The White Falcon - 24.10.1959, Page 2

Page 2
THE WHITE FALCON
Saturday, October 24, 1959
Chaplain CoL
umn
The Still Small Voice
by Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Edward Ellenbogan
Do you ever find that you have nothing to do, and no one to
talk to? How does the experience strike you?
Most of our contemporaries dread solitude. Most of us will go
to any length to rescue ourselves from such a situation, with the
least practicable delay.
The next time this development overtakes you, try your best
to maintain your aloneness for a little while. While it is true that
this experience is frightening at first, it can become very helpful.
Being by oneself enables a person to make his own acquaint-
ance. In solitude, one is capable of sustained throught. (Many will
tell you, never be alone, if you can help it — it is “scary” to
recognize how empty-headed a person can frequently be).
It is likely that only in solitude does one ever hear the “still
small voice” of the Deity. To hear that is the reward of overcoming
one’s fear of lone-ness. The great ideas of minkind were conceived
in solitude. Sit quietly and alone occasionally — to do so will make
you a better person than you ever thought you could be.
School Facilities Provided
By Local Districts In ZI
In September, when the school year started, children of Air Force
parents entered the local classrooms along with other youngsters in
every state in the United States. These schools are run by the com-
munity and not by the Air Force, although in a number of instances
Air Force dependents might comprise the majority of the school
population.
This “loading” gives some parents the mistaken idea that the
school is administered by the Air Force, comments an Air Force
spokesman responsible for dependents’ education. The Hq USAF offi-
cial points out that only at Eglin, Patrick, Tyndall and McDill Air
Force Bases in Florida; Craig AFB, Ala., and Langley AFB, Va.,
are the schools operated by the Air Force.
In all other cases, in the US, the local school district meets the
educational needs of the children.
When a large base settles in an area or an existing base’s
population suddenly swells, it’s up to the base authorities to advise
local officials of the need for increased educational facilities. In
some instances, to meet the demand, civil authorities will build
a school near the base as a matter of convenience. It is this
proximity to the base that often gives people the erroneous im-
pression of the school “belonging” to the Air Force.
Providing educational facilities does not mean the local district
is bestowing favors on the Air Force. This is actually a community
responsibility, and the community responds in much the same way it
would if a large industrial plant moved into town with a subsequent
influx of employees and their children.
There is a difference, though. In the case of a factory or business,
taxes would help support the exjflansion of a school program. An Air
Force base, being Federal property is generally non-taxable, there-
fore the community is deprived of this income source.
Congress, recognizing this, authorized Federal assistance for com-
munities if their existing facilities are strained. Legislation provides
funds for school construction, operation and maintenance.
The money does not come out of the Air Force’s budget. Rather
it is paid to the' school district by the U.S. Office of Education, a
part of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
This payment does not give the Air Force or the Office of Edu-
cation a say-so in school operation or policy. If an Air Force par-
ent wants to make his voice heard, a Hq USAF official said, he can
do it by joining the local Parent-Teacher Association.
The amount paid by the Government is based on the “local con-
tribution rate,” which represents approximately the average amount
a school district is contributing to a child’s education. As might
be expected, it varies from place to place. The payment also de-
pends on such factors as the Air Force family head living or
working on Federal property.
If he lives and works on base, the Federal contribution would
be 100 per cent. It would be only 50 per cent if he lived off base.
That’s why, early in the school year, usually during registration,
little Johnny may come trudging home with a note from teacher.
The apprehensive parent will probably discover it’s nothing worse
than a questionnaire he has to fill out and return to the school
authorities.
THE WHITE FALCON
Volume 9 Number 20
HEADQUARTERS, ICELAND DEFENSE FORCE
Col. Benjamin G. Willis, USAF
Island Commander Iceland (ISCOMICE)
The WHITE FALCON it an official Armed Forcet newspaper published bi-monthly at
Keflavik Airport, Iceland, by and for the Army, Navy and Air Force personnel of the Iceland
Detente Force. The WHITE FALCON receives AFFB material. Views and opinions expressed
herein art not necessarily those of the Department of Defense.
Deadline for copy: noon Friday before the date of publication. Telephone numbers: i!56, i!9i.
Information Officer.............Major Thomas E. Bowers, USAF.
Information NCOIC .............. MSgt George W. Williams, USAF
Editor..........................A/1C Laurence O. Smith, USAF
Staff Photographer ...................... Sgt Jose Vazquez, USA
lutolduprenttmM)* h.f.
PAPPY GUNN, LEGENDARY
AIRMAN-OF-FORTUNE
Col. Paul Irvin (Pappy) Gunn
lived and died under extraordin-
ary circumstances. Hollywood fic-
tion couldn’t be more exotic if it
tried.
The adventurous exploits of
Pappy Gunn are well-told in Gen.
George C. Kenney’s book, “The
Saga of Pappy Gunn.”
Four-star generals aren’t usu-
ally given to writing stories about
men who served under them. But
Pappy Gunn was a bird of a dif-
ferent color, and only a man of
Kenney’s stature could paint the
full, fantastic picture of Gunn’s
military episodes in the Pacific
during World War II.
General Kenney had close con-
tact with this unusual airman-
adventurer, and knows first hand
some of the many stories that
grew up about the Arkansas farm
boy. He also got to know the
characteristics and mechanical
gadgeteering of this superb flyer
who hid the regulation book under
his pillow whenever he embarked
on a new adventure.
Pappy Gunn enlisted in the
Navy in his teens and by 1937
had completed 20 years service,
retiring as an airplane pilot with
the rank of chief petty officer.
At Pearl Harbor time in 1941
Gunn was operations manager of
the Philippine Air Lines. Both
Gunn and PAL went into the war
against Japan with the Air Force.
Gen. Kenney as head of the air
forces in the Pacific soon came
in contact with him.
The handful of B-25s in that
vast theater at the time didn’t
pack much wallop. Pappy did
something about it. He ripped out
the bomb sight, improvised and
filled the nose of the plane with
several 50-caliber guns, where it
formerly carried only one small
30-caliber. His remodeled B-25s
largely made possible the remark-
able score for the Americans over
Japanese shipping in the famous
Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
Pappy Gunn’s stories matched
his genius in the hangars and in
the skies. They were less easy to
pin down for accuracy, but ap-
preciated none the less. Pappy was
injured toward the end of the
war; his wife and four children
were confined to Santo Tomas in
the Philippines for three years.
The family eventually was reunit-
ed but the latter years were un-
healthy and unhappy for them.
The climax came in October 1957
when Pappy Gunn died in an air-
plane accident in the Philippines.
This did not end the saga of
Pappy Gunn, however. Even in
death Pappy defied the usual. His
body was flown across the Pacific
to the United States unauthorized,
incognito and contrary to all re-
gulations. The wires burned in
Headquarters in Washington un-
til authorization could be establis-
hed to fly him to his final resting
place in Florida. The turmoil and
color that surrounded Pappy Gunn
in life followed him to his grave.
997, 998, 999 .. .
A B-47 Stratojet bomber chalk-
ed up its 1,000th consecutive flight
recently, accomplishing all mission
requirements, in what SAC belie-
ves is a record for its command.
The B-47 made its record flight
flown by a crew of the 9th Bomber
Wing, Mountain Home AFB,
Idaho. In racking up the four-
figure total, crews piled up more
than 6,400 hours of flying time.
IADF Honors Janitor
Mr. Gisli Danielsson, IADF Headquarters Janitor since 1952, was hon-
ored last month as he celebrated his 78th birthday. Mr. Danielsson
was completely surprised as members of IADF Headquarters present-
ed him with a birthday cake baked by Mrs. R. E. Carswell, wife of
Major R. E. Carswell. Born in 1881, Mr. Danielsson is a farmer and
has worked on fishing boats. He is currently residing with a son in
Keflavik where he raises potatoes and other vegatables as a hobby.
He has nine children. Major Lloyd Smith, Provost Marshall (left) and
Mr. Styrmir Proppe, Icelandic Interpreter, congratulate Mr. Danielsson.
AFA Pays 500th Claimant
Via Pay Protection Plan
Washington — A Strategic Air Command pilot who
lost his right arm in a crash of his B-47 earlier this year
became the 500bh flyer to receive compensatory payment
under a unique flight pay protection plan.
<•>------------------
President Howard T. Markey of
the Air Force Association, which
operates the plan, presented a
check to Air Force 1st Lt. Gerle
L. Buckner of Las Cruces, New
Mexico at the injured flyer’s bed-
side in Walter Reed Medical Cen-
ter.
Lieutenant Buckner, whose B-
47 medium jet bomber crashed
during takeoff at Goose Bay,
Labrador, last February, is cur-
rently being fitted with an arti-
ficial arm at the hospital. Sitt-
ing on the edge of his bed, the
28-year-old flyer from New Mexi-
co recalled the accident that end-
ed his flying career eight months
ago and has kept him hospitaliz-
' ed since.
Lieutenant Buckner survived
the crash only because the im-
mense impact jarred him loose
and hurled him some 450 feet from
the burning wreckage. One other
member of the four-man crew also
survived.
The Air Force Association
Flight Pay Protection plan has
now paid more than $1-14 million
in benefits to 500 claimants. In
its fourth year, the plan has some
$22 million of protection in force,
with an estimated $350,000 in cur-
rent reserve to cover payment on
claims now in progress.
AFA administers the Flight Pay
Protection program as a nonprofit
activity for the benefit of flying
personnel of all services. The pol-
icy is underwritten by the Mutual
Benefit Health and Accident As-
sociation (Mutual Omaha). Ad-
ditional information on the plan
can be obtained from the Insur-
ance Division, Air Force Asso-
ciation, Mills Building, Washing-
ton 6, D. C.
Name Change
It’s still the same outfit; only
the name has been changed. The
Air Technical Intelligence Center
was renamed the Aerospace Tech-
nical Intelligence Center last
month.
ATIC, 1125th USAF Field Ac-
tivities Group, is located at
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
ARS Chief Visits
Brigadier General Joseph A. Cunn-
ingham, Commander, Air Rescue
Service with headquarters at Or-
lando AFB, Fla., is shown as he
arrived at Keflavik Oct. 9 for a
Command Staff Visit. Only recently
assigned to the Air Rescue Serv-
ice, this was General Cunningham’s
first visit to the 53rd AR Squad-
ron. He was greeted by IDF Com-
mander Col. Benjamin G. Willis.
After a cocktail party in his honor
Friday hight, General Cunningham
inspected the 53rd Oct. 10.
Thimk!
The IOP Eye, published by the
Iowa Ordnance Plant, gives the
following advice to beginning
journalists:
“Beware of platitudinous pon-
derosity. Let your communication
possess coalescent consistency and
concatenated cogency. Shun all
flatulent garrulity and asinine af-
fectations. Use intelligibility and
veracious vivacity without rodo-
montade or thrasonical bombasity.
Sedulously avoid all prolixity and
psittaceous vacuity. Eschew sas-
quipedalianistic proclivities.