The White Falcon - 26.03.1960, Page 3

Saturday, March 26, 1960
THE WHITE FALCON
3
... Jrankhf Speaking...
By TSgt. Frank J. Leary
The phone rings. An Airman picks-up the phone, and
says: “Armed Forces Newsroom.” The “party” on the
phone may ask a bevy of questions, all the way from some-
thing about a sporting event to a crucial incident in a court
trial in their hometown.
This is nothing new for the
AFRTS Newsroom. It happened
yesterday. It has already happen-
ed today. The odds are very good
that it will happen again tomor-
row.
Our newsroom is made-up of
three full time Airmen and a
“Fill-In” for a rotating week-end
basis. All these men are qualified
in their job.
Our news is picked-up by tele-
type machine and two SP-600
short wave receivers. All the news
received by the SP-600’s is taped
and then broken “down” for dis-
semination at regular daily inter-
vals over radio & television.
Sounds short and sweet, doesn’t
it? As the old cliche goes: “Never
judge a book by it’s cover.” This
aptly applies to our Newsroom,
except .... “Never judge a news-
cast by means of dissemination.”
In brief .... as they say on
DRAGNET: “Here’s the facts,
Mam.”
When the news is coming-in on
teletype, and when AFRS in eith-
er New York or Los Angeles is
being received “Five-By” ........
we’ve got it “made.”
But what about all those atmos-
pheric disturbances that we get?
After all, reception-wise we aren’t
located in the best possible posi-
tion from our sending stations.
In fact, every time that you’re
admiring those Northern Lights
in all their brilliance and beauty,
we secretly are hoping that this
will not interfere with reception,
but it usually does. Our Newsmen
are without a doubt the only ones
at Keflavik Airport that could
care-less about the beautiful
Northern Lights. They just sit
and moan. (NOT THE LIGHTS
.... THE MEN.)
MSgt. Edward C. Schurr is the
Man In Command, NCOIC-Wise.
He is in charge of the External
Information section of the Office
of Information. He is the man who
is happy when his “men” are
happy and sad when his “men”
are unhappy. Lately, he has been
happy? The reception from both
AFRS New York and Los Angeles
has been very good of late, proven
by the fact with our “airing” of
both the semi-finals and finals of
the NIT Basketball Tournament
in New York City.
AFRS in both New York and
Los Angeles “airs” the news which
is taped, monitored, rewritten, and
disseminated through the joint
facilities of AFRS & AFTS here
at Keflavik Airport.
The fellows in the Newsroom
are really the unsung heroes of
the Office of Information. They
are the ones that suffer as much
or more than you the listener,
when there is no news to be heard.
This is one time, when we can
say .... No News is Bad News
.... for YOU.
It takes approximately two and
a half to three hours to get just
a 15 minute newscast to you.
And by the way .... we can
only “air what is beamed to us
to rewrite.
' Sure, we’d like to hear all about
what happened in Dogville, U.S.A.
as much as you .... but the news
is dispersed with the idea of
touching all those national points
Sahara Sands
Yield Bodies
Of B-24 Crew
Washington (AFPS)—The shift-
ing Sahara sands have yielded
five bodies from the crew of the
ghost-bomber “Lady Be Good,”
lost on a WWII combat mission.
Hopes were raised that the re-
maining four crewmen would soon
be located/
But the Air Force later said a
diary discovered with the bodies
indicates the four men perished
miles from their comrades.
The ill-fated B-24 Liberator
took off from Naples, Italy, early
in April 1943 on its first combat
mission; then disappeared for 16
years. Last May the Air Force
announced the wreckage was found
by a geological party 440 miles
from Benghasi, Libya.
No bodies were found near
the wreckage. A joint Army-
Air Force search party, dispatch-
ed from Wheelus AFB in June,
gave up the search late in Aug-
ust.
On Feb. 11 an American oil
prospector found the five bodies
about 85 miles from the ghost-
bomber along with the diary and
various personal effects.
A diary entry on April 9, 1943,
fixed the time all crewmen para-
chuted from the plane. It said one
man failed to join the group after
bail-out. Three others left the
party to push ahead for help.
No positive identification of
bodies has been established but
Capt. Myron C. Fuller of the
Army mortuary service reported
evidence indicates members of the
recovered group were: 1st Lt. Wil-
liam Hatton, pilot; 2nd Lt. Robert
F. Toner, co-pilot; 2nd Lt. D. P.
Hays, navigator; T/Sgt. Robert
E. LaMotte and S/Sgt. Samuel R.
Adams.
Armed Forces Salute
Congressman Vinson
Washington (AFPS) — Thfe
Armed Forces recently saluted
Congressman Carl Vinson (D.-
Ga.), chairman of the House Arm-
ed Services Committee, at a form-
al testimonial banquet climaxing
the Navy League’s 1960 Amphibi-
ous Warfare Seapower Sympos-
ium.
Washington’s top military and
civilian leaders attended the ban-
quet in honor of Chairman Vin-
son who for 46 years has devoted
himself to strengthening Ameri-
ca’s defense posture.
of interest. Just shows how thor-
ough your hometown newspaper
is. It’s for a definite area ....
whereas .... AFRS news is here,
there, and everywhere.
Now if you’ll excuse me ....
I’m going to go and see “how
come I ain’t heard a darn thing”
about my favorite basketball team
from Scappoose. Darn .... No
News.
BX Clerks Receive Certificates
Fourteen members of the sales department of the Keflavik Airport Base Exchange were awarded certifi-
cates recently upon completion of an Army and Air Force Exchange Service Sales Training Course. Shown
here, along with Exchange Officials are (left to r ight), - Inga Warrick, Frida Thorleifsdottir, Frank
Styduhar, Fanney Steindorsdottir, Johanna Matthias dottir, Helga Johannsdottir, Jona Bjarnadottir and
Mr. Joe Whelan, General Manager. Next to Mr. Whelan are Elinborg Gunnarsdottir, Sigridur Andreas-
dottir, Major George Amon (Base Exchange Officer), Lisa Gudnadottir, Sigridur Gudmundsdottir, Ragna
Ingnarsdottir, Gudridur Petursdottir, Dora Bjornadottir and Anthony Regan, Main Store Manager.
According to Exchange officials, the certificate is earned through a prescribed course in Retail Selling
Techniques here at the Iceland Exchange. It was signed by Maj. Gen. Harlan C. Parks, Chief of the
Army and Air Force Exchange Service. The award is presented only those who have reached a high de-
gree of sales proficiency Mrs. Warrick, formerly main store manager, has since returned to the States
and Frank Styduhar, former head of the Photographic Sales Department, is currently attending the Uni-
versity of Mexico in Mexico City on a scholarship.
Hawaii Bonus
Is Clarified
HONOLULU—The State of Ha-
waii has clarified recent errone-
ous information concerning ap-
plications for a state bonus for
military service.
It had been stated that there
is no deadline for application for
a Hawaii bonus based on service
in World War II. The Council on
Veterans Affairs in Hawaii has
said that, while the original Ha-
waii World War II bonus law
contained no application deadline,
a later amendment established a
deadline date of 30 June 1951.
Since this deadline date has pas-
sed, the State of Hawaii is accept-
ing no applications for a World
War II bonus.
However, according to George
W. Hirsch, council director, con-
sideration is being given to a pro-
posal to have a bill entered in the
1961-62 legislature to provide for
bonus payments to those WWII
veterans who missed the deadline
due to belated establishment of
war-service connection or other
reasons beyond their control.
“For the time being however,”
he said, “the June 30, 1951 dead-
line precludes the acceptance of
applications.”
Aircraft
Arrivals & Departures
(March 27—April 2.)
Sunday Flight #485 Arr. 1030
Flight #486 Dept. 1430
Cargo Arr. 2230
Monday Cargo Arr. 2230
Monday Cargo Dept. 0230
Tuesday Cargo Arr. 2230
Cargo Dept. 0230
Wed Cargo Dept. 0230
Thursday Flight #485 Arr. 1030
Flight #486 Dept. 1430
Friday Cargo Arr. 2230
Saturday Flight #486 Arr. 0940
Cargo Dept. 1315
Searchlight Sonata
By Sgt. Karl Sandbag
Now listen good people
And you shall be told,
How just one suggestion
Garnered some gold.
Now Saul Sincere
Was a D. A. Civ,
Who put into his job
All he had to give.
He practiced safety,
And economy, too,
Was prompt on the job,
His sick leaves were few.
Then one day on duty
He had a brainstorm,
So he kicked it around
‘til it took solid form.
He wrote it up this way
And polished it that,
Then put it on paper—
“I suggest that . . .. ”
The boss thought it good
And the top brass as well,
So they put it to work
With results that were swell.
The general shook hands
While the flashbulbs popped,
Saul’s eyes popped, too,
At the check that he copped.
Moral
Your ideas are worth money
(Tho not maybe a million)
And it’s open to all
Both G. I. and civilian.
Loan Guarantee
Following amendments in 1959
of the In-Service Loan provisions
of the Federal Housing Act the
government may guarantee loans
up to $20,000, a jump of $2,900
from the previous ceiling of
$17,100.
In addition, the In-Service Loan
Program provides for up to 97 per
cent FHA guarantee for certain
low-cost housing where the mort-
Armed Forces
Writer’s League
Sets Contest
In 1,500 words or less you might
be the one to win the top prize
of $250 and a life membership in
the Aimed Forces Writers Leag-
ue’s recently announced “People-
to-People Article Contest.”
Other prizes are: 2d prize -
$100 and a five-year membership
to AFWL; 3d, 4th, and 5th prizes
- $50 each and two-year member-
ship to AFWL. Honorable men-
tion and one-year memberships in
AFWL will be given to other
“sufficiently deserving entries.”
Sponsored by the Army-Navy-
Air Force Register and The Arm-
ed Forces Writers League, the
contest aims to promote interest
and participation in President Eis-
enhower’s People-to-People Pro-
gram and focus attention on the
part members of the Armed Forc-
es can play to foster better under-
standing among all people.
Entries must be more than 1,500
words, typed double-space on one
side of the paper, telling how you
helped boost the People-to-People
program by personal contact or
in some other way.
Any member of the Armed
Forces, regular or reserve, active
or retired, civilian members of
the military establishment, and
members of the Armed Forces
Writers League may enter.
Entries must be postmarked not
later than midnight, April 10,
1960. Mail to: People-to-People
Contest Chairman, Army, Navy,
Air Force Register, 2020 M Street,
N. W., Washington 6, D. C., or:
The Armed Forces Writers Leag-
ue, 1832 NE 7th Terrace, Gains-
ville, Fla.
Contest details can be had from
the above addresses.
gage does not exceed $9,000.
Details are available in AFR
34-65 (Mortgage Insurance for
Servicemen).