The White Falcon - 13.05.1961, Blaðsíða 4

4
WHITE FALCON
Saturday, May 13, 1961
AF Association
To Again Honor
Outstanding Man
The Air Force Association has
announced plans to sponsor again
this year a program to bring
about 20 outstanding
guests to its annual convention
in Philadelphia Sept. 19-24.
All major commands have been
told by Hq. USAF to select an
“Outstanding Airman of the
Year” who will represent them
at the annual conclave. The nam-
es of these selections must be
forwarded to Hq. USAF by June
15. Both airmen and their wives
will be guests of AFA.
Criteria for selection of out-
standing airmen is left up to the
individual command. Airmen of
all ranks are eligible. The airmen
chosen are expected to be repres-
entative and symbolic of all air-
men found in the major command.
“As a guide line, an airman’s
work during the past year should
have materially contributed to
the accomplishment of the com-
mand Air Force mission and have
a public appeal,” the Hq. USAF
message said .
“Wives will be invited to attend
most AFA functions with their
husbands, including a special
luncheon with high ranking of-
ficials of the Air Force,” the an-
nouncement said.
Overseas commands have been
delegated authority to authorize
attendance of wives and to issue
them space available transporta-
By Al Dougherty
Historian, 1405 ABW, Scott AFB, III.
High above the towering Himalayas a four-engine air-
craft droned through the rarefied air. This was the Air
Transport Command “Hump” route of 1944, an aerial
airmen ijfe]jne flying supplies from India‘S
Flying The CBI ‘Hump’ Readied MATS For lifts
into China over the rugged Hima-
layan “rock pile.”
At the helm Lt. Kenneth P.
Stoeckmann wryly compared the
quiet routine of this flight with
the desperate maneuvering of the
preceding trip, when a pouncing
enemy fighter had thoroughly
perforated the C-54.
The sky was vast and empty.
The plane droned on.
It happened so fast, they never
really knew what caused it. Ap-
parently a weakened elevator or
aileron cable snapped, throwing
the heavy plane into a spiraling
spin.
Instantly Lt. Stoeckmann ap-
plied full power to the inside en-
gines—to no avail. He ordered
the crew to bail out.
Getting out of a spinning C-54
is no cinch. Preparing to jump,
Lt. Stoeckmann was thrown head-
on against the doorframe and
knocked unconscious as he left
the lurching plane.
Now came one of those strange
freaks of fate which we can never
anticipate.
Out for the count, high above
a rugged mountain range, the
lieutenant slammed against the
tail of the aircraft and a miracle
* By AFPS *
Pete Rademacher, one-time Army Olympic heavyweight, is re-
portedly considering an offer to manage Bill Nieder, former Army
track star who was stationed at the Presido of San Francisco, Calif.
Nieder, an established shotputter, is now swinging leather for pay ..
Barry MacKay, the ex-U.S. Davis Cup ace who was stationed at
Mitchel AFB, N.Y., while in the Air Force, is now teamed with pro
tennis king Pancho Gonzalez, playing in the country’s top tourna-
ments .... George Berry of Ft. Hood, Tex., was a catcher with an
All-Service team in the 1955 Amateur Softball Assn., World Tourna-
ment at Clearwater, Fla. Now he has been given a tougher assign-
ment. Berry will be umping the Women’s Softball Tourney at Port-
land, Ore., Aug. 25-Sept. 2 .... One day JayVees, and the next var-
sity, the Naval Academy’s newly designated oarsmen defeated Col-
umbia by two and a quarter lengths .... Ret. Oscar (Big “O”) Robert-
son of Ft. Jackson, S.C., the former University of Cincinnati hard-
court star, when asked to compare Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain,
said, ‘Both are great but I’d hesitate to pick one over the other. They
play different styles of ball.”
SPORTS CHATTER —George Harris of Travis AFB, Calif., for
the second straight year, has won the heavyweight judo crown of the
Strategic Air Command .... Lyndy (Dale) Messer, a halfback at
Fresno State College where he was chosen the outstanding player for
two consecutive years, is now a private at Ft. Ord., Calif. Messer will
report for spring training wih the 49ers upon completion of his active
duty .... The annual national shooting competitions will be held at
Camp Perry, Ohio, July 28-Aug. 27 .... Mike Quinlan, the Air Force
Academy’s outstanding fullback, is the captain of the Falcon’s base-
ball team .... The leading grid ground gainer for West Point last
season, fullback Al Rushatz, and tackle Dale Kuhns both had to miss
spring football practice due to injuries received in wrestling competi-
tion .... Marine W. Walter of Parris Island, S.C., has been selected
for a tryout for a berth on the 1961 American Skeet team. The 1961
Military Championships in skeet shooting will be held at Colorado
Springs, May 26-29, and the National Skeet Shooting Assn. World
Championships at Reno, Nev., July 31,-Aug. 6 .... Vince Cesare,
quarterback for Camp Lejeune last season, is now holding down the
second-base corner while coach Dave Pet nos will be roaming the out-
field slots. The only returning infielder to LeJeune’s All-Marine nine
is Charlie Armstrong, the same player who along with Hal Norton,
now stationed in Okinawa, tied Harry Agganis’ homerun record at
Lejeune’s home diamond in the last game of the All-Marine tilt last
year.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK—When Joe DiMaggio broke into the
American League, Bobo Newson boasted, “I’ll find his weakness when
I pitch against him.” DiMaggio quickly slammed three two-baggers
in a row. After the game, manager Lefty Gomez hollared congratula-
tions. “What for?” replied Bobo sourly. “For Finding DiMaggio’s
weakness .... the guy can’t hit anything but two-baggers!!”
happened—the jolt opened his
parachute.
But three panels of the chute
were ripped in the process, and
when Lt. Stoeckmann came out of
his blackout he was descending
very, very fast.
Again fate, or the Providence
that looks out for flyers, took a
hand in the action. The Lieuten-
ant landed on the steep slope of
a mountain and rolled several
hundred feet before he could stop
himself.
At first he was unable to move,
but he had broken no bones and
shortly recovered sufficient
strength to begin a seven-hour
trek down a mountain pass, where
he was picked up by Chinese sol-
diers who carried him to a Chin-
ese radio station.
Soon he was back to his home
base and flying the “Hump”
again.
These were the growing pains
of a husky new airlift born of
wartime necessity.
In October 1944 under com-
mand of William H. Tunner
(Then Brigadier General, later
MATS Commander at Scott) the
lift over the “Hump” was in-
creased from 12,000 tons a month
to 20,000.
This was made possible by
doubling the number of transport
aircraft—especially procurement
of the four-engine C-54 to aug-
USAF Tennis Meet
Scheduled At AFA
The best Air Force men and
women tennis players will swat
them a mile high this year in the
1961 USAF Tennis Champion-
ships at the Air Force Academy
July 31-Aug. 4.
Major commands already have
been invited to name their tennis
stars.
A command may submit four
singles and two doubles with a
limit of six players in both the
men’s open division and the men’s
senior division.
The women’s open division will
be made up of two singles and
one double with a limit of four
players from each participating
command.
Primary purpose is to determine
the USAF-wide champion in the
various categories.
“An all-star team will also be
selected from participants to re-
present the Air Force in the in-
terservice championships Aug. 14
18 at Newport Naval Station, R.
I.,” Pentagon sports officials
said.
(Answers to Quiz)
1. The Philadelphia Eagles, by
completing 177 of 331 attempted
passes for a 53.5 average.
2. In 1911, when Ray Harroun
won with an average speed of
only 74.59 m.p.h.
3. Boston’s Ted Williams in ’41
when he hit .406.
4. The rings of blue, yellow,
black, green and red represent the
five continents of the world. At
least one of the colors is found
in the flag of every nation.
5. Johnny Longden hit the 4,000
mark on Fleet Driver at Holly-
wood Park on May 15, 1952.
ment the overworked C-47-—and
by greater efficiency in mainten-
ance, repair, loading and unload-
ing.
The flyers likewise stepped up
their proficiency: on one day in
1944 an average of one crossing
of the Himalayas was made every
two and one half minutes.
The “Hump” airlift contribut-
ed measurably to the nation’s war
effort. President Roosevelt called
the feat of U.S. airmen flying
material to China an “amazing
performance” and an “epic of the
war.”
The consolidation bn June 1,
1948 of the Air Transport Com-
mand and the Naval Air Trans-
port Service brought into being
the Military Air Transport Ser-
vice.
Less than a month later, MATS
was handled the sizable assign-
ment of airlifting two million
tons of supplies to beleaguered
Berlin.
By July 1950 the command had
begun another great overseas
operation—the Pacific Airlift.
These operations were superb ex-
Special Insurance
Dividend Declared
Policy holders of National Ser-
vice Life Insurance will receive
another dividend this year, the
Veterans Administration has an-
nounced.
The special dividend, to be mail-
ed between July 4 and Labor Day,
is supplemental to annual NSLI
dividend refunds already sent
this year.
Amount of the refunds is ap-
proximately 90 per cent of the
1961 refund, as $258 million was
paid out this year during the an-
nual dividend and $230 million is
scheduled to be paid in the special
dividend.
Some 4,800,000 World War II
veterans holding National Service
Life Insurance policies and 260,-
000 World War I veterans hold-
ing U. S. Government Life Insur-
ance policies will get the supple-
mental refund.
The Veterans Administration
attributed the refund to a contin-
ued lower death rate among pol-
icyholders than the rates on
which premiums were establish-
ed by law.
amples of strategic airlift: the
mass movement by air of men
and material to meet urgent mili-
tary requirements in far corners
of the world.
Each succeeding year has plac-
ed its urgent requirements on
MATS.
The ability to set up and fly
strategic airlift anywhere, under
any conditions, is a cornerstone
tradition on which today’s global
airlift force was founded.
(The above is another in a ser-
ies of articles on stories of the
MATS tradition released by
MATS News Service. — Editor.)
Sports
Quiz
By AFPS
1. Which NFL team has the
best 1960 forward passing record
for any season?
2. When was the first Indian-
apolis “500” auto race held?
3. Who was the last major
league player to hit over .400 for
a full season?
4. What is the meaning of the
Olympic symobol of five inter-
locking rings?
5. Can you name the first
American jockey to win 4,000
races?
Falcon Nine Average
Hits Split-Even Mark
The Air Force Academy base-
ball team hit the “split even”
mark of six wins and. six losses
as of late April.
The victories are bunched rath-
er late in the season, at its cur-
rent middle point, following four
early season defeats in California
with San Diego State and San
Jose State.
Kent Lammers, a long ball hit-
ting junior, is the big claw of
the Falcon attack, batting .444.
Pitcher Gary Wallace has the
best hurling record, 2-0 for the
season with a 1.32 earned run
average.
AIRMAN COMMENDED
A3C Leroy C. Parks, AB Sq, is congratulated by Col. O. B. Steely,
deputy commander for support, AFI, for his efforts in compiling the
new base telephone directory. A letter of commendation from Col.
Benjamin G. Willis, AFI commander, noted that Airman Parks spent
many hours of his off-duty time on the project. It is estimated that
the local production of the directory saved the Air Force about $500.