The White Falcon - 09.01.1943, Side 4

4
THE WHITE FALCON
OUR FORCES - ALWAYS ALERT
Published by and for the American Forces, under the super-
vision of G-2 Section. Managing Editor, T/3G. Gene Graff; Asso-
ciate Editor, T/5G. Joseph T. Koren; News Editor, T/5G. George
Bartholomaeus; Art Editor, T/4G. Harrison Standley; Wire Edi-
tor, T/4G. Donald J. Watson; Circulation Manager, Pvt. Carl A.
White. All photographs are by the U.S. Army Signal Corps un-
less otherwise credited.
This paper has been passed by Censor and may _ be mailed
home for one cent.
Education
Plans for the future frequently are shelved as “futile
business” during war-stricken times such as these. Per-
haps this may he attributed to the constant threat of
death, or perhaps because the normal trend of life ap-
pears to be nothing but a pleasant memory of the far-
distant past. But regardless of the many whys and
wherefores, the fortunate men who eventually return
to the United Slates ready to resume civilian status are
the ones who will be expected to assume major roles
in the rehabilitation of the world. They, or we, as the
case may be, are the future leaders of the nation — the
men who will draw the important civic and political
assignments to assure that no future debacle ever en-
compasses the civilized world.
The peace to follow conclusion of hostilities will be
based on knowledge and experience, gathered first-
hand on the warring fronts around the globe. Educa-
tion is a potent weapon when wielded justly and with
full understanding. True learning is not necessarily
plucked from the pages of a textbook, although an aca-
demic background is a definite start in the right direc-
tion. Rather is it an assimilation of travel, geography,
study of current events, and a host of other sidelights
which, when digested, provide a vivid understanding
of the other fellow’s problems. f
Serving in the Army is an excellent opportunity to
see new and strange parts of the world “on Uncle Sam.”
Just spending a few days on a boat, albeit not in the
spacious bridal suite, and then disembarking in a for-
eign country, is an education in the deeper sense of
the word. Then, watching “the other half” live, com-
paring their culture with the American way of life,
and studying their quaint habits—not to ridicule, but
to understand—is a scholarship to valuable education.
History is being inscribed every day on the battle-
fields and in the political and social structures of the
world. Being a soldier does not entitle an American
to ignore the events which are happening all around
him. The entire war may be studied pleasantly by
means of radio, magazines, newspapers, etc., and this
is fully as important as a course in algebra or short-
hand or business. Every soldier should make it his ob-
ligation to gather a complete understanding of the
world’s problems, a clear knowledge of what is happen-
ing on the home front, and whatever else will produce
a more intelligent citizen and leader when peace is re-
turned to the world. Then a discharge from the Army
will not automatically serve as a ticket to despair for
uninformed millions of men who “neglected” to grab
a front seat when the world rolled by.
Dig! Dig! Dig!
Private Arthur Konopachr of Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, was
found guilty of a minor infraction of military rules and was
sentenced to the traditional Army punishment of digging a hole
four feet square and four feet deep. Just one hour after the
verdict Private Konopachr was found sleeping peacefully at the
bottom of a neatly squared off hole of the required dimensions.
To his amazed Sergeant he explained that in private life he had
been a professional grave diggerl
f
“Little Man, What Now?”
He wail a detective as a civili-
an .... And “gumshoes” invari-
ably ignore the obvious while
probing into a who-dun-it
Our hero is no exception to that
rule .... When he reached his
Army office the other evening,
he discovered the door key wasn’t
in its usual place .... So without
further ado he scrambled through
a small window .... Tumbling
noisily to the floor, he searched
the corner thoroughly, firmly
convinced one of his colleagues
had dropped the key .... Hunt-
ing without success, he crawled
out the same window, and return-
ed to his barracks to study the
mystery, completely baffled ....
An hour later one of his co-work -
ers waltzed in .... “Hey, Chum,”
bellowed the self-styled Dick
Tracy, “did you see the key to
our office?” .... “Sure,” was the
quick retort. "When I returned
from the movie a few minutes
ago — it was in the lock!”
The camp newspaper at Fort
Sheridan, Ill., reports that the
general called his engineering of-
ficer to inquire how long it would
take to throw a bridge across the
river .... The engineering of-
ficer ran his hand through his
hair, looked at the ceiling, and
estimated three days.....“Good,”
said the general. “Have the
draftsmen make a drawing right
away.” .... Three days later the
general called the engineer again
and asked, “How’s the bridge?
Got the drawing done?” .... The
engineer replied, “The bridge is
built, sir. If you don’t have to
wait for those drawings, you can
march across it right away!” ....
And at Orlando Beach, Fla.,
they’ve found a man who enter-
ed the army broke, but now has
$140,000 .... Pvt. Robert A. Quale
learned recently he had inherit-
ed $130,997,65.
A man’s eloquent “line” caught
up with him a short time ago
at Miami Beach .... Pvt. Bern-
ard Paley, taking his technical
training in the Air Corps, was
a beauty contest photographer at
Atlantic City before Pearl Har-
bor .... He found that sociabili-
ty is encouraged when he says,
“You’re pretty enough to be Miss
America. No kidding, you could
win a beauty contest easy.” ....
Sc a couple of week ago it hap-
pened .... The girl looked startl-
ed an replied, “Why, don’t you
remember? You told me that last
time. So I entered. I’m Miss Mi-
ami !”
Love does funny things occasi-
onally .... Especially to Pvt.
Paul Gordon of Gardner, Mass.
.... He was granted a five-day
furlough to get married .... Four
days after his departure from
Fort Devens, members of his unit
were surprised to see him in line
at reveille .... “How come you’ve
returned a day early?” one of
them inquired .... Realizing
then that he had indeed return-
| ed to camp a day too soon, Pvt.
Gordon quietly fell out of line,
grabbed a cab to the railroad
station, and returned home to
spend the rest of his furlough
with his newly-acquired wife!
A lieutenant at Camp Wolters,
Texas, was preparing to instruct
his men in the art of camouflage
.... Before the demonstration,
he detuiled men who had previ-
ously taken the course to dig fox-
holes .... The next day he led
his men into the field and warn-
ed them: “Gentlemen, be very
careful. There are foxholes in
this area that look just like nat-
ure.” .... And sure enough they
did, for at that minute the lieu-
tenant plunged downward and
disappeared from view!
“JAe. Jjnquitting
R&paht&h.
(How to spend his spare time
troubled The Inquiring Reporter
this week, so he asked four fel-
lows what they do when at leis-
ure. Here are their answers:)
Reading is the favorite divers-
ion of Sgt. Ge-
orge C. Prager,
33, Air Corps.
He is usually
found browsing
through book
stores looking
for books about
philosophy and
literature. Prag-
er, who hails from Elmhurst, Ill.,
has been in Uncle Sam’s custody
for nine months.
Starting his “second hitch” in
the Army, Corp.
Ralph D. ^Willi-
ams, 24, Coast
Artillery, is cur-
•ently brushing
up on his edu-
cation, review-
ing Algebra and
English. Willi-
ams is a native
of Indianapolis, Ind., where he
tickled the ivories in a jazz band.
“I read books, listen to the
radio, and shoot
the bull quite a
bit,” remarked
1st Sgt. Gordon,
L. Cooke, 38, of
the Coast Artil-
lery. “But I seld-
om have enough
lime to combine
the three past-
limes,” the Shreveport, La., N“top
kick” added.
“Most of my off-duty time is
spent in the day-
room playing
ping-pong 01-
listening to news'
reports,” declar-
ed T/4G. Russel
C. Lobel, 26-
year-old Infant-
ryman from Chi-
cago, 111. But a
buddy volunteered that Lobel is
also better than average at “short-
sheeting” and other pranks.
CHAPLAIN’S CHALLENGE
The soul of Jonathan
was knit with the soul
of David. I. Sam. 18:1.
The ways of life are strange
and mysterious. Two men of
different cultures, ambitions
and temperament, meet and
become bosom friends. Jona-
than and David, Ruth and
Naomi, Damon and Pythias,
are outstanding examples. The
Army always produces such
amalgamation of kindred souls
which blossom forth into life-
long comradeship. The willing
surrender and sharing of pri-
vileges and possessions, of
life itself, indicates a perfect
brotherhood. Such comradery
is eternal.