Home Is Where
You Make It
(Continued from Page Six)
led the religious services but took
charge of recreation and entertain
ment and, when it was needed,
were an inspiration to the men.
The first thing you can’t help
noticing in Finschhaven is that
every GI is in the laundry busi
ness. It was a daily ritual for them
to be lined up, knee-deep in one of
the brooks that ran near the
camps, scrubbing away at their
clothes on their homemade wash
boards. The dust, the mud. and
the rain made every day washday.
The trouble with washing your
clothes was that, with the rain,
you could never get them dry. The
boys taugnt me how to dry by
things quickly—by hanging them
from the side of the jeep, like a
flag, as I rode along. It got my
clothes dry, all right. What they
forgot to tell me was that they
would also pick up the dust and
odor as we drove along, leaving
me worse off than before.
Mail delivery was the most pop
ular day in camp. They’d always
be on the lookout for the mail
trucks and you could see them
open their letters, some hastily
and others slowly, as if they were
afraid to break the spell. But it
was heartbreaking to watch the
kids who got no mail, and they’d
console each other: “Your mail is
probably so heavy, it’s coming on
a truck all by itself.”
After visiting a few camps, I
discovered that the pin-up-girl
business was nothing more than a
press agent’s dream. There would
be a few pictures of stars, but most
of the pictures that hung in the
huts were pictures that represent
ed home. The only pin-up girl the
boys got at all excited about was
one of their own making. A bald
headed fellow fell asleep in front
of his hut one afternoon, so they
painted a pin-up girl on his head.
My activity in Finschhaven cov
ered everything from a daily radio
program of fifteen minutes to in
terviews for the ‘‘Foxhole Observ
er” and ‘‘The Guinea Pig”—‘‘New
Guinea’s greatest mimeo daily.”
I covered fourteen hospitals. In
addition there were stage shows
for the Engineers, the Air Force,
the Navy and many other outfits.
Traveling is dangerous in most
parts of New Guinea. Atmospheric
conditions made flying tough, but
from the way these Air Force fel
lows around here do it, you'd
think they were crossing the street.
I still get palpitations of the liver
thinking about the flight that took
me from Finschhaven to Hollan
clia, with the pilot skimming not
only the trees but the waves, too.
It was in Hollandia that I saw
Jap propaganda tactics for the
first time. But the pamphlets they
dropped as well as the short-wave
ramblings of Tokyo Rose were
treated with superb contempt by
the GIs.
In her own peculiar way, Tokyo
Rose was a big source of entertain
ment. The boys would sit for hours
listening to her play the best
American records, and many times
they would have jam sessions to
her swingy ones. That was meant
to get the kids dejected and home
sick enough to surrender, as they
were asked to do, both over the
air and in the elaborate throw
aways.
Probably the most popular items
THE ROAD AHEAD---1946
The coming season promises a return of our
mining activities .... The life blood of Seward
Peninsula!
America is diverging from the forging of wea
pons to that of products no less essential to the
progress of a nation at peace, and already industry
is fashioning implements which are to serve our
needs in the years ahead!
We are proud of our efforts during the war
and thankful that we may continue our progress in
a community that has been our home for forty
years!
LOMEN
Commercial Co.
MOVING
HEAVY HAULING •• FREIGHTING
Done by
JACK BULLOCK and CHARLES O LEARY
Our Equipment Is Available
Call RED 41
1
in New Guinea were the phono
graph, the radio and the camera.
Most camps had at least one pho
nograph and it always seemed to
be playing. Radios were much
scarcer. During the World Series
in St. Louis as many as ten thou
sand boys would gather from all
parts of the jungle to crowd
around a radio and listen to the
short-wave broadcast.
One experience in a hospital in
Hollandia I’ll never forget. I vis
ited a “psych” ward, which is a
tough assignment anywhere. Most
of the kids in these wards were a
little more nervous or more home
sick than the rest. Few of those I
saw were serious cases and, just
as all the others, they were inter
ested in baseball.
I’d get a lot of questions, some
a bit on the silly side. But the one
I still can’t answer was asked me
by a colored boy.
“Al,” he said, “are all ball play
ers crazy?”
He was looking straight at me
when he said it.
TRANS-ATLANTIC
FORUM
What do YOU want to know
about Britain? Americans working
over here don't know all the ans
wers, but what they don't know
they will try to find out. Send
your questions to the American
Outpost, 13, Old Square, Lincoln's
Inn, London, W.C.I.
Do you think the British chem
ist's shop will eveT turn into any
thing like the American drug
store, with its soda fountain, and
its tradition of being an after
school club for the young folk.
Ans.—We doubt it. Soda foun
tains are becoming increasingly
W(ien income rises illness declines, studies
mode by the Twentieth Century Fund indicate.
I PERSONS I
| ON RELIEF I as
HU
FAMILIES WITH
INCOMES UNDER
-1
FAMILIES WITH
INCOMES
THOSE
OVER
II
I _I
popular over here, and now that
the ban on ice-cream is off more
will be spring up. But the British
chemist does not have the slight
est desire to become a soda-jerk.
As for a young folk’s club, British
parents wonder what’s wrong
with the American home that
young people don’t want to stay
there. On the other hand, teen
agers here would probably love
the American corner drug store if i
COUNCIL POSTMISTRESS
VISITING IN NOME
Mrs. L. E. Ost, postmistress of
Council, is in town visiting with
her daughters, Mrs. Earl Towner,
and Mrs. Wallace Mclvor and their
families. A third daughter, Mrs.
A1 Doyle, also resides in Nome,
but is at present in Fairbanks, un
dergoing an operation on her foot,
caused by an infection.
they had one.
g) Alaska Airlines feeder
plane bases
■» DC-3 scheduled routes
— Alaska Airlines feeder
plane routes
Only terminal points are shown on the above map. There are more
than a hundred towns served by Alaska Airlines in Alaska.
Use the complete passenger and express services of Alaska
Airlines. Phone MAIN 66 NOME, ALASKA
RLRSKR AIRLINES