Jhm OHZGON CTATTL2MA2I, Salem, Oryon. Thursday 2
Marauder Making
The crippled B-28 Marauder, set down by her pUot "on tie trass
. beside the runway at about 125 miles per hour in a most perfect
belly landing," returned damaged, but repairable, to her English
air base, carrying back to eomparathre safety a crew of American
men, including, one from Salem. j
Crippled VS Marauder Makes
Perfect Belly Landing After
Raid With Salem Man in Crew
By CAPTAIN KELMAR K. LeMASTER
It was morning in England. A formation of Marauders from
this 8th Air Force medium bombardment group had gone on
"ops to the Lalle-Vendeville airdrome in France. They were
covered by an escort of Spitfires from the RAF Fighter Com
, mand, as they always are, and we knew they could expect fighter
opposition, as .well as a heavy anti-aircraft barrage from the
strong ground defenses at Lille
We were all uneasy and anxiously
awaiting their return.
It seems always so when the
boys are out on "ops". Nobody
is able to settle down to anything
and many minutes before the air
planes are due back, officers and
men will gather by the perimeter
track at the edge of the field to
watch and listen for their return.
One Plane Missing
This is the way it was that mor
ning,1 I was standing with a group
of officers in front of the Briefing
Hut and watching with the rest.
Presently someone said, "there
they- come" and pointed . to the
southeast. There were two boxes
of them looking miniature far up
against the sky. I counted eighteen
in the lead box they were all
there. But in the second box I
only counted seventeen and I
counted again because thirty-six
had gone out. Everyone was silent
during that moment of counting
and for a moment afterward. The
formation was making a sweeping
circle to the left over the field,
losing altitude as they went Some
one -. remarked, "there's one mis
sing." No one said anything. 4?
Then we beard a high pitched
whine, loud above the thunder
from the planes overhead, and
-low to the south,, streaking
straight for the field,' was a lone
Marauder. We knew by the sound
of the engine that he was in trou
ble and the rest st the formation
was forgotten and all eyes were
glued on the stricken ship. As he
passed almost directly over our
heads, a red flare shot up from
him and floated down. He made a
tight circle over the field and
presently the hose wheel came
down into place. Slowly, as he
continued to circle, the left main
gear came down, but that was
all. He widened hiscircle now,
climbing as he went. The ' main
formation kept w h e e I i n g high
. above the field waiting for the
crippled airplane to land.
Finally, after what seemed eter
city to us. we saw the nose wheel
fold slowly back up into place. We
. knew if the left main gear could
- be made to back up, chances on a
belly landing would be pretty
good. At last it drew slowly back
up out of sight and we breathed a
little easier..
Perfect Belly Landing
Then the nilot made a wide
circle ana. squared away lor a
landing. As he approached the end
oi uw iieia unomer rea ziare went
up-and he brought' her in. He set
her down on the grass beside the
runway at about 125 miles per
hour in a most perfect belly land
ing. He held her straight and she
came skidding to a . stop with
cloud : of dust streaming out be
. hind. A wild cheer went, up from
us who were watching. The , am
bulance and ; crash trucks : went
streaking over, but they weren't
needed. None of the crew , had
been injured by the landing and
damage to the ship was slight.
: That is the way it looked to us
who were "sweating it out" from
. the ground. ;
Here is the story as I gotw it
"from the pilot. Second Lt. I. C
Meyers, Chisholm, Minn, and his
co-pilot, Second Lt H. B. Bennett,
, Goldendale, Wash. Lt Meyers
started the account: ' "We were
about half way from the coast of
' France to the target on the way
in, somewhere in the vicinity of
' St Omer, when our formation ran
into an intense barrage of heavy
flak. Two or three bursts caught
us from beneath, f under our - left
wing and shot out the propellor
control on out left engine and our
hydraulic system. The propellor
went into fixed pitch and started
to wind up dangerously fast, ren
dering that engine practically use-
T TTviirwur T didn't dare cu'
the engine out, because- with the
controls out of commission I bad
no way to feather the propellor
and it otherwise would have cre
ated a dangerous drag, v :
"Br diving the ship slightly
managed to keep pretty well up
with .the formation and continue
the bomb run. We " put our six
Belly Landing
I
Belly-Lander
-
SceMd Li. Philip D. Hlnunel, son
of Mrs. Grace M. Hlmmet 653
North High street, Salem, wm
navUtter and bombardier on
the B-2f Marauder, member of
the ! crew of which Cast. Kel
mar K. IMaster writes la the
accompanying article. Army
Public Relations photo.
of the bombs from our forma
tion, right in among the hangars
at the end of that German airfield
and they were blown sky high.
"About that time it didn't look
as if we were going to get out
of France. It took every drop of
hydraulic fliud left in the system
to close the bomb bay doors and
as we pulled away from the target
we sent up a red distress flare.
Immediately five Spitfires from
our escort came in. One took up
a position very close on each
wing, two directly behind us and
one above. They were almost in
the cockpit with us they were so
close. We were, of course, rapidly
falling behind the main forma
tion." Here Lt. Bennett interjected,
those Spitfires are the" prettiest
things I have ever seen. We sure
love the British . boys who fly
them."
Lt Meyers continued, "We
managed to maintain an altitude
of about 8000 feet until we reached
the coast of France and then we
let it down to gain speed. X had
to use maximum manifold pres
sure on the good engine, greatly
increasing the gas consumption,
and as a result we were nearly
out of gas when we reached our
base."
Hydraulic System Balks
Here Lt Bennett took up the
Story.: "When we got back over
our field I cut in the emergency
hydraulic system and started to I
pump ; the landing gear down. I
managed to get the nose wheel
down first and then the left main
gear, but the right main gear
wouldn't respond. X had trouble
getting those wheels back up be
cause : we were losing hydraulic
fluid all the time. It looked for
a while as if we weren't going
to make it and woudl have to
jump, but I thought of all the
war bonds the folks back home
had bought to build that $280,000
plane so X kept working at it Be
sides we had a special attachment
to the ship, especially "that right
engine which had taken a hell of
a lot of punishment getting us
out ' of France. I finally got the
nose wheel in place and the left
main gear far enough up to chance
a belly landing.
Crew Stays With Ship
; ? "LA. Meyers asked the crew if
vino tx J - V All -
: ? AS ltd. CIlAil .
Dr.T.XXa.N J. D..CkJJ
- CHINESE Cerbailsts :
til Narth Liberty
rjpstaira Portland General Electric
Co Otflc open Saturday - only
10 am. to J pjn.: 8 T pjn Con-
'. mltiiinn. Blood Dreaaur -ono onw
i testa are tr eo of etaargo. Proeneed
I since 1S1T - - '
.'! :-.
- -
HQ
they would rather Jump before be
tried to bring her in on her belly,
and they all said they would ride
her down with their pilot"
"Meyers didn't tell yon that
when we were hit by that flak a
fragment came through ., and
caught him in the left leg. He was
too busy to examine his injury J
J, to see just how badly he was hit
Iso he told me to keep an eye on
him and if he started to act queer
V Jv to take over, but it wasnt nec
4 essary. - As you saw he made a
L. ficent landing.
' Meyers wound is not serious,
and he said as he left the room,
"There's one thing sure I've got
the best damned crew in the Euro
pean theatre of operations.
. I looked at the plane later, aft
er they had brought her into the
hangar and ,,, she isn't damaged
badly. A new set of propellers
and some repairs i to her under
side where she slid and she'll be
in the air again as good as new.
One of the engineers said the job
would " take a week or ten days. ;
War Writer's
Biggest -Thrill
By MAX HILL
' AP Features
NEW YORK Two guards
stood beside : the entrance to the
courtroom, taking their i duties
seriously. Another . policeman sat
beside me, his hands resting loose
ly on his legs. Obviously he was
ready to thwart any attempt at es
cape, t :;.-; ;; i;
- My face and head were covered
with the cone-shaped rice-straw
dunce cap all prisoners wore ev
ery time they stepped out of their
cells. : i- 1- : i r. v i -jf -
I was in the court for sentence,
and had been waiting for hours
in a damp and dark basement celL
All this happened in Tokyo, five
months after Pearl Harbor, while
X was a prisoner in solitary con
finement . f ' v:
Each time I was taken to the
court not far from the, Imperial
palace, I rode from Sugamo pris
on with some forty Japanese pris
oners who were roped together
and handcuffed and then cram
med into the bus. i- f
Two weeks before I had been
tried and convicted of "sending
stories detrimental to Japan's di
plomacy to The Associated Press
in New York, ? ;
Japan's legal system is based on
the Napoleonic code, and I was
sure the chief of the three judges
would follow the recommendation
of the procurator, which was:
Eighteen months in prison!
The officer rapped iny j 1 e g ,
grounted at me. I stood up stiffly,
The three judges filed in. ; -
In slow, dignified Japanese, the
center judge read the charge, and
his conclusions. " ! ...
Then he quickly announced the
sentence was to V be - eighteen
months, as recommended, but that
he would suspend execution of his
order for three years, r . -
Suddenly the sun seemed
brighter and it was worthwhile
living, even in Tokyo, the key city
of our enemy. I was taken back
to prison, but was included in the
diplomatic exchange ; a few days
later.
1 had returned to freedom from
what accurately might be called a
living death.
By JOHN A. MOROSO, 3rd
WITH THE ATLANTIC
FLEET The admiral radioed us
to go and sink some French de
stroyers coming out of the harbor
of Casablanca. . '-.
We already had fought a fierce
battle with them but our skipper,
Captain Francis Compton Dene-
brink, was elated. We headed to
ward the enemy ships, 12 miles
away.
Suddenly enemy shells began
whizzing - over our ship, j They
struck , all ;.- around and splashed
foam 30 feet high.
Back at his battle station amid
ships G. G. Herring, commander
and executive officer, noticed that
we had been heading on a straight
course. i:,, -: V --
As we started turning to port
he spotted the telltale bubble of
four or five torpedoes." : -
They were headed at us. I
looked at them and I looked at the
bow of our ship as it s w u n g
r nd. I did not think they could
miss.
iut we did turn and those tin
fish passed by.
I watched them as they sped
through the water and X thumbed
my nose at them. ; ,
Seconds later we began exchan
ging shells with some French
cruisers and destroyers. We
fought another battle later, ' but
the memory of those torpedoes
racing through the water lingered
on as the outstanding - event of
that bloody November ' 8, when
we Invaded Morocco. -
i
i
i
i
i
i
Comber Trip
to Berlin
Drop explosives on Hider! Yoa I
and other wexnea can do it br I
faring used rooking fan for gun
powder. Even wich rationing, you
can. save a spoonful a day. gusli
each caaful to your butcher.
l : j
? - - -
Where They Are- T7 hat They Are Doing '-
V
Robert Norton, above, son of Mr.
ana jars, ju, ju. nam n route
4, Salem, has returned to Far
rag at naval training station in
Idaho after being at home on
furlough at the close of his re
cruit training. He was student
In Salem high school prior to
entry into the naval service.
r
Leaving soon for training at
Camp 'Allen, Va, are a number
of men from Salem and vicinity
who have enlisted through the Sa
lem naval " recruiting station in
the ; Seabees. They include: Eau
Claire V J. ; Byers, storekeeper
Woodburn; A L Fast electrician,
Dallas; C :l. Fortenberry, ar-
penter, Salem; P. A. Hagen, boat
swain. SUverton; AJ T. Pettit car
penter. Independence; W. R. Mas-
sey machinist Salem; G. I Mc-
Oincey, carpenter, Gaston; E. T.
Weaver, construction, Indepen"
dence; and John Edward Hill, con
struction, Salemi
Kent R. McYey. third class av
iation radioman who is an aer
ial gunner, is spending ten days
leave visiting his parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Roger McVey of 1343 Sixth
street West Salem. McVey enlist
ed through the Salem navy re
cruiting station a year ago last
September and : received his recruit-training
at San Diego. He
completed radio schooling at Mem
phis, Tenn, and will report for
duty with the Pacific fleet
Accepted as apprentice seamen
in the navy and to be trained at
Camp Farragut Idaho, are Clair
John Vandehey, Woodburn, and
Gerald Thornton HalL Salem. The
two enlisted throueh Chief Quar
termaster Robert B. Fallon at the
local recruiting station.
TeeSgi'Taul Pennington of a
fighter squadron, stationed at Sa
linas, California, wrote his par
ents. Mr. and Mrs.; Glen Penning
ton of route 5, that he lost all his
possessions in an apartment fire.
Pfe. Claire M. 1 Miller, marine
corps, has finished his basic train
ing at San Diego and is at home
with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.
P. Miller, his wife and six-month
old daughter. He will leave late
this week, returning to San Diego
to take further training.
David Steiner Berrer. son of
Ma j. and Mrs. Armin E Berger,
2145 South Cottage street, recent
ly graduated from the aviation ra
dio school at the Jacksonville,
Fla- naval station,, and was pro
moted to private first class in the
marine corps. He entered the mar
ine corps January 28," 1943, and
received his ; recruit " training r at
San Diego before being transfer
red to : the naval air technical
training center. He is now a quali
fied aviation 'radioman and will
probably see service with a marine
aviation detachment.
OrviDe Sparrow, sea of Mr. and
Mrs. William Sparrow, who has
been in the navy for a year has
been stationed at the US naval air
station on Whidby island as a
pharmacist's mate, third class. Af
ter a leave, which be is spending
at the home of his parents, he will
go for further training to Tulane
university. New Orleans. He for
merly was a student at Willamette
university.- '
HOLLYWOOD DRIVE Mr. and
Mrs. Oscar Forgard have had as
their guests their son, George, who
is a chief warrant officer stationed
now at Chicago, and his wife from
Seattle. He was stationed at Seat
tle for some time and Mrs. For-
romwnere
Ned Buxton was home on fur
lough last wee), And you ought
to see the fuss the town made,
over him. Seems like almost
everybody wanted to give a
party or a testimonial dinner,
or stage something special In
the way of celebration.
Of coarse, Ned acted gratefnl,
Bat he told me later, all he really
wanted was to alt $ow with a
few old friends, enjoy a glasa of
Wee or two, natd talk abont oM
times again. -
I guess that's how many sol
diers feeL They don't want a lot
il
I
i!
Ko.73efaSerie$
gard will remain there until he
is permanently stationed.
SWEGLE FJbey Sisemore is
at the home of his parents. Mr.
and Mrs. I. Sizemore, on Sunny-
view avenue for a short furlough.
He is in the army air corps at a
southern training station. His mo
ther has been 111 and he hopes to
have his furlough extended.
MISSION BOTTOM BUI Meit-
hof, son of Mr. and Mrs. William
Meithof of Hopmere, went to
Portland Friday to take examina
tions for entrance into the army.
He was sworn in and will leave
for Fort Lewis on November 5.
He hopes to enter the air corps.
Before going,, Meithof is harvest
ing his potato crop. V-"
Orblllo George Molt third class I
aviation - machinist's mate from
Corpus : Christie, Texas,, is home I
on a few days leave from the nav- I
al air corps training station. He
arrived, Tuesday i- and will visit
with his parents, Mr, and Mrs. J.
O. MulL 1138 Norway, until Oc
tober 29. Mull was employed in
the Statesman mailing department
and for Southern Pacific before
enlisting. This is his second leave.
Mr. and Sirs. G. J. Backe, who
live on Monroe avenue and have
two sons in the service, have re
ceived letters for the past two
months from their son, William,
describing life on a south Pacific
island. He is in the navy and is
stationed where it is .very warm, i
the water on their shores being 80
degrees. He has. been working on
water distillation. The men make
all their drinking water from sea
water. They are on duty 12 housr!
per day. He writes, "The marines I
use more of our water than we
do." The men take their showers
from barrels on a platform be
tween a couple of palm trees. Eat
ing is : not a pleasant experience.
They sit around on the ground and
try to get the food before the flies
do. They eat many coconuts and
drink the juice from several ev-
ery day. Most of them live in tents !
under palms. If they have some
doth, they are able to obtain na
tives to build- a house for them. !
They traded some of their' under
wear for some mats for their tents,
he wrote. Backe's sister mailed
him several yards of material hop
ing he may have his house.
Sororities Pledge
71 at Linfield
' McMINNVILLE, Oct 20 -iJPy-1
Pledging of 71 girls was announced
today i by . Linfield college sorori
ties,' with Phi Beta Mu taking the
largest pj edge class of 20.
Pledges included:
Phi Beta Mu Mary Lou Mac-
Lean, Mc Minn vill e; Jeanne
Remme, Dayton; Janet Haynes,
Yamhill.
Kappa Alpha Phi Louise i
Lawson, Amity; Phyllis Mandigo,
Dayton; Florence Fairhill, Flor
ence Pool, McMinnville.
Sigma Kappa Phi Ellen Cross,
Betty Maxwell, Alys Jeanne Fink,
Kathleen Kelly, Florence West-
phall, all McMinnville.
Zeta Chi Esther Calkins, Mc
Minnville; Marie Noris, Amity.
Grand Island Club
Slates Meeting
GRAND ISLAND The first
meeting of the seeason for the
Grand Island Community club
will "be held Saturday night j
School children, directed by the
teachers, Mrs. Will Duren and
Mrs. James Richardson, will give
the program. Musical numbers
will be featured.
Mr. and Mrs. Roy E. WiH and
Mr. and Mrs. Louis Will and two
children - motored to Jennings
Lodge , recently to , compliment
their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Leon
ard Will on their 34th wedding an- !
niversary.
Cycle Rider Fined .......
SILVERTON - J. Amstutz paid I
a S3 fine in Judge Bert Terry's ;
court Saturday on a charge of
careless riding of a motorcycle in j
downtown streets. . ' .
Treated f or Fracture i
SILVERTON Mrs. Edwin B.
Hyatt is at the SQverton hospital
being treated for a fractured left
lef sustained in a fall at her home
at 501 Whittier street ,
here I sit . .
Ay Joe Marsh
of fuss made over them, with
formal celebrating and such.
What they realty like are the
simple treasures one of Mom's
home-cooked meals, visiting
with friends over a glasa of
beer enjoying things that mean
home and comfort and security.
Front where T sit, onr biggest
Job, apart from helping win the
war. Is Baakiag aare those things
are waiting for ear saea when
they come back home for good.
OryriglU 193, Brewing btdrf FommJariim
Tilililaxy Censor
Not to Y7rite
Comment on Mail
WASHINGTON. Oct. 20-iPy-
A military censor has no right to
add his comment witty or other
wise- to mail he examines.
Announcing this, the war de-
Jpartment asked anyone finding
I remarks added br the censor in
mail received from soldiers to re-
UAH TY
We
sr
deffeil off tholr now Fell clothos, Kuppcnhchacr hes
cicintclncd their ffatnoos quality standards.
' . -. i
IMI I
From sheep developed bf
careful breeding and climatic
fnnriffiQM. comes the wool
for Kuppcbhcimcr clothes.
67 fears designing experience
behind these clothes! One
style mzj be cut in 222 difler
ent sizes to fit all figures. -
CIC3PPGCJC3GDf.1GQ
Sails 050.00 5i Topciels ' 8420
If ym ND trnhuj CiOOO $m
:PX;.: ; MIsiiin9s SIlndDip '
. ; - " ; MOXLEY AND HUNTINGTON
' " ' .
1 The Store of Style, Quality and Value r ;
: J 416 STATE STREET
BUY M 0 RE
I port the incident to the adjutant
general, sending along the letter
: and envelope, "so that the .point
of origin-and the identity of the
offending censor may be determ
ined for disciplinary action.
Censorship of communications
to and from persons under mili
tary jurisdiction, the' department
said, "is a necessity in wartime
to prevent. disclosure of informa
tion which would give aid and
comfort to the enemy. - ;
"The war department has nev-
ABY
K UP P E
,rr (
'L
(guarantee
All Koppenheimer fabrics
and foundation materials pass ,
: texts foe strain, friction, sun
j light, water and perspiration.
A
I
Only the quantity and quality
of handcrafting in these
clothes could achieve such fit;
distinction, serviceability..
VAR BONDS A
Tric!i ia Hospital
ROSEDALE T. D. Trick, wh-
was ill at his home last week, is'
in the general hospital, Salem, for
observation. Mr.-Trick is-president
f lhi T?Ad Trni'lrvsl nf
Farmers Union. ,
er intended that privacy of the
mailjshould be invaded beyond
this absolute necessity for secur
ity." . ;
N H E I
M E
1 1
R
ihatiaovcry
190 in this dryer! has part
of Kuppenheuner "temper
ing." Improves fabrics in fin
ish, tailoring qualities, '
Not mere presting but
shaping with the hand iron,
gives lasting contours to the
collar; shoulders, and chest,
and
snore
N D ST A 11 PS
J
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hundred, pounders, with the rest