The White Falcon - 03.06.1961, Blaðsíða 4

4
WniTE FALCON
Saturday, June 3, 1961
Popovich Hurls lilo-Hitter
As Nil Wins Opener 10-0
Nick Popovich got the young
softball season off with a bang
as he pitched the Headquarters
AFI team to a 10-0 no-hit victory
over Weather.
Popovich, a veteran on the
mound, struck out 18 of the 20
men he faced to cop the laurels.
He has been pitching for 18 years
and has averaged six no-hitters
a year.
He has pitched in four MATS
tournaments and was pitching for
MATS when it won the Air Force
wide tourney in 1957.
Rowe of 57th Fighters also
came in for a share of the praise
this week when he pitched a two-
hitter against USNGA, the Inter-
ceptor team winning 4-0.
In other action Hospital took
a 10-0 shut-out over Transporta-
tion and Naval Air Facility edged
Supply 5-3.
Three games are played each
week day evening, the first game
beginning at 6 p.m. Games are
played in the Seaweed area ad-
jacent to the Keflavik Civilian
Club.
100 YEARS LATER—This is the
first of five stamps marking the
Civil War Centennial. The central
subject of the stamp depicts a sea
coast gun of the period being
aimed by an officer in typical uni-
form of the time.
FOR FAITHFUL SERVICE
Colonel Oscar B. Steely, right, congratulates Maj. Beasley W. Bennett,
left, and Col. Myron F. Barlow, upon their retirement from active
duty. Mrs. Barlow was presented a certificate of appreciation from
the Red Cross for her service with that organization. Col. Barlow
and Maj. Bennett received a letter of appreciation from Maj. Gen.
Joe W. Kelly, MATS commander, which was presented by Col. Steely.
MATS Photo Mapping Wing Assists
In Astronaut's History-Making Flight
When U. S. Astronaut Alan B.
Shepard Jr., blasted off from
Cape Canaveral, the 1370th Photo
Mapping Wing at Turner AFB,
Ga., had already played a signi-
ficant role in making the historic
suborbital flight a complete suc-
cess.
The mapping organization’s
contribution to the flight came
long before the actual launching.
It consisted of a meticulously-
accurate charting of the entire
Cape Canaveral missile range.
According to Col. George W.
Humbrecht, commander of the
@0UH(fut2
* By AFPS \
Hard-slugging Tom Mathias of Dow AFB, Maine, the pugilist
who won the 1961 Interservice flyweight crown to help the Air Force
win the annual service crown for the second straight year, is con-
sidering the fight-for-pay business .... Scott “Shotgun Slade” Brady,
TV Western star, helped the Little League of NS Norfolk, Va., open
its season by hurling out the first ball .... Three Howard College
(Birmingham, Ala.) gridsters—centers Garland Jones and Carl Shep-
herd along with tackle Jim Hallman —will soon report to Quantico,
Va., for Platoon Leaders Class training .... Bob Thompson of Osan
AB, Korea, has earned his second degree black belt .... Gene Fullmer
of West Jordon, Utah, has signed to defend his middleweight title
against Florentino Fernandez of Cuba in Ogden, Utah, on July 8 ....
Golf pro Paul Hahn demonstrated his abilities at Ft. Stewart, Ga.,
by smashing a ball 250 yards off a three-foot tee while balanced on
one foot from a two-foot stand .... Ed Havel of NAS Pensacola, Fla.,
has been tapped to coach the Goshawks grid squad next season ....
Grid coach Clint Moorman of Ft. Dix, N.J., welcomed 11 vets from
last year’s squad for spring practice.
THIS AND THAT—Ray Petersen and Bill Meglen, both mainstays
of last year’s football team at MCRD San Diego, Calif., are back again
going through their paces in spring practice .... Coach Larry Linton
of Kadena AB, Okinawa, is readying his diamond team to aim for
their fifth consecutive baseball title .... J. Scales of NAS Moffett
Field, Calif., ran the fastest 100 yards in 12th Naval District history
with his 9.7 second effort .... The overall top individual winners of
the International Pentathlon Meet at Ft. Sam Houston, Tex., were:
First place winner, Paul Pesthy, second place, Alan Jackosn, and
third place, Dick Stoll. The victors, all from Ft. Sam, competed
against 25 pentathletes from the United States, Argentina, Brazil
and Mexico .... The Armed Forces Invitational Skeet Championships
were held at Ent AFB, Colo., May 26-28 .... Jay Silvester of Ft.
Ord, Calif., hurled the 16-pound shot put 61’ 1%” during the San
Antonio Track and Field championship in Southern California. He
also spun the disc 192’ 1%”. In both events, he is rated second in
national ratings .... Former President Eisenhower, grid letter winner
at West Point, graduated with the Class of 1915 which produced 59
generals, more than any other Academy class.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK — Duffy Daugherty, peppery Michigan
State football coach, admitted he was impressed by several goal line
stands his players made last fall, but added, “I wish they’d make
them up around the 50-yard line where I can see them better.”
1370th, the need for the mapping
and charting came about after
World War II when the tracking
of missiles was a haphazard pro-
cess due to the lack of accurate
geographic and geodetic informa-
tion.
One of the primary missions of
the 1370th was to complete sur-
veys of the Cape Canaveral mis-
sile range and provide pin-point
accuracy of location of islands
along the range. It was discover-
ed, for instance, that the most
accurately-charted position of the
Grand Bahamas Islands — only
60 miles off the Florida coast and
a key point in Shepard’s recovery
— was approximately six miles
out of true location. Cuba, also,
was three-fifths of a mile “off
course.”
Before the 1370th did its job
in the range, several missiles had
been fired — after tracking sta-
tions to follow them had been set
up — and the missiles failed to
go near the tracking stations.
Daring Rescue Operation
Carried Out Oy 16 Pilot
By At Dougherty
Historian, 1405 ABW, Scott AFB, III.
(This is another in the series of stories telling of the MATS
tradition. Editor.)
As the fighter pilot flew up Mig Alley he glanced down
at the rugged terrain. Out of the corner of his eye he
caught the flash of sun glinting off another aircraft, then
a brighter flash. In the same moment he felt his plane
shudder under impact and fall off
on a wing, completely out of con-
trol.
He got out fast but, to reduce
the danger of capture, delayed op-
ening his parachute until he
reached 12,000 feet. Sighting the
Taedong River, he guided his
chute toward it.
He hit the ground, collapsed
his chute and made his way to
the river’s edge, signaling his
position to the reminder of his
flight before he headed for cover.
This set the scene for one of
the most spectacular rescue ac-
tions to come out of the Korean
war: a rescue performed on a
river at night, under gunfire.
Notified of the downed pilot’s
position, 1st Lt. John J. Najarin
of MATS’ 3rd Air Rescue Squad-
ron piloted an SA-16 amphibian
deep into enemy-held territory.
The Kyomipo area where the
downed pilot had bailed out was
one of the strongest flak positions
in North Korea. Dusk was set-
tling, and the unknown narrow
river presented its own hazards.
In the air, the three remaining
planes of the flight were keeping
the enemy at bay by rocketing,
napaiming, and shooting every-
thing that got near the river
bank.
Enemy anti-aircraft guns open-
ed up on the approaching SA-16
long before it reached the pick-
up site, but were silenced by nap-
alm from fighters escorting the
amphibian.
As the rescue craft reached the
scene the area was in complete
darkness except for the flashes
“GEORGE” IS RESCUED
“George” landed on the cliff (arrow, top of picture) and was brought
down by an Icelandic rescue team. George (arrow bottom of picture)
poses with Icelanders and copter crew before his ‘trip.’ Dots mark
rescue trail. (See story, page 1.)
of enemy guns. Flying ahead, the
fighter aircraft marked the ap-
proximate zone of operations by
flying low with landing lights on.
Faced with a problem that had
no easy solution, Lt. Najarian de-
cided to risk a blind landing on
the narrow ribbon of water, know-
ing that landing lights, would
give away his position to the
waiting enemy guns.
Under cover of darkness he be-
gan an instrument letdown, des-
cending at 200 feet per minute.
As the amphibian struck the riv-
er, Lt. Najarian applied full re-
verse pitch to the propellers and
the “Albatross” settled down on
the slow-moving Taedong River.
Taxing up the murky water,
Lt. Najarian spotted a small
blinking light and headed in that
direction. There he found Capt.
Kenneth M. Stewart, the pilot of
the stricken F-51.
Once he was safely aboard, the
task of making a blind takeoff
faced the pilot. A small peninsula
a short distance up the river was
chosen for the horizon and the
take-off was started.
Enemy guns barked and flash-
ed along the shore. Bullets whined
overhead. Some found their mark,
but the flyers were unscatched.
Immediately upon reaching fly-
ing speed, the amphibian was
hauled into the air: at the same
time anti-aircraft fire opened up
ahead. The SA-16 was banked
sharply away from the flak, climb-
ing for altitude under full power.
When they reached base the
plane “looked like a coffee strain-
er,” but it held together long
enough to bring Capt. Stewart
home to fly another day and Lt.
Najarian the Distinguished Ser-
vice Cross.
They called it “routine,” these
men of the Air Rescue Service
who dedicate themselves to saving
the lives of others. Wherever air-
men are based around the free
world’s frontiers, you’ll find Air
Rescue Service people standing by.
Before they are officially ac-
cepted into their units, they swear
to a code by which they live and
serve.
“These things I do that others
may live.”
Spain Awards Cross
Spain has awarded an Air
Force navigator the Cross of
Aeronautical Merit, First Class,
with White Band for his out-
standing work in community rela-
tions while in Spain.
Recipient of the award is Capt.
Frank G. Padilla of Otis AFB,
Mass., who served in Spain from
Sept. 1957 to July 1960.
Because of his fluency in the
Spanish language, the Captain
was able to institute many com-
munity relations projects, such as
help to needy families and visits
to American bases in Spain.