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Release #8

U. S. ARMY ENLISTMENT BROADCAST

June 10, 1941, KOIN, 10:30*10:45

ANNCR: KOIN presents "Soldiers of the Air."

MUSIC: THEME "SECOND CONNECTICUT REGIMENT" (475) UP AND FADE TO BACKGROUND.

ANNCR: This evening KOIN is pleased to cooperate with the United States Army Recruiting Service in presenting the eighth of a series of regular weekly broadcasts, bringing to you the informal, informative and interesting story of the "Soldiers of the Air."

.MUSIC: THEME UP AND OUT

ANNCR: Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we take you to foreign lands, as our soldier friend, Bill "Butch" Harris, tells of his experiences and the advantages of service in Uncle Sam's Army in distant parts of the world. Of course his buddy, Larry Foster, is with us as usual, but this is Bill's night and Larry will stand by and quizz him about the color, romance and adventure of those places that Bill knows so much about. I suppose, Bill, you like to talk about your hitch in Foreign Service?

BILL: I sure do. Many's the time I've thought about the years I spent in Hawaii, the Philippines, and Panama, the three bases where soldiers who enlist for foreign service are sent. Yes sir.' those were the happy days.

LARRY: How about that old gag of seeing the world through a port hole?

BILL: That's just a wheeze. . .one of those wise cracks that people are always springing on you about army life. Ask any foreign service soldier just how much of the world he has seen and you'll be surprised to learn that he's really been places.

ANNCR: Besides Hawaii, the Philippines and Panama, what other countries have you visited?

BILL: Well, I saw something of China and Japan.

ANNCR:

BILL:

LARRY:

BILL:

ANNCR:

BILL:

LARRY:

BILL:

ANNCR:

BILL:

LARRY:

BILL:

ANNCR:

BILL:

LARRY:

The United. States •used, to have troops in China, didn't we?

Yes. I was stationed there for awhile. But the troops are not there now. You can still get a look at Japan, though.

You mean, the transports make stops there?

Sure. The hoys are given time to see a bit of the country. I remember when we were in Japan - and China too - we kept the natives on their toes, especially the ’rickshaw men. Our big sport was 'rickshaw racing. It was fun, too. I was a "rider" in a lot of the races.

I wouldn’t mind visiting the Far East. But it's a little bit more than I can afford.

How many boys are there in the country today that COULD afford a trip

like that, and at the same time have all the advantages that the United

States Army offers?

I know I never could.

You don't only learn while you earn, but you earn while you travel.

It seems the soldier is in on good things coming and going.

He sure is.

How about all theeducational advantages that the soldier has here at home; are they the same over there?

Absolutely ! For the air soldier there are bases in Hawaii and in the Panama Canal Zone. And there are infantry, cavalry, and coast defense regiments, too.

Hawaii 1 That spells romance with a capital R. Waikiki ! Palm trees !

Grass Skirts ! Leis—

It certainly does, Mr._______________________, and nobody knows that

better than I do.

I'd like to be stationed there. I heard some of the boys at Chanute Field talking about it. They all hope to get sent to Hawaii.

2-2-2

BILL:

ANNCR:

BILL:

LARRY:

BILL:

LARRY:

,BILL:

ANNCR:

BILL:

LARRY:

..R.RhY

They’ll have to wait their turn. That place has a waiting list as

long as from here to Christmas.

What go you mean by a waiting list? I rhoogh?; that the waiting list was only in foreign service enlistments.

It is. But ah service in Hawaii and. Panama is. foreign service.

However s some lunes there ?..re no vacancies to he filled, in the overseas stations» The government only calls for enlistments when there are vacancies, The army is just as particular about foreign service as it is about- S'.rvlce here at home.

Are there- many va.onoies just now?

Yes, in Panama ant. the Philippines, but only a few in Hawaii.

With all th.? b talk of romance and. travel, lets of fellows still balk at leaving the United. States. What's the reason?

Some think rr-n-ering conditions are bad; some think the climate is unhealthy; some think it's too far from home.

Are traveling conditions bad? What about it, Bill?

Traveling conditions are lot's better than they used to be. When I went to the Philippines in 1918 I didn't think they were so hot.

Ships were .-mail and old. Had been in use since the Philippine Insurrection,. hr..? ' were crowded; the food wasn’t too much to brag about; sleeping quarter? w.-v-e stuffy, and bathing facilities were almost nil. Bi t tod'a,; i’ ? ,-■> different. Uncle Sam has taken over luxury liners for transports aid. the boys travel in first class style.

What about the clita*-e ?.r> Hawaii? Is Hawaii really a sort of glorified summer r e sor tr

L'sc^n- .•..eno ’ A y;% ng. you had a lab of funny ideas about the army cliclr. t ey /"» vL.

1 certainly ii<L

3-3-3

BILL: You've got a different set of notions now, haven't you?

LARRY: Siu-e ! T. feel like the guy that wrote you be was sorry he didn't enlisc l’i”u years ago5

BILL: It's the same about foreign service. You hear all sorts of stories spread by follows still living in the past. It's different now. Wherever Uncle Cam's toys go today they find that science has been there ahead ef them and provided all the comforts of home, as you might say. -Lor instance, at Baguio (Bag'ee-o) in the Philippines the government maintains a summer camp for the boys so they can get away fro.? the heat, The camp is located away up in the mountains where the boyc 2C-n fish and hunt and swim.

ANNCR: How long die you serve in the Philippines, Bill?

BILL: Pour years after the regiment came back from Siberia.

ANNCR: You should know all about it then.

BILL: Believe me, I DOI I saw it all from the bon-deks of Luzon to Zamboango. »

LARRY: Is there any chance for the air soldier in the Philippines?

BILL: Not much. Due there are all kinds of other chances. . . With the coast artillery on Corregidor or the infantry at Port McKinley or Port Santiago. And there are plenty of other units for the guy who is roally; interested.

LARRY: What are they:

BILL: Medical, Ordinance, Chemical, Mechanics, Engineering. You know, there are other meters besides those used in airplanes.

ANNCR: All the cpporTuc of home, Eh. Brill?

BILL: In w.-.ys, r-c:-r. ;pp?x \nuiities.

LARRY* Ho>’ more*

4-4-4

BILL: The chances of promotion are better. As soon as a man becomes proficient he is promoted and. detailed, to other bases to make room for newcomers.

ANNCR: Bill, tell us about Hawaii. How did you like it there?

BILL: Boy, there’s a place. The first thing you see is Diamond Head, then Waikiki Beach and the city of Honolulu, and scattered over the hills beyond, the sugar-cane and pine-apple fields.

LARRY: Hope I get a chance to fly a ship over there.

ANNCR: Chances are you will, Larry. Where were you stationed, Bill?

BILL: At Schofield Barracks about thirty miles from Honolulu. Talk about a spot: hunting and fishing and all that sort of thing: and how I did go for it.

LARRY: See any sharks when you went fishing?

BILL: Sharks? I’ll say I did. Plenty.

ANNCR: That sounds like a story, —

BILL: It is. Another soldier and I thought we’d go for a sail in an outrigger?

LARRY: Wat’s an outrigger?

BILL: A native boat with an extension on the sides so it won’t upset. We were quite a ways out in the bay when my wristwatch somehow came unfastened and slipped into the water. The bay was only about ten feet deep and I could see my watch on the sand at the bottom. I dove for it and as I came up my pal let out a yell and pointed. I turned to look and saw a shark coming for me. I made that boat in nothing flat.

ANNCR: I'll bet yon did.

BILL: And I decided the next time I went sailing to stay in the boat.

LARRY: Did you do any fishing after that?

BILL: Did I? With all those streams just loaded with fish. And hunting. ' The great sport in Hawaii, however, is pig hunting.

LARRY: Pig hunting? That doesn’t sound very exciting.

BILL: Oh, no? Well, if you every try it be sure your aim is good. Those wild pigs are bed ones.

ANNCR: This Foreign Service is beginning to sound like a pleasure jaunt.

BILL: Take it from me, it's the high spot in a soldier's life.

LARRY: You almost make me wish I'd taken a crack at it myself.

ANNCR: What about Panama, Bill?

LARRY: I imagine Darwcna is more like being in the United States.

BILL: It's nearer home, if that's what you mean, but it's a foreign country after all. But it is interesting. Lots of history down there: Panama City, old San Francisco.

ANNCR: Old San Francisco? That sounds intriguing.

BILL: All you can seeis a great pile of ruins; but if you use your imagination you can call up the ghost of the pirate, Sir Henry Morgan, and his gang of cut-throats sacking the town and carrying off the women and gold to his ships in the harbor. Old San Francisco used to be the capital of Panama.

LARRY: Aw,-it's not a1! so romantic. There must be some fly in the ointment (Pause). Ary alligators down there?

BILL: Plenty of 'em., . .and that reminds me. . .

LARRY: Well, go on.- Doill it. I know you.'.re dying to tell it.

BILL: Sure I am. Well . I was with the Coast Artillery. One night I was out a delacl’i .ent camped near n big swamp. I heard a hulla- balloo m ths £35,.. cent and jump'd out of my cot to investigate.

LARRY: What tne well--dr os cod butter will wear; shirt-tail and socks after

an alligator?

6-6-6

BILL: Did. _I know it was an alligator? By the time I got to the mess tent

the noise was terrific. I peaked, in and. there was an alligator about fifty feet long. I gave a yell and. started, for my gun.

LARRY: (Laughing) Can you see Bill with his shirt-tail flapping making

a bee-line for his shooting-iron. Boy, I’ll bet that was something.

BILL: If you’d seen that alligator's steam-shovel trap, and. it full of

our chow, you’d been sore too.

LARRY: Sure I would. But I_ would have stayed and wrestled with him.

BILL: Yeh. . .in Portland I Anyhow when we got back he was gone, but he

sure left us short of rations for a few days.

LARRY: Were you on K. P- and had to clean up all that mess?

BILL: Not on your tintype. There's nothing like that in Panama. The

soldiers all chip in and hire San Blas Indians to do all the kitchen work.

LARRY: Foreign Service makes you swanky, doesn't it?

BILL: Why not? Your dough goes twice as far.

ANNCR: How is that, Bill?

BILL: You" money will buy nearly twice as much in Panama and the Philippines

as it does in the states.

ANNCR: No wonder the boys live high. Bill, all that's mighty interesting, and I am sure that our friends listening in tonight are of the opinion that Uncle Sam's foreign service has much to offer young men.-, And judging by the way the vacancies are being filled they better get busy if they want to get in on it. Now we have another guest with us tevight, whom you will enjoy meeting, and who will add a few worus of his own on thesubject of the army accepting recruits for tne -vr Corps and for Foreign Service. Ladies and gentlemen ______________

7-7-7

OFFICER: Thank you, Mr.____________________________. We are addressing our

remarks this evening, primarily, to the hundreds of young men just graduating from High Schools all over the State of Oregon and the Southern part of Washington. Most of you are wonderin g how you are going to be able to land a job. Others of you planning on entering colleges and universities this fall are wondering how long you will be able to continue in school in the face of the present condition cf unrest we find in the world today.

We believe the United States Army Air Corps offers a solution to your many problems. We have remaining at this time one hundred vacancies that are certain to be filled very rapidly by young men with an eye to the future and a yen for adventure. We say an "eye to the future" for we know of nothing that offers a young fellow any greater opportunity to learn a specialized trade in a coming industry and at the same time serve his country in its hour of need, than the Army Air Corps.

We say "yen for adventure", for what is there today that offers thrills, chills, and speed, as does the Army Air Corps.

It is imperative that you act at once in order that you may be one of the young men taking over one of thehundred vacancies remaining to be filled by the Oregon Recruiting District before the end of June. If jou would like to become an aviation mechanic the Army will send you to school and give you a thorough education so that when you finish you will be qualified to work on any of the planes now operated by the Army. And above all when you have completed your threeyear hitch in the Service you will be qualified for a good position in civilian life. There are over 100 trades a

man may take up in the Air Corps.

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(Contd)

OFFICES: Some of which are, besides the mechanical course, Welding, Metal

work, Radio, Weather Bureau, Ariel Photograph, Machinists and many others.

I would like to mention at this time that any young man may

take the examination for flying cadet after he has been in the service a short time. In that capacity the man has the opportunity to win his Wings and become a 2nd Lt. in the Regular Army Air Corps Reserve and go on active duty with the Regular Army. The pay for a Flying Cadet while in training is $75.00 per month and when you win your wings you will receive a salary of $245.00 per month.

May I suggest you make your application tomorrow. Apply at

any of the following recruiting Stations. 323 Main Post Office Building, Portland, or in the Post Office Buildings in Eugene, Salem, Medford, Klamath Falls, and Ontario, Oregon. Also in the Post Office Building, Boise, Idaho.

Thank you and good evening.

ANNCR: Thank you very much, sir. You have just heard _________________________

who was kind enough to come to the studio and add a few words to

our program. You are all invited to come up to the studio again next Tuesday night and we'll have another chat about what's doing in this army that you have joined to become "Soldiers of the Air". MUSIC THEME (475) UP AND FADE TO BACKGROUND.

ANNCR; You have just heard the eighth in the series of programs, "Soldiers of the Air," in which we hope to present various phases of induction and training for this most facinating branch of army service, the Air Corps. These programs are produced in cooperation with the Portland regular army recruiting station, with the assistance of the Oregon Writers Project. Tune in next Tuesday evening at the same time when "Soldiers of the Air" will again be broadcast from the studios of KOIN, the Journal, Portland.