The White Falcon - 04.05.1957, Side 3

Saturday, May 4, 1957
THE WHITE FALCON
Page I
Free Bingo for EM Wives
Are you a woman? Are you the wife of an enlisted
serviceman? Do you have anything planned for May 8th
at 1:30 p.m.?
If you come up with two “yesses” and “no” in the cor-
rect order then the Viking Service Club is the place for
you at the above mentioned time and date. The reason being
that the Enlisted Mens Wive’s Club is holding FREE Bingo
for wives of all enlisted servicemen here.
Now why would anyone want
to hold a Free Bingo? The answer
is quite simple, in fact there are
really two excellent reasons: 1)
To have fun. 2) To attract as
many women as possible to join in
Officers’ W ives
Club News
By Phyllis Lovlien
On March 15th, Mrs. Richard
W. Philbrick, wife of our new
base commander was welcomed to
Iceland with a lovely tea held in
the Terrace Lounge of the Offi-
cers’ Club. Mrs. John W. White
introduced the members of the
Wives Club to our guest of honor.
An attractive tea table decorated
with pastel colored flowers was
presided over by Bonnie Cassidy,
Barbara Reid, Pat Hughes, and
Naomi Chadwick. All of the deli-
cious pastries and sandwiches were
made by a committee of Club
members headed by Lynn Koisch.
At the April 17th luncheon our
imaginative and artistic members
presented a fantastic parade of
“Crazy Hats.” Chairmen for this
occasion were Mary Ellen McBride
and Agnes Cartright. Who com-
bined Easter and spring decora-
tions for very decorative tables.
Judging the millinery master-
pieces were the Captains Elbracht,
Carver, and Alexander who award-
ed 1st and 2nd prizes for the
“Best Theme” to Betty Philbrick
and Bonnie Cassidy; “Prettiest
Hats” to Katie Bentz and Katie
Phillips, and the “Most Original”
to Olla Mae Johnson and Sydney
Cartright. Four songs were beauti-
fully sung by Mary McBride, Lil-
lian Eliasen, and Bonnie Cassidy
to complete the program.
To reassure the children that the
Easter bunny would really come
to Iceland, an Easter egg hunt was
held at the school gymnasium on
April 20th with Betty Bradford
as Chairman and Patsy White,
Katie Bentz, Margaret Dulaney,
Barbara eid, and Mrs. Marvis
Reidlinger completing the com-
mittee.
Within the past six weeks, seven
new members and their families
have arrived and are cordially wel-
comed to Keflavik Airport. They
are the Mesdames Griffin, Arch-
bold, McLaughlin, Dey, Burniston,
Lucas, and Lavelle.
Are you interested in bowling?
If so, a new league will start
May 9th. Bonnie Cassidy will be
very happy to accept the names
of all bov/ling hopefuls.
Due to leave soon for Balti-
more, Maryland, is Catharina
Bentz who has participated in many
Club activities. “Katie” received
Gray Lady training in January
1956 and gave approximately 85
hours of service for the patients
in the Base Hospital. She was
presented a one-year service bar
on February 1st of this year. An
accomplished cook, she won one
first prize and two honorable
mentions in the Wives Club cook-
ing contest held last fall. She has
baked for some of the Wives Club
teas and has helped provide food
for newly arrived families. At
Eastertime of last year, Katie or-
ganized and was in charge of the
Easter party for all children on
the base.
the many activities of the EM
Wive’s Club and if they so desire,
to become members of that organ-
ization.
Unfortunately, though there are
many married men at Keflavik,
there are not many wives here.
This places quite a strain on the
activities of the club. According
to Mrs. Marvis Riedlinger, Public
Relations representative, for the
club, the girls are down to a low,
low figure of only eight active
members and would like to see
some new faces. They offer social
gatherings, luncheons, worthwhile
projects and opportunities to get
together and exchange ideas, etc.,
as some of the reasons why every
serviceman’s wife should become
a member of their group.
So why not join the fun girls!
Get your name on the roster and
help make it the fine, productive
organization it can never be with-
out your support. First, of course,
make sure you take a crack at
those fine Bingo prizes the girls
have lined up for you.
PS: Hope you win.
Mrs. Griffin
Honored aft Tea
Mrs. Zelda Griffin, wife of Col
Linwood Griffin, new Army Com-
ponent Commander, was welcomed
by the Officers Wives’ Club at a
tea, on April 26. Festivities were
held in the Terrace Lounge. Mrs.
Katie Phillips was hostess.
Entertainment was provided by
the Wives’ Club Trio of Mesdames
Bonnie Cassidy, Lil Eliasen, and
Mary Ellen McBride. They gave
professional renditions of several
popular old standard tunes.
The menu included tea, Haw-
aiian punch, sandwiches and cook-
ies.
A/3C Don Williamson provided
background piano music.
Pilot Reports Save Lives!
1810Z, 26 February, 1957. First Lieutenant James R. Olson was shepherding an RC-
54 of the 53rd Air Rescue Squadron back home to Keflavik. Over the Grindavik beacon,
south of the airfield, he noticed that the clouds were touching the ground. Punching the
button marked 13 on his UHF radio he called Keflavik weather Station.
“Keflavik Weather, this is AF tripe nickel (155). Over Grindavik the ceiling is on
Poetrv Aired
on TFK-TV
Poetry enthusiasts were given a
rare treat last Sunday afternoon
when Rev. Sigurdur Nordland, 72,
appeared on TFK-TV. The retired
Icelandic Clergyman recited selec-
tions from his own works and
those of other poets.
Included in his recital was
“Olafur Liljuros”, a traditional
Icelandic poem of unknown origin,
and “An Ode to Iceland”, written
by an American who visited Ice-
land in 1874 for the celebration
of the 1,000th anniversary of the
Althing.
Like many of the Icelandic
Clergy, Rev. Nordland has contri-
buted much to Iceland’s literary
culture, and in addition he has
been one of the leaders in tran-
lating Icelandic poetry to English.
Before retiring, he served as
pastor of the Northern Iceland
Parish for 45 years. He appeared
on Dr. Henrik Thorlacius’ regular
Sunday show.
IDF Pistol Team
at Fort Dix
Soon to compete in the First
Army Matches at Fort Dix, is
the IDF Pistol Team. The
team, consisting of five mem-
bers, four firing and one al-
ternate who doubles as coach,
will begin firing on May 6.
Personnel competing are:
Major Albert Blasco, (team
captain) Hq IDF, Lt Albert
Me Farlane, 1400 Ops Gp, Sfc
Giac'nto Molino, Co D, 2nd
BCT, Sfs Leo Lemieux, Co C,
2nd BCT, and AM2 G. W. Frye,
Fasron 107.
Also on May 6, the 2nd BCT
Rifle Team will fire in the
high powered Rifle Matches
held in conjunction with the
Pistol Matches.
■^on the deck”.
In the weather station Lt. Mei'le
Bunde was the forecaster on duty.
His forecast at the time called for
cloudy skies but no clouds low en-
ough to constitute a hazard for
landing aircraft. This pilot report
made a difference, however. The
wind was from the south and low
ceilings in that direction would
be moving over the field. There
was no sign on the weather char ts
of any reason for the low clouds
Bake Sale
Aids Nursery
Something new was added to
the pay lines Tuesday—home made
cake.
To raise funds for the Base
Nursery, members of the Officers
Wives’ Club spent Monday even-
ing baking the 20 cakes which
were strategically placed on sale
near -the different pay lines on the
base.
The cakes were sliced into gen-
erous portions which sold for 50
cents.
Mrs. John W. White and Mrs.
Thomas D. Quaid, who handled
the sale at IDF Headquarters, said
the project was a financial suc-
cess.
Number One in Our Ko&h!
LL Of US ££P-
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mal£s HmMAtiym
mi6P TASTSS
uHturr corns
T0UMIH60UIZ
PMurre 6LW\a(i |
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Battalion
Hi-Lites
2nd Bn Combat Team
By Pfc It. S. Hoermann
Accompanying the 2nd BCT
Rifle Team to the First Army
Championship Matches was a
special guidon, designed and con-
structed by Pfc Harold Cacy of
Bravo Company. The words “2nd
BCT” and “Rifle Team” appear
in white at the top and bottom
respectively of the guidon, while
the Battalion Crest occupies the
middle portion. Bordering it is a
yellow tassle. Lt Frederick Bowl-
ing, Platoon Leader in Bravo
Company, conceived the idea for
the guidon.
Despite their heavy schedule of
appearances while visiting Iceland,
the St. Olaf Choir took time out
to enjoy a solid Army meal in
Meeks Mess.
Receiving promotions to Pfc in
Delta Company are Franklin II-
genfritz, and Keith Nelson . . .
Hq Co has a new Commandant,
Maj Adolph Damish . . . Successor
to Sp2 Maurice Kirkman, “A”
Company, as Battalion Mail Clerk
is Pvt Robert Hartell of Hq Co.
Pvt Herb Rubin, comedian-ex-
traordinary of Hq Co Supply
Room, recently flew to Goose Bay,
Labrador to represent Keflavik
Airbase in a talent contest. A
graduate of City College in New
York, Pvt Rubin played major
roles in such off-Broadway produc-
tions as “Finian’sRainbow”, “Born
Yesterday” and “Prometheus
Bound”.
He has shared the stage with
but there was contributing evi-
dence to substantiate the approach
of bad weather. At 1345Z the
same day a pilot of the 57th Fight-
er Interceptor Squadron had called
in a report of area weather;- at
1635Z another F-89 circled high
above Keflavik while the pilot re-
ported the weather at that mo-
ment. In that three hour period
a definite deterioration had taken
place in the weather affecting
Keflavik. The weather station had
been alerted to the possibility of
hazardous conditions and the pilot
report from Lt. Olson was the
final piece of information.
“Weather advisory to all in-
bound aircraft and to all aircraft
and to all aircraft operating
agencies: Keflavik is expected to
go below GCA minimums within
two hours and remain below VFR
for the next six hours.” This
message was dispatched at 1830Z.
At about the same time a new
pilot report source was uncovered
as a civilian airline crew came
into the weather station for de-
briefing. They added reports of
icing and turbulence to the report
previously received from Lt.
Olson.
At about this time Lts. O’Neal
and Emge of the 57th were getting
ready for a night flight. Lt. Emge
was to make a night transition
flight in the F-89 while Lt. O’Neal
was acting as chase pilot. Another
F-89 was als^ already airborne:
Lt. Fender had taken off on an
active Air Defense scramble just
before the warning message ar-
rived at the 57th alert hangar.
The advisory message was
rapidly passed to all pilots in-
volved. Lt. Fender completed his
intercept and returned to Keflavik
immediately while fuel still re-
mained for multiple attempts to
land should the weather be too
low to allow a landing on the first
or subsequent attempts. He landed
on the first attempt. Lts. O’Neal
and Emge cancelled their flight
plans, saving themselves the risk
involved in very bad weather
flying.
At 2034Z, slightly more than
two hours from the time of Lt.
Olson’s pilot report, the weather
went below GCA minimums. There
is no alternate airfield for jet air-
craft in the Iceland area. Lt.
Olson, as a member of a service
dedicated to rescuing people from
crashed aircraft, had helped to do
himself out of a job; his pilot
report, plus the previous two re-
ports from the 57th, and the later
report from the airline crew, had
safeguarded three aircraft and
their crews.
In Iceland, where the weather
is changeable and frequently haz-
ardous to air operations, where
off shore weather reports are few
in number, where alternate air-
fields are practically non-existent,
pilot weather reports are pilot and
aircrew insurance. The easiest and
fastest method of making a pilot
report is to call “Keflavik Metro”
on 344.6mc, commonly known as
UHF Button 13. Many an air-
Sid Caesar, Arthur Godfrey, and crew member has left Iceland
Sammy Davis Jr. On base, he has
appeared in the Officer’s Club,
and NCO Club as well as the re-
cent TFK Red Cross Telethon.
State and local governments re-
ceived a total of $3,148,600,000 in
federal aid last year.
safely only because a pilot report
has kept him from becoming a
Flying Safety Office statistic.
That is why you may see signs
around Keflavik Airport bearing
the notice:
“Pilot Reports Save Lives. Use
Pilot-to-Forecaster Radio, 344.6mc,
UHF Button 13.”