force News" as well as a chance to take part in the sort of fun events you read about in this issue. Please do NOT send your dues to our saintly treasurer once you've sent that first ten. You don't want to get on his WRONG side, do you? Final Flight We regret to announce the death of Helen Smith. She will be missed not only by her family but also by all her friends and comrades. Her funeral was held on March 26th. R.I.P. TEN HUT! SPECIAL ORDER! Bring a gift for the Raffle Table! The receipts from the raffle ($1.00 each) help pay for "Vapor Trails" and other administrative costs. Vice President Alfred E. Ducey 447BG [email protected] AFHS President William Campbell Secretary John McKernan Treasurer Carl Wood [email protected] Editor of Vapor Trails John Brennan [email protected] For comments, send email to the Vapor Trails Editor at: [email protected] Visit the Vapor Trails Mailbag! Back to the Top Our Favorite Links Google Mighty Eighth Air Force Public Message Board Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum Ken Nellis' page devoted to the 453rd BG Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Veteran's Services Air Power Museum Confederate Air Force Previous issues: November 2000 April 2000 October 1999 Last Update: June 13, 2001
All Officers Reelected at fall fling! Two resign from Board of Directors Two appointed. No recounts needed. Hanscom Air Base Gracious Host.
The President's Message By William "BILL" Campbell
This is your president, Bill Campbell, reporting. My bomb group had its reunion in Las Vegas, Nevada. We picked that location because some of us are getting old. We appreciate a quiet town where we can enjoy afternoon tea and talk about world literature. The Massachusetts Chapter of the Eighth Air Force Historical Society wound up the last century in very successful fashion. Our meetings were well attended despite the arctic type winter. New members rang our doorbell and were made welcome. Our min-meetings at the Walpole McDonald's proved very popular. This may be because most of our members function better when they can smell food. The winter did interfere with outside activities but we intend to make up for that during the warmer seasons. Watch our computer web site for information during the next months. We are already looking forward to our famous yearly boat trip and our hosts, The O'Meara's, have sent us a letter which we have reproduced in Vapor Trails. We are offering speaking programs to schools, clubs and organizations. Will you be ready to tell of your experiences? The Chapter wishes to thank once more the staff of the Officers' Club at Hanscom Air Base and the staff of the Walpole McDonald's ' for their continued hospitality. We give very special thanks to the Hough's Neck Yacht Club, our hosts at sea the O'Meara's, and all who remember and honor our veterans. See you at the Spring Fling. Why not bring guests to meet and eat with us and maybe we can get them to join our flight.
Secretary McKernan writes in his February report. (condensed version) A staff member of the O Club informed the members that beginning in March an official base sticker will be required on all private vehicles entering the air base. John Brennan distributed materials in which he is seeking assistance to identify "Nose Art" as part of his efforts to assist the staff at the American Airpower Heritage Museum, Inc. in Midland, Tx. Henry Bengis led a discussion about the declining attendance at veterans reunions. Lionel LeBlanc requested the membership to consider pledging financial support for a proposed military aviation museum in Nashua, N.H. It was voted down. Henry Oi reported on veterans benefits. VP Al Ducey announced that he had obtained speakers from the VA for the Spring Fling. Hughie Jones was welcomed back after being ill. An official meeting of the Board of Directors was scheduled for March. Possible Field trips were discussed including Bradley Field, Westover Field, and the USS Massachusetts. The meeting ended, most repaired to the dining room and lunch.
An election of officers was held at the Fall Fling. There was no opposition. The election was accomplished by nominations from the floor and a show of hands. Colonel Dimple and Master Sergeant Chad were not needed to do any recounting. Helen Smith, a loyal member who served in London as a WAC when buzz bombs were falling, resigned from the Board of Directors, as did Charlie Coughlin. Charlie was always ready to help the Chapter with his wit and knowledge of air force affairs. Two members have been appointed to serve in their place although no one will be able truly to replace them. The new members of the board are George MacNeil and your editor. George is an Associate member who served many years with the Air Guard at Hanscom. He has already shown himself a hard working member who has already made himself a popular addition to the crew. Age and infirmity are catching up to World War Two veterans groups where flights of 109s and Zeros could not. It is important that new members be recruited if we are to keep the spirit of The Mighty Eighth and all of our other air forces alive. Here is an example of what is happening. Our ubiquitous former commander and world famous raconteur, Henry Oi, was holding forth at a green baize covered table at which were seated a group of adult males. One of them noticed the badges on his eye shade. "What's the Eighth Air Force?" asked one of them. Henry was amazed to find that not one of the men knew! Of course there's always a chance they were trying to throw Henry off his game.
TEXAS TALK AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (Al Audette found this on the Internet and shipped it on to us.)* Colloquialisms are expressions common to a particular region . The Razonzbacks have left the White House and the Texans are in occupancy. Since they have all the windows open we have been able to hear a few bits of Texas Talk. Could you translate iffen you had to do so? 1.) The engine's runnin' but ain't nobody drivin'. ( Not too smart.) 2.) Tighter than the bark on a tree. (Stingy). 3.) Big hat, no cattle. (All talk and no action.) 4.) We've howdy-ed but we ain't shook yet. (Have met but not formally introduced. 5.) He thinks the sun comes up just to hear him. (Stuck on hisself!) 6.) She got tongue enough for ten rows of teeth.( Dad burn that woman can talk!) 7.) It's so dry there the trees are bribin' the dogs. ( Need rain real bad.) 8.) Jest cuz a chicken has wings don't mean it can fly. (Appearances can fool you.) 9.) Hey, podner. This ain't my first Road-day-o! (I'm no greenhorn!) 10.) His mama had to tie a pork chop round his neck just to get the dogs to play with him. (Lacking in beauty.) 11.) Those two ate supper before they said Grace. (Living in sin.) 12.) Time to paint your ass white and run with the antelope. (Stop arguing and do as yer told.) 13.) You can put yer boots in the oven that don't make 'em biscuits. ( You can say what you want 'bout sumpin' but that won't change the facts.) *Al, we hate to tell you but a posse is forming!
How To Survive A Heart Attack When Alone! Full version sent to us by Al Audette from the newsletter Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital . Reprinted from The Mended Hearts, Inc. AND THE BEAT GOES ON. You are driving alone five miles from your local hospital. You've had a hard day at work. You suddenly experience severe pain in your chest that radiates out into your arm and up into your jaw. You're trained in CPR but you don't know how to give it to YOURSELF! The article states that a person whose heart begins to fail has about ten seconds to do something about it. Here's what to do. Start coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep prolonged breath must be taken before each cough. Cough like you are trying to raise sputum from deep in your lungs! A breath and a cough must be repeated every two seconds or so until health arrives or the heart begins beating normally again. (Emergency flashers and digital phones can help here.) Here's how the process works. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs. Coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps restore normal rhythm TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THIS AND MAYBE SAVE A LIFE! Wild Elephants Attack Indian Air Force Base Biswajyoti Das, writing for Reuters, reported that wild elephants are wreaking havoc on Indian Air Force bases in Assam. The giant critters lumber across the runways and also put high tech equipment in jeopardy. The airfield at Tezpur from which your editor flew as a radioman in a converted B-24 on the Hump gas baul is especially threatened. We saw wild elephants outside the air base in our time. None on it! There were native guards keeping the runways elephant free. There were other nasty animals. A tiger was shot among the GI cans in back of the mess hall. We could hear the damn things coughing in the jungle as we watched movies in our open air bring your own chair theater. An Indian rhino basked in a mudhole as we took a hike off base one day. Some dummy threw clods at it and it began to shake itself and move. We stopped walking and ran. DAs also writes that the Indian Air Force is planning to cut much of the forest near Tezpur. Experts say it is impossible to drive the herds numbering in the fifties or even the hundreds back into the jungle. The elephant population has grown by 40% in the past 20 years. That was when the Assam government banned the capture and private ownership of pachyderms. There are now more that 5000 in Assam. Herds and humans are in frequent conflict as the beasts invade populated areas and destroy rice fields. People are going hungry because of elephant attacks on granaries. Before one questions why this is allowed to occur recall that this country is protecting the voracious marine predator, the seal, upon which in more sensible times a bounty was placed. Our fishermen, not the ever hungry seals, are then blamed for the fish shortage. And some in this country are more concerned about the comfort of the caribou rather than our own citizenry, many of whom, especially the elders, are finding it difficult to pay to heat their homes. Oil production in the north country would help America toward independence from OPEC and other foreign oil cartels. We hardy folk who manage to survive winters like the one that has just ended have developed certain regimens to insure our physical and mental health. We try to eat well and have heartwarming beverages available. We wear long johns and heavy sweaters. We aren't frightened a bit by threats of global warming. Sometimes it even sounds good to us. If we are lucky we have a decent library nearby where we can get books that men, especially veterans, enjoy. Most of us like history and adventure, books that bring back memories of our early years or illuminate some of the great military events of our time. Your editor has found a number of such books and recommends them to you. He read them on blustery winter days and snowy nights but they will be just as much fun for you to read on a summery porch, with your toes in the Atlantic or in a shady spot where you can catch the breeze from the lake. OPERATION DRUMBEAT AUTHOR: Frank Gannon Publisher: Harper Collins Operation Drumbeat was the name Hitler and his admirals gave to the great German submarine offensive against America's east coast shipping. The author says that the German U-boat offensive gave the United States Navy its greatest defeat in our countries history. The attack on Pearl Harbor had greater shock value but the ships sunk in Hawaii were for the most part obsolete or readily replaceable. The freighters and tankers sunk in the German offensive were not replaceable until more than a year had past. Admiral Ernest King was a battlewagon admiral who held the British in low esteem according to Gannon. He refused the help and advice of the British, felt convoys were useless, called the British skill on plotting the course of U-boats as "toys and games." He made little effort to install air surveillance of the East Coast and was against using smaller craft to track and fight submarines. One of his most incomprehensible errors was failing to order seacoast cities towns and even amusement parks to observe blackouts. This meant that American vessels going north or south along our coast were backlit like targets in a shooting gallery. Gannon follows the fortunes of a U-Boat commander whom he met and interviewed after the war. The commander was one of the few survivors as the war later turned sour for the Germans. This is explained fully in Gannon's second book on U-boat operations. BLACK MAY tells of the epic defeat of the Nazi unterseebooten in May, 1943. The Nazis ended the month of April, 1943 winning the Battle of the Atlantic in what they called "The Happy Time". One month later the U-boat forces were reeling. The Bay of Biscay which led to the great submarine pens on the French coast (which no doubt some of you bombed) was now a death trap for subs. Were you stationed by the North Atlantic, the Canadian Maritimes, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Cornwall or any of the other bases which provided air cover for slow moving convoys. Then you know what it was like to hunt and try to destroy the deadly subs. PBYs, Halifax bombers and the mighty Liberators turned the tide against the Enemy. The British even modified Libs to VLF Liberators. Very Long Range. Three fuel tanks were installed in the bomb bay and just one for anti-sub weapons. Missions were frequently 20 hours in length. The mighty pocket battleship Bismarck was so damaged by Faery Swordfish Mark 1 fabric covered biplanes that it could only steer in circles. It was sunk by a pack of British cruisers and other warships. The British also had great success with undersized war ships which some wag named the "flower" class. All the vessels bore names of flowers. Can't you just see a Monty Python skit where the Python crowd is standing over a chart table and the commander is saying "Violet, you follow Rose and Ivy, pay particular attention to any periscopes you see." Or picture a seaman's bar in Liverpool and in walk a bunch of tars from Flower Class warships. The beer fumes are thicker than a Newfie fog. "Eh, mate, wot ship you from?" "Pansy!" "Wot you say?" The sailors answer in unison. "Buttercup!", "Daffodill!" "Forget-Me-Not!" "Damn right I won't . Put up yer dukes!" POW! POW! SMASH!" The author doesn't describe the problems of Flower Class crews as I have but he does say the men had less and less trouble in port as their sub-killing reputation grew. Forty-one U-Boats were sunk in May, 1943, and 37 others were damaged and had to flee to the sub pens. Yankee shipyards were turning out Liberty ships faster than the Germans could sink them. Escort carriers appeared to provide further air cover and the Liberators kept the subs submerged and unable to fight at their maximum potential. Worse luck for the Germans was the loss of so many experienced crews. The fighting caliber dropped dramatically as losses mounted. Among those lost was the younger son of U-boat Admiral Doenitz. Chickens coming home to roost. Remember experiencing or reading about missions where 10% or more of bombers were knocked from the sky? The death rate for Germans who served on subs was 70%. That's right. Only 30% survived the war. An Almost Pearl Harbor Scratch the Carrier Kitty Hawk! The Los Angeles Times Moscow Bureau filed a story Nov.16,2000, that might have been one of the biggest and saddest American defeats for our Navy since Nazi subs ran amok on our East Coast in 1942 . The story was also published on Web site highfrontier.org/nov.172000 htm. Robyn Dixon and Paul Richter, Times staff writers , authored the piece. The carrier Kitty Hawk was cruising in the Sea of Japan when two Russian fighter planes appeared out of nowhere and buzzed the elite carrier from one end to another at low altitude twice! The story quotes the Russian air force chief as saying the hot shots took pictures of crew activity on the flight deck. "You can clearly see the panic on deck" Gen.Anatoly Kornukov is reported to have said. A Russian military analyst with the Collegium of Military Experts in Moscow said the Americans should have found, warned and, if necessary, intercepted the Russian intruders long before they approached the ship. He called the episode " a surprising lack of vigilance and discipline". Add this near tragedy to the attack on the Cole and the apparent carelessness in sinking the Japanese trawler off Hawaii and even, at this writing, the efforts to award the coveted Black Beret to almost anyone. It is reported that manufacture of the Black Berets will take place in Red China instead of the U.S where our uniforms are always made. Mounting opposition to this move by the Clinton Administration in its last days may force a change by the time you read this. Another thought occurs to your editor as he writes this. Why was a dramatic and portentous story like the simulated attack on the Kitty Hawk so poorly reported? Wouldn't you think our powerful newspapers and TV news show would spend some time on such an event. I suppose they don't want to worry us. More Book Reviews You like military history? Are you interested in combat flying? Did you do any? Do you wonder what I!t was like in other theaters of war? Try "Fire in the Sky" by Eric Bergerud. This is a big thick book that traps you the moment you start page one. I've recommended it to some of the Chapter members and they agree that once you start it it kind of takes over your life. "Fire in the Sky" tells of the air campaigns in the South Pacific. The main action takes place over the islands of Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Truk and all the little hell holes in between. Want to know how tough the territory was? The atmosphere was brilliantly clear. Air crew gazing down into the waters near New Guinea could see hungry sharks swimming about in great numbers looking for their next meal. Suppose your plane was in trouble. New Guinea was nearby. You are going to have to bail out over New Guinea or ditch. You chose ditching. You have a far better chance of surviving the sharks than you do the Guinean jungle .One more thing! B-17 crews loved to be accompanied on missions by B-24s. Seems that the Japanese much preferred to fight Liberators and attacked them first. Bergerud has a second book on the South Pacific. It is "Touched by Fire. The Land War in the South Pacific." This is probably the best history I've read about fighting in that area. I cannot recommend either of Bergerud's books too highly. Interesting note. Bergerud says of General MacArthur that he was a "flawed personality but a magnificent general." Bergerud writes that he was always very careful with the lives of his men. MacArthur fought the US Navy and powers in Washington who wanted to go slam -bang into every Jap base in the South Pacific and hang the cost in American lives. MacArthur preferred to go right by them whenever possible and leave them marooned. When the war ended over 250,000 Japanese troops were sitting looking at the sky and ocean, armed to the teeth but with no one to fight. It is important to remember that much of the criticism of MacArthur came from those who told us Mao was an "agrarian reformer" and were also hopeful a defeated Japan would fall behind the Iron Curtain. MacArthur prevented that. David L.Robbins thrilling "The War of the Rats" tells of the battle for Stalingrad through the eyes of expert snipers whose task it is to pick off Nazi officers at distances where the officers think they are safe. It's a morale buster for the Germans! The Nazis bring in their expert sniper to try and pick off the Russian marksman. There's a movie "The Enemy at the Gates" recently filmed in what was East Germany about the snipers at Stalingrad. Skip it. The book is better and you get it from the library for free. Robbins's other recent book, " The End of War, a Novel of the Race for Berlin" follows three people through the last few months of WW2. There is a Life photographer, possibly with a death wish, who must be up front whenever possible. There is a Russian who has found himself abruptly stripped of his officer rank and flung into a penal battalion. You know what a Red penal battalion was like? You had the Nazis dug in smack in front of you. You had the NKVD (secret police) behind you ready to shoot you if you faltered. Mine field ahead? Forward march. But I don't have a weapon! Pick one up from a corpse! The third character is a young woman cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic which continues to give concerts until the Reds are in the front room,as the saying goes. Robbins gives a fine picture of what life was like on the receiving end of the air raids. Read it It's fiction whereas the books reviewed above are histories. They both are so exciting and fascinating to read that you could say, "The history reads like fiction and the fiction reads like history." We liked the scenes in crumbling Berlin the best.
Wild Elephants Attack Indian Air Force Base Biswajyoti Das, writing for Reuters, reported that wild elephants are wreaking havoc on Indian Air Force bases in Assam. The giant critters lumber across the runways and also put high tech equipment in jeopardy. The airfield at Tezpur from which your editor flew as a radioman in a converted B-24 on the Hump gas baul is especially threatened. We saw wild elephants outside the air base in our time. None on it! There were native guards keeping the runways elephant free. There were other nasty animals. A tiger was shot among the GI cans in back of the mess hall. We could hear the damn things coughing in the jungle as we watched movies in our open air bring your own chair theater. An Indian rhino basked in a mudhole as we took a hike off base one day. Some dummy threw clods at it and it began to shake itself and move. We stopped walking and ran. DAs also writes that the Indian Air Force is planning to cut much of the forest near Tezpur. Experts say it is impossible to drive the herds numbering in the fifties or even the hundreds back into the jungle. The elephant population has grown by 40% in the past 20 years. That was when the Assam government banned the capture and private ownership of pachyderms. There are now more that 5000 in Assam. Herds and humans are in frequent conflict as the beasts invade populated areas and destroy rice fields. People are going hungry because of elephant attacks on granaries. Before one questions why this is allowed to occur recall that this country is protecting the voracious marine predator, the seal, upon which in more sensible times a bounty was placed. Our fishermen, not the ever hungry seals, are then blamed for the fish shortage. And some in this country are more concerned about the comfort of the caribou rather than our own citizenry, many of whom, especially the elders, are finding it difficult to pay to heat their homes. Oil production in the north country would help America toward independence from OPEC and other foreign oil cartels.
We hardy folk who manage to survive winters like the one that has just ended have developed certain regimens to insure our physical and mental health. We try to eat well and have heartwarming beverages available. We wear long johns and heavy sweaters. We aren't frightened a bit by threats of global warming. Sometimes it even sounds good to us. If we are lucky we have a decent library nearby where we can get books that men, especially veterans, enjoy. Most of us like history and adventure, books that bring back memories of our early years or illuminate some of the great military events of our time. Your editor has found a number of such books and recommends them to you. He read them on blustery winter days and snowy nights but they will be just as much fun for you to read on a summery porch, with your toes in the Atlantic or in a shady spot where you can catch the breeze from the lake.
OPERATION DRUMBEAT AUTHOR: Frank Gannon Publisher: Harper Collins
Operation Drumbeat was the name Hitler and his admirals gave to the great German submarine offensive against America's east coast shipping. The author says that the German U-boat offensive gave the United States Navy its greatest defeat in our countries history. The attack on Pearl Harbor had greater shock value but the ships sunk in Hawaii were for the most part obsolete or readily replaceable.
The freighters and tankers sunk in the German offensive were not replaceable until more than a year had past. Admiral Ernest King was a battlewagon admiral who held the British in low esteem according to Gannon. He refused the help and advice of the British, felt convoys were useless, called the British skill on plotting the course of U-boats as "toys and games." He made little effort to install air surveillance of the East Coast and was against using smaller craft to track and fight submarines. One of his most incomprehensible errors was failing to order seacoast cities towns and even amusement parks to observe blackouts. This meant that American vessels going north or south along our coast were backlit like targets in a shooting gallery. Gannon follows the fortunes of a U-Boat commander whom he met and interviewed after the war. The commander was one of the few survivors as the war later turned sour for the Germans. This is explained fully in Gannon's second book on U-boat operations.
BLACK MAY tells of the epic defeat of the Nazi unterseebooten in May, 1943. The Nazis ended the month of April, 1943 winning the Battle of the Atlantic in what they called "The Happy Time". One month later the U-boat forces were reeling. The Bay of Biscay which led to the great submarine pens on the French coast (which no doubt some of you bombed) was now a death trap for subs.
Were you stationed by the North Atlantic, the Canadian Maritimes, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Cornwall or any of the other bases which provided air cover for slow moving convoys. Then you know what it was like to hunt and try to destroy the deadly subs. PBYs, Halifax bombers and the mighty Liberators turned the tide against the Enemy. The British even modified Libs to VLF Liberators. Very Long Range. Three fuel tanks were installed in the bomb bay and just one for anti-sub weapons. Missions were frequently 20 hours in length. The mighty pocket battleship Bismarck was so damaged by Faery Swordfish Mark 1 fabric covered biplanes that it could only steer in circles. It was sunk by a pack of British cruisers and other warships. The British also had great success with undersized war ships which some wag named the "flower" class. All the vessels bore names of flowers. Can't you just see a Monty Python skit where the Python crowd is standing over a chart table and the commander is saying "Violet, you follow Rose and Ivy, pay particular attention to any periscopes you see." Or picture a seaman's bar in Liverpool and in walk a bunch of tars from Flower Class warships. The beer fumes are thicker than a Newfie fog. "Eh, mate, wot ship you from?" "Pansy!" "Wot you say?" The sailors answer in unison. "Buttercup!", "Daffodill!" "Forget-Me-Not!" "Damn right I won't . Put up yer dukes!" POW! POW! SMASH!" The author doesn't describe the problems of Flower Class crews as I have but he does say the men had less and less trouble in port as their sub-killing reputation grew. Forty-one U-Boats were sunk in May, 1943, and 37 others were damaged and had to flee to the sub pens. Yankee shipyards were turning out Liberty ships faster than the Germans could sink them. Escort carriers appeared to provide further air cover and the Liberators kept the subs submerged and unable to fight at their maximum potential. Worse luck for the Germans was the loss of so many experienced crews. The fighting caliber dropped dramatically as losses mounted. Among those lost was the younger son of U-boat Admiral Doenitz. Chickens coming home to roost. Remember experiencing or reading about missions where 10% or more of bombers were knocked from the sky? The death rate for Germans who served on subs was 70%. That's right. Only 30% survived the war.
An Almost Pearl Harbor Scratch the Carrier Kitty Hawk!
The Los Angeles Times Moscow Bureau filed a story Nov.16,2000, that might have been one of the biggest and saddest American defeats for our Navy since Nazi subs ran amok on our East Coast in 1942 . The story was also published on Web site highfrontier.org/nov.172000 htm. Robyn Dixon and Paul Richter, Times staff writers , authored the piece. The carrier Kitty Hawk was cruising in the Sea of Japan when two Russian fighter planes appeared out of nowhere and buzzed the elite carrier from one end to another at low altitude twice! The story quotes the Russian air force chief as saying the hot shots took pictures of crew activity on the flight deck. "You can clearly see the panic on deck" Gen.Anatoly Kornukov is reported to have said. A Russian military analyst with the Collegium of Military Experts in Moscow said the Americans should have found, warned and, if necessary, intercepted the Russian intruders long before they approached the ship. He called the episode " a surprising lack of vigilance and discipline". Add this near tragedy to the attack on the Cole and the apparent carelessness in sinking the Japanese trawler off Hawaii and even, at this writing, the efforts to award the coveted Black Beret to almost anyone. It is reported that manufacture of the Black Berets will take place in Red China instead of the U.S where our uniforms are always made. Mounting opposition to this move by the Clinton Administration in its last days may force a change by the time you read this. Another thought occurs to your editor as he writes this. Why was a dramatic and portentous story like the simulated attack on the Kitty Hawk so poorly reported? Wouldn't you think our powerful newspapers and TV news show would spend some time on such an event. I suppose they don't want to worry us.
More Book Reviews You like military history? Are you interested in combat flying? Did you do any? Do you wonder what I!t was like in other theaters of war? Try "Fire in the Sky" by Eric Bergerud. This is a big thick book that traps you the moment you start page one. I've recommended it to some of the Chapter members and they agree that once you start it it kind of takes over your life. "Fire in the Sky" tells of the air campaigns in the South Pacific. The main action takes place over the islands of Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Truk and all the little hell holes in between. Want to know how tough the territory was? The atmosphere was brilliantly clear. Air crew gazing down into the waters near New Guinea could see hungry sharks swimming about in great numbers looking for their next meal. Suppose your plane was in trouble. New Guinea was nearby. You are going to have to bail out over New Guinea or ditch. You chose ditching. You have a far better chance of surviving the sharks than you do the Guinean jungle .One more thing! B-17 crews loved to be accompanied on missions by B-24s. Seems that the Japanese much preferred to fight Liberators and attacked them first. Bergerud has a second book on the South Pacific. It is "Touched by Fire. The Land War in the South Pacific." This is probably the best history I've read about fighting in that area. I cannot recommend either of Bergerud's books too highly. Interesting note. Bergerud says of General MacArthur that he was a "flawed personality but a magnificent general." Bergerud writes that he was always very careful with the lives of his men. MacArthur fought the US Navy and powers in Washington who wanted to go slam -bang into every Jap base in the South Pacific and hang the cost in American lives. MacArthur preferred to go right by them whenever possible and leave them marooned. When the war ended over 250,000 Japanese troops were sitting looking at the sky and ocean, armed to the teeth but with no one to fight. It is important to remember that much of the criticism of MacArthur came from those who told us Mao was an "agrarian reformer" and were also hopeful a defeated Japan would fall behind the Iron Curtain. MacArthur prevented that. David L.Robbins thrilling "The War of the Rats" tells of the battle for Stalingrad through the eyes of expert snipers whose task it is to pick off Nazi officers at distances where the officers think they are safe. It's a morale buster for the Germans! The Nazis bring in their expert sniper to try and pick off the Russian marksman. There's a movie "The Enemy at the Gates" recently filmed in what was East Germany about the snipers at Stalingrad. Skip it. The book is better and you get it from the library for free. Robbins's other recent book, " The End of War, a Novel of the Race for Berlin" follows three people through the last few months of WW2. There is a Life photographer, possibly with a death wish, who must be up front whenever possible. There is a Russian who has found himself abruptly stripped of his officer rank and flung into a penal battalion. You know what a Red penal battalion was like? You had the Nazis dug in smack in front of you. You had the NKVD (secret police) behind you ready to shoot you if you faltered. Mine field ahead? Forward march. But I don't have a weapon! Pick one up from a corpse! The third character is a young woman cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic which continues to give concerts until the Reds are in the front room,as the saying goes. Robbins gives a fine picture of what life was like on the receiving end of the air raids. Read it It's fiction whereas the books reviewed above are histories. They both are so exciting and fascinating to read that you could say, "The history reads like fiction and the fiction reads like history." We liked the scenes in crumbling Berlin the best.
DEAR SECRETARY JACK AND MEMBERS OF THE EIGHTH AIR FORCE, WE WANT TO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE HATS AND THE PLAQUE. I'M SORRY THIS IS COMING TO YOU SO LATE. WE REGRET NOT BEING ABLE TO ATTEND THE BANQUET AND WANT TO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE INVITATION. AS I BELIEVE MARK HAS ALREADY TOLD YOU THE BRITTANY-O WILL NOT SAIL AGAIN. HOWEVER, FEAR NOT! WE WILL HAVE ANOTHER BOAT READY FOR THE YEARLY VOYAGE FOR VETERANS. WE LOOK FORWARD TO THIS DAY AND SEEING ALL OF YOU AGAIN. TAKE CARE AND KEEP IN TOUCH. SINCERELY, DIANE, MARK PEGGY AND RICH
Directions to Hanscom Air Force Base
Take Rte 2A off Rte 2 or 128 or take Rte 4/255 off 128. The Air Force Police will check you off from a roster we'll supply. Click here for a map to Hanscom. NEW MEMBERS Our treasurer tells us that the last time we printed a list of new members was two years ago. So let us welcome the new members whose names are printed here. The Chapter welcomes Robert M. Gibbons of Clinton. Bob is a retired secondary school teacher . He taught Science. Bob has always been interested in aviation and military History. His hobby, and it really is more than a hobby he is so expert, is modeling WW2 aircraft and ships. His specialty is Japanese aircraft and navy vessels. Bob lives with his wife, Caroline. They have a son, Scott. Join the 8th! To print an application, click the seal above. Watch your Wallet! You're sitting in front of the television asking yourself when latrine humor became acceptable as something both funny and worthwhile. You wince as barracks language pollutes your home. Hey, what is this? You marvel at the lack of talent flashing vacuously across the screen. You begin to think you could do better. Maybe a book about your experiences. You chuckle to yourself when you recall how prop wash blew off the Major's cap and landed it in a puddle of grease. You remember the first mission you flew and how you dropped a lit cigarette down the collar of your flight suit right after takeoff. People would love to read about such events. Sure they would! It can't be that hard to write a book. The new computers even correct your spelling. You remember seeing an ad in the back of the magazine in the basket by the end table. It says something about authors being needed, even wanted. You begin to put your thoughts down on paper. Months later you have hundreds of pages of your reminiscences in a big pile. Your wife is looking at you funny. You ship your would-be book off to that publisher whose ad you saw in the magazine. Will the publisher like your work? You get a reply very quickly. " Wonderful !". "Sure to be a classic". "Send us a check for so many dollars and we will print up so many copies of this masterpiece." " We'll give you a list of bookstores and other places that might buy your book or give you counter space for a commission on any sales you make. You may make scads of money. You'll be famous. You'll be on TV." Or maybe you'll be on your way to the Poorhouse. You could be dealing with a shady member of what they call the Vanity Press. They operate on your vanity and your wallet simultaneously. If you are truly rich go ahead and pay to have your work published. Some do. Every once in a great while one of these works actually winds up a money maker. The rest wind up with stacks of books moldering in the attic or in a corner of the cellar. Here is the only rule you need to follow. If the publisher wants you to pay for printing your book, run, do not walk, to the nearest exit. Instead, store the manuscript in a trunk. Your great grandchildren will find it eventually and be delighted. They may even sit down and read it. HOW TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON
NEW MEMBERS
Our treasurer tells us that the last time we printed a list of new members was two years ago. So let us welcome the new members whose names are printed here. The Chapter welcomes Robert M. Gibbons of Clinton. Bob is a retired secondary school teacher . He taught Science. Bob has always been interested in aviation and military History. His hobby, and it really is more than a hobby he is so expert, is modeling WW2 aircraft and ships. His specialty is Japanese aircraft and navy vessels. Bob lives with his wife, Caroline. They have a son, Scott.
Join the 8th!
To print an application, click the seal above.
Watch your Wallet!
You're sitting in front of the television asking yourself when latrine humor became acceptable as something both funny and worthwhile. You wince as barracks language pollutes your home. Hey, what is this? You marvel at the lack of talent flashing vacuously across the screen. You begin to think you could do better. Maybe a book about your experiences. You chuckle to yourself when you recall how prop wash blew off the Major's cap and landed it in a puddle of grease. You remember the first mission you flew and how you dropped a lit cigarette down the collar of your flight suit right after takeoff. People would love to read about such events. Sure they would! It can't be that hard to write a book. The new computers even correct your spelling. You remember seeing an ad in the back of the magazine in the basket by the end table. It says something about authors being needed, even wanted. You begin to put your thoughts down on paper. Months later you have hundreds of pages of your reminiscences in a big pile. Your wife is looking at you funny. You ship your would-be book off to that publisher whose ad you saw in the magazine. Will the publisher like your work? You get a reply very quickly. " Wonderful !". "Sure to be a classic". "Send us a check for so many dollars and we will print up so many copies of this masterpiece." " We'll give you a list of bookstores and other places that might buy your book or give you counter space for a commission on any sales you make. You may make scads of money. You'll be famous. You'll be on TV." Or maybe you'll be on your way to the Poorhouse. You could be dealing with a shady member of what they call the Vanity Press. They operate on your vanity and your wallet simultaneously. If you are truly rich go ahead and pay to have your work published. Some do. Every once in a great while one of these works actually winds up a money maker. The rest wind up with stacks of books moldering in the attic or in a corner of the cellar. Here is the only rule you need to follow. If the publisher wants you to pay for printing your book, run, do not walk, to the nearest exit. Instead, store the manuscript in a trunk. Your great grandchildren will find it eventually and be delighted. They may even sit down and read it.
HOW TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON
SERIOUS STUFF.... THE DUE$ QUE$TION!!!
All are welcome to join the Eighth Air Force Historical Society. Dues are $20 a year! (It was just raised by the national organization.) You pay us twenty dollars only when you first join! After that, the National organization will bill you for $20 once a year. That's the only money involved. You get two issues of "Vapor Trails" and four issues of the highly professional Time magazine-sized "The Eighth Air Force News" as well as a chance to take part in the sort of fun events you read about in this issue. Please do NOT send your dues to our saintly treasurer once you've sent that first ten. You don't want to get on his WRONG side, do you?
Final Flight
We regret to announce the death of Helen Smith. She will be missed not only by her family but also by all her friends and comrades. Her funeral was held on March 26th. R.I.P.
TEN HUT! SPECIAL ORDER!
Vice President Alfred E. Ducey 447BG [email protected]
AFHS President William Campbell
Secretary John McKernan
Treasurer Carl Wood [email protected]
Editor of Vapor Trails John Brennan [email protected]
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Previous issues: November 2000 April 2000 October 1999
Last Update: June 13, 2001
The Eighth Air Force Historical Society
