The White Falcon - 06.01.1978, Page 1

2,742 Liberty ships built between 1941, 1945
only one stands today - soon to be an historic object
(Benicia, CA)-President Franklin
Roosevelt called them "Ugly Ducklings"
German submariners who torpedoed them
called them "Kaiser's Creeping Cof-
fins". But to the thousands of men
who sailed on them they were Liberty
ships, the backbone of America's mas-
^•fiive sea force that helped crush the
and Japanese war machines in the
^^^940s.
In an incredible surge of national
productivity, 2,742 Liberty ships were
mass-produced between 1941 and 1945 in
18 American shipyards—the largest
number of ships ever built from a sin-
gle design.
Now, more than 30 years later, only
one authentic Liberty ship .remains—the
"Jeremiah O'Brien". It rests at anchor
40 miles northeast of San Francisco in
the Suisun Bay Mothball Fleet near
Benicia, CA.
There are some other ships around
that started as Liberties, but they
have since been modified for other
purposes.
The vast majority are long gone:
Either cut up for scrap or deliberately
sunk to create artificial ocean reefs
to improve fishing.
As the last "original" Liberty, the
O'Brien, is starting to attract people,
the regional director for the U.S. Mar-
itime Administration, Thomas Patterson,
says efforts are being made to have the
O'Brien declared a historic object.
That would be the first step toward
turning it into a public museum.
But Patterson, whose command in-
cludes the Suisun Mothball Fleet,
estimates it would cost about $300,000
to get the O'Brien cleaned up,
painted, sealed and moored permanent-
ly for display. And money for such
projects is often hard to come by.
Even by today's standards, the
building of the Liberty ships re-
presents a technological marvel.
Like Henry Ford's Model "T", the Li-
berties were classics of simplicity, low
cost and utility.
Across the country, hundreds of thou-
sands of factory workers—both men and
women—built the 30,000-plus components
which were then rushed to east and west
coast shipyards for speedy assembly.
Many were built by the Henry J.
Kaiser industrial empire which com-
bined their slow 10-knot speed, and
accounted for one of their nicknames—
"Kaiser's Creeping Coffins".
The first of the breed was the "Pat-
rick Henry", launched two and a half
months before the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor. There were so many of
them that the names sometimes seemed
far-fetched, such as the "Stage Door
Canteen"—named in honor of a New York
recreation club for servicemen.
More than 200 Liberties sank from
storms or enemy torpedoes, many with
heavy loss of life. As hospital ships
they brought the wounded home. Some
were sunk deliberately to provide a
harbor breakwater on the invasion
beaches of France.
Then, for more than 20 years, they
were the backbone ©f the world's
tramp steamer merchant fleets.
Finally, they were obsolete—too
slow, too old and too expensive to
operate.
For a while they were consigned
to mothball fleets, but time and
other needs have taken their toll.
Today there's only the Jeremiah
O'Brien, the last of the once mighty
armada of Liberty ships.
Kefl avi k notes
USO musical duo to headline tour
at NATO base; perform at Hofn
"Don and Cynthia," a USO show musical
duet team, is scheduled to arrive at the
NATO base Wednesday.
The group will perform at the NATO
base Thursday through Jan. 15, departing
Jan. 16.
Performances are scheduled as
follows:
Thursday—Depart for H-3 at 9 a.m.
performance H-3 at 1 p.m. and at 3:30
will depart from H-3.
Jan. 13—performance at the Wind-
breaker starting at 8 p.m.
Jan. 14—2 p.m. performance will be
at the Andrews Theater and then again
the Officers* Club will have a perfonm-
ance at 9 p.m.
Jan. 15 —2 p.m. performance will be
at Rockville; the Top of the Rock will
have a performance at 8 p.m.
Program scheduled to honor
Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday
In keeping with the ideals of human
dignity and equal opportunity, a program
will be presented at Andrews Theater,
Jan. 13 at 3 p.m. to commemorate the
birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. King’s personal commitment to the
rights and responsibilities of mankind
serves as a continuing standard for all
personnel.
The program will include the well-
known movie "Montgomery to Memphis,"
a talk by Technical Sergeant Clarence
E. Davis who worked with Dr. King.
A community chorus is being formed to
sing for this occasion. Everyone is
invited to attend this special program.
Puffin Toastmistress club resolves
to sharpen communication skills
by Linda Stanley
The Puffin Toastmistress Club marked
the beginning of the new year with new
officers: Linda Stanley, president;
Margaret Dearmond, vice president;
Rebecca Gudfinnsdottir, secretary and
Jackie Howell, treasurer.
The next meeting will be held at
noon Jan. 13 at the home of Jackie
Howell, Otrs. 960-1F. The the of the
meeting will be "New Year's Resolu-
tions".
Patricia Hand, an experience
evaluator, will be evaluating the
program and speeches.
If you are interested in learning
communication skills, come and join
the fun of learning with others.
International Toastmistress Clubs
offers the opportunity to
* develop your leadership skills
* increase your communicative
abilities as listener and speaker
* learn efficient organization
techniques
* achieve self-improvement through
building self-confidence
* gain greater personal, occupa-
tional and community recognition
* participate in a continuing ex-
perience in learning through as-
sociation with an international
non-profit educational organiza-
tion .
Volume 34 Number 1
Keflavik, Iceland
January 6, 1978
GCA sets aircraft
down with ‘touch’
THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME—Air
Controller Chris Thompson was in the
right place at the right time last week
when she was honored with making GCA's
55,000th landing. She is pictured here
with her boss Chief Air Controller Tom
Baskins. Learn more about the GCA
division and their historic landing by
checking the story on page 3.
Baggers to receive salaries
Beginning in February for stateside only
Stateside commissary baggers will be-
gin receiving salaries instead of tips
by mid-February under plans being
readied by the military services. How-
ever, overseas commissaries will not be
affected by this policy.
The services are complying with
rulings by the Civil Service Commission,
General Accounting Office and Justice
Department. The rulings make baggers
subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA) and entitle them to minimum wage
salaries.
The Department of Defense has ex-
hausted appeals of the rulings and is
preparing a policy that stops the cur-
rent tipping system for baggers in the
continental United States. The policy
may also require a "users' charge" for
bagging services which will be passed
on as a surcharge. The surcharge will
be up to two per cent of a commissary
purchase.
Tentative DoD options call for pro-
viding at least one self-service bagging
register in each commissary for patrons
who do not want to pay the surcharge.
Commissaries may also offer bagging
services, along with the surcharge, or
require cashiers and customers to bag
purchases.
The policy will also call for dis-
couraging or prohibiting tips for bag-
gers.
Legislation is pending in Congress
which will restore the tipping system
and exclude baggers from the FLSA.
Meanwhile, an estimated $12,000,000
to $18,000,000 will be paid to com-
missary baggers annually. The bag-
gers will receive a minimum wage rate
(effective Jan. 1) of $2.65 per hour.
An estimated 10,000 baggers may
also claim retroactive salaries as
far back as May 1974. The retroac-
tive payments could cost an estimated
$35,000,000 to $53,000,000.
DoD is considering a plan to pro-
vide bagging services through contract
work, as one alternative to self-ser-
vice or paying salaries.
JOC aids program with three
purposes
Air Forces Iceland as do other Air
Force organizations has within it a
group of junior officers organized to
form a Junior Officers Committee (JOC).
This committee meets once a month and
is established to fulfill three re-
sponsibilities :
First, the council provides Air Force
commanders with a forum to take full
advantage of the initiative, innovative-
ness and energy of junior officers in
solving command problems. Second, the
JOC provides a communications link be-
tween senior and junior officers.
Finally, the JOC is established for
junior officers to involve themselves
in community action and improvement
projects.
Among its most recent projects, the
JOC has participated in arranging and
displaying aircraft tor the Air Force
birthday celebration held in September
at Hangar 830, organizing Air Forces
Iceland's recent Christmas party and
cooperating in Iceland Defense Forces
Christmas Fund Drive.
Last school year the JOC sponsored a
tutoring program for students at A.T.
Mahan School and again this year like
plans are also underway.
The JOC arranged a visit recently by
Air Force Military Personnel Center
officers to explain personnel policies
to Air Force members.
In short, AFI's Junior Officers
Committee is a community minded organ-
ization which searches for ways to be-
come more involved and helpful to the
command and community.
All Air Force junior officers are en-
couraged to attend the committee's meet-
ings and become involved in its activi-
ties a spokesman said. Anyone who
either has ideas for JOC projects or
desires additional information about
JOC should contact Captain Mike Fox at
4671.