The White Falcon - 13.02.1965, Blaðsíða 8

8
WHITE FAECOIV
A Serviceman’s Life
Agrees With Hue 111
(Continued from page 5.)
Aboard Ship
After leaving the institute, Bill
went immediately aboard the USS
McLeish (DD-220) in Boston. The
McLeish, a four-stacker steam
destroyer, was just one year
younger than Bill.
During the next three years,
the McLeish and four other de-
stroyers provided convoy escort
duty for 80 to 120 tankers, fuelers,
ammunition and supply ships
criss-crossing the North Atlantic.
“We picked up the convoys in
Boston, Norfolk and New York,”
said Bill, “and escorted them to
Londonderry, Ireland, Plymouth,
England and ports in North
Africa.”
Fish & Chips
Bill also made 10 trips to Ice-
land aboard the McLeish between
1942 and 1944.
“When I went on liberty in
Reykjavik for the first time in
August of 1942,” said Bill, “I was
impressed with the friendliness of
the Icelanders. They treated me
like a long, lost brother and
helped me in every way they could.
“I noticed that ‘fish and chips’
was served more than anything
else in the restaurants,” he went
on. “At that time, it seemed like
everybody was eating ‘fish and
chips.’ I always asked the wait-
ressess to read the entire menu
to me in English—then I would
order chicken.”
Advancement
While Bill was putting miles
behind him at sea, he was also
advancing in the Navy. He was
promoted to machinist’s mate first
class in August 1943, and in
August 1944—just two and a
half years after entering the
Navy—he was advanced to chief
machinist’s mate. In 1946, he was
made permanent CPO.
Said Bill, reflecting upon his
rapid advancement to chief petty
officer:
“I think I went too far too fast.
Few people are ready for CPO
so soon. It takes years of ex-
perience to meet the demands of
the job. But in my case, I had
a lot of luck, plus a lot of help
down the line.”
Reenlistment
When Bill reenlisted in the
Navy in October 1945, he picked
up a new destroyer, the USS
Arnold J. Isabell, in Staten Is-
land, N.Y. The Isabell sped to
the Pacific and, for two years,
trained submarines in anti-detec-
tion maneuvers from Costa Rica
to Pearl Harbor.
From March 1947 to December
1948 the Isabell and two other
American destroyers, operating
out of Shanghai, patrolled the
Wang Poo River.
China’s Wall
Bill said that in the fall of 1948,
when the Isabell stopped at the
river port of Ching Wang Tow,
he took this opportunity to tour
the Great Wall of China nearby.
While standing on the Wall, he
heard small arms fire echoing
from a row of hills not far away.
He turned to a Nationalist Chin-
ese Army Officer, studying the
hills with binoculars, and asked
him who fired the shots.
China’s Fall
“Communists,” replied the
Army officer, without taking his
eyes from the binoculars. “They
come fast.”
The Communists captured Ching
Wang Tow the next day, Bill
learned later. He believes the Isa-
bell was the last U.S. warship
to visit Ching Wang Tow before
the Communist takeover.
Boxed In
In December 1948, Bill left the
Navy to take a job with the Syl-
vania Electric Company in Em-
porium, Pa. But after two and a
half years, Bill said he got tired
of feeling “boxed in.” He hadn’t
quite shaken off his fever for
traveling.
Air Force Career
After talking with an Air Force
recruiter, he decided to try the
Air Force. He entered the Air
Force in May 1951 as a staff ser-
geant, spent three years in
Alaska, then served at Wright
Patterson AFB in Ohio. He re-
ported for duty in Iceland in No-
vember 1964.
While in the Air Force, he has
kept pace with his desire to get
ahead. In September 1951, he was
advanced to technical sergeant; a
promotion board selected him for
master sergeant over 49 other
local candidates in December
1953; in June 1960, he was pro-
moted to senior master sergeant
and, in March 1963, to chief mas-
ter sergeant.
Family
Bill, who works in the engine
shop for the 57th Fighter Inter-
ceptor Sqd., expects to leave Ice-
land in November 1965. He does
not know yet where his next as-
signment will be. His wife, Ethel,
and their two children, Sharon
D., 18, and Daniel A., 13, cur-
rently reside in Fairborn, Ohio.
If Bill has his way, he will
stay in the Air Force “until they
push me out.” For as Bill put
it, “The Service has been good
to me. I enjoy being a member of
a team.”
Said Bill, “What I like most
about Service life is the chance
I get to meet a multitude of
people.” Laughing comes easy for
Bill and it’s evident that he likes
people.
Looking Back
It’s also evident that he has
come a long way from a farm in
Pennsylvania. Among other
things, he no longer works for
potatoes.
The other day someone told
Bill he deserved a pat on the back
for his Service accomplishments,
despite many handicaps he faced
growing up.
“ ‘Handicaps’,” shot back Bill,
ever the optimist. “I don”t call
them ‘handicaps’. I call them ‘ad-
vantages’.”
ONCE UPON A TIME — Chief
Master Sgt. Ruehl examines CPO
hat he earned in two and a half
years during World War II.
..........
BOOKS in
mREVIEW$
By Lucia E. Rigsby, Librarian
The Lost Colony
by Edison Marshall
A novel about those colonists
who settled Roanoke Island in
1587 and then disappeared. This
is perhaps the single greatest
mystery in the history of America.
The colony was founded by Sir
Walter Raleigh off the coast of
what is now North Carolina, in
1587. They disappeared and no
trace was ever found of them.
The River Of Diamonds
by Jenkins
A novel about dredging dia-
monds from the ocean bed in
South Africa. The story hinges
not only on malevolent natural
forces but on the human obstacle
of a mystery man named Shel-
borne. Shelborne was headman on
Mercury Island, the bleak guano-
covered point of storms off the
South African coast.
My Autobiography
by Charles Chaplin
Makes fascinating reading. In
eludes his boyhood; the London
theatre of Dion Boucicault and
William Gillette; the early free-
wheeling days of the movies; how
he evolved his style, his plots;
how he chose his leading ladies;
his sudden, dazzling success; his
encounters with great stars and
world figures from Mary Pick-
ford to Bernard Shaw to Gertrude
Stein to Anna Pavlova to FDR;
his emotional involvements and
his four marriages.
Agrippa’s Daughter
by Howard Fast
The story of an extraordinary
woman, by the Author of Sparta-
cus—the blazing story of a Jewish
queen whose life was the greatest
romance of ancient times. In this
major novel of the ancient world,
Fast paints both the splendor and
the ugliness of the people and the
cultures of Rome and Jerusalem.
Marines IMeed More
Amphibious Support
The Marines’ plea for more
support on amphibious landings
has finally been answered by the
Navy.
In requirements submitted to
Defense Secretary Robert S. Mc-
Namara, the Marine Corps indi-
cated that at this time the “gun
gap” really shows “one cruiser
in each ocean.”
Present cruisers have too few
guns, say the Marines. Missiles
replacing guns are not as effec-
tive for shore bombardment.
The Marines would like 16-inch
gun of the Korea and World War
II battleships, as well as the 8-
inch guns of heavy cruisers, be-
hind them.
A program has been drafted by
the Navy that, by the mid 70s,
will eliminate the “gun gap” and
will exceed the firepower re-
quested by the Marines.
In addition to missiles, ships
will be armed with conventional
guns and rockets. They will re-
place at least one, probably two
and possibly three cruisers and
still close the “gun gap” breach.
Revolutionary changes in ships
and equipment will call for sur-
face-to-surface guided missiles
mounted on “super” landing force
support ships which will be “triple
threaters.”
Scheduled to make their ap-
pearance in 1972-1975, develop-
ment of these ships has already
begun. Only the incorporation of
the missiles is slowing up their
construction.
Saturday, February 13, 1965
SWING YOUR PARTNER—This is what this photographer heard as
he snapped this pose. The square dancers are members of the Keflavik
Square Dance Club which is open to all military personnel, civilian
employees and their dependents. The meeting takes place every
Wednesday night from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. No previous dancing
experience is necessary; all you need is two feet. The Square Dance
Club learns many new and different styles of square dances. It’s a
great pastime from work and worries and, besides, square dancing’s fun.
Square Dancers Play Host;
Invite Clubs From Reykjavik
The Keflavik Square Dance
Club held a special meeting Feb.
3. A new president, Lt G.B.
Haynes, was elected and future
plans were discussed.
They are planning to be host to
the American Embassy and Ice-
landic Square Dance groups early
in the spring.
The dub will continue having
square dances at the Youth Cen-
ter every Wednesday night from
7:30 to 10:00 p.m. Membership is
open to all military personnel, ci-
vilian employees and their de-
pendents.
All are invited to come out and
join the fun. Any who don’t know
how to square dance will be
taught.
GIRL BARBERS—One of the featured attractions within Western
University’s Varsity Vagabonds singing group is the Girl’s Barbershop
Quartet. Members of the fair foursome are Margaret Meier, Nancy
Jo Weber, Sharon Hale and Diane Paddock.
Send the WJkite Sale on Sic
ome
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