The story of RMS QUEEN MARY and the 93rd Fighter Squadron continues... "Where are you going young man? Don't you know there's a war on?" It has been said that there are certain monumental historical events which transpire during ones lifetime, that an individual will remember the full and complete details of the where, when and what they were doing at that particular time and place. Where once events of this magnitude required time for their reporting, modem technology has produced instant results, "real time reporting" for example the antiaircraft fire over Baghdad, and the Challenger Disaster. The degree of this reporting is of course dependent upon the state of advancement of the medium then in use, television, radio, newspaper/magazine, in reverse order of progression. It has become a fact of modern life, taken for granted and not thought much about. Turn on your television and watch a police chase down your local freeway as viewed by your local TV's news helicopter, then and now, real time. Similar results may be obtained using television without pictures - that's known as radio. Man in general is a curious animal and seems to always have had a need to know what was going on around him, good news, bad news certainly, or no news at all was news itself. Today information travels at the speed of light, television/radio, the "real time reporting". Not so long ago this speed was dependent upon the method of travel, the fastest train bringing newspapers, the fastest horseman with letters and word of mouth, and before that the fastest runner (the Boston and L.A. Marathons? No, not quite - that seems to come from Greece). Regardless of the speed of transmission, the essential element in receiving the information was to be there upon arrival for word of mouth or have the instrument with which to receive the report, story or news item, a radio, television or printed form. Given the state of technological development today, it is difficult to think of being out of touch with the world and it's happenings but it can develop due to circumstances. Most Americans over the age of about thirty, will remember November 22, 1963. If not the specific date, the results of that tragic day in Dallas, Texas. I remember well, being stationed at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas undergoing Air Force recruit training. Recruit training is a period of time whereby there is a deliberate enforced insulation from the outside world - no radio, television or newspapers - to facilitate your fullest concentration on the program at hand. That Friday, however, my training flight had proved its worth to the AF and we had won the distinction of being THE honor flight for that week and our reward was the use of a television in our day room for the weekend. Amazing how such a small thing can mean a lot. Well it didn't happen, there was another one of those shots heard around the world and world history took a drastic course change. The full base went to a maximum alert status and we were told that the President had been shot, stand by. That was a pure mental whirlpool and would be over a span of a day before the immediate facts were put in place and the stand down from the alert ordered. Information may travel at the speed of light but you may not necessarily receive it that quickly. Then there was once a time when automobiles came with or without radios. If "with", it was an expensive luxury in the fullest definition of the word "luxury" and the auto itself had not made the transition from luxury to necessity for most Americans. This twilight time covers the end of the 1930's and through the Second World War period. While the war itself brought about many technological changes which would filter into common everyday use later, the manufacturer of new model cars for the common man in the street came to a practical halt (remember Detroit and the Sherman tank). After the war, the luxury of an automobile quickly disappeared and became the "had to have" items it is today. Radio in the home at that time was not necessarily a luxury and the period really marks the beginning of the information age. The news from Europe and the war there was known almost as fast as it was happening and that news was not necessarily good. But let us return to San Antonio, twentytwo years prior to my service stay. It is the beginning of December and there is an aviation flight school graduation happening at Kelly Air Field, one of the Army Air Corps flight training centers. For future Air Force Lt. Col. Melvin H. Galer, it marks his transformation to a full fledged pilot. Nine months of intense training has been successfully completed. This feat was no small undertaking. The pilot training program established in the U.S. was designed to obtain the very best talent and the wash out rate in flight classes ran high. This aspect and the Armed Services training programs, both Army and Navy, insured a constant flow of highly qualified pilots being available throughout the war period and made a large contribution to the ultimate final victory. Much may be said of the training programs which were in place at that time, prior to the United States' entry into the coming global conflict. It does represent another one of General Marshall's ideas in action, in that the realization for such training was early on recognized and steps taken to begin such a program. Later events would see the methods changed to better reflect then on-going conditions, but at least a program was in place. These programs did not just serve American interest, for as Col. Galer related to me, at the time of his original training, there were also bases devoted to training for Chinese and British future pilots as well. Conversely, there were American pilots in training with several British Commonwealth Air Forces, notably the Royal Canadian, and directly within the Royal Air Force itself. (Eventually, American pilots would be formed into three complete fighter squadrons within the Royal Air Force, the famed Eagle Squadrons - 71 Squadron, 121 Squadron and 133 Squadron and from these came some of America's leading fighter aces of the Second World War.) The reasons for these early volunteers would be as varied as the direct numbers of individuals themselves, for there was not, prior to Pearl Harbor, a united national face relative to the world situation at that time. Isolationism and pacifism were a strong factor in American life and influenced politically the prewar planning. Politics and nationalities aside, one of the more important things a serviceman looks forward to is home leave. Again, it is one of those little items of life which is not appreciated until there is a reason for such an event being denied through whatever set of circumstances. 'Me prospect of going home was but one thing on Aviation Cadet Galer's mind on December 5, 1941, there was a lot to look forward to. This was graduation day. First assignments had been made and his draw had been to the 54th Pursuit Squadron which had been constituted in November 1940 and activated in January 194 1. The 54di at that time was itself preparing to move from it's duty station at Portland Air Base, Oregon to a new home, Paine Field, Washington. Shortly there would be no Aviation Cadet Galer but rather Warrant Office Galer, United States Army Air Corps pilot, including those all important shinny new silver wings. Quite a day in a young man's life. To be sure the 1935 Ford Coupe (less radio) was ready and waiting for the trip home to Gilroy, California (which then and today has claim to being the garlic capitol of the world). If you are in southern California and know the way to San Jose, you know you will pass through Gilroy. The general topography of California is such that it is bounded on the east by the Sierra Nevada mountains and on the west by the coastal mountains creating a long north- south central valley area. The northern end of the state is mountainous and the southern end has its mountain and the Mohave Desert (General Patton's desert training area for the soon to be Operation Torch). Gilroy is on the west side of the valley, now about an hours drive southeasterly of San Francisco via Federal Highway Route 101. (In 1941, Interstate 5 did not exist; that remained for General Eisenhower to create - another story and some fourteen years in the future). But in 1941, Federal Highway Route 80 provided the southern entry to California at a sleepy little desert town called Blythe located on the westerly side of the Colorado River, the state boundary line. It is the late afternoon of December 7th and the driver of the Ford Coupe definitely knows the way to San Jose. The town of Blythe had just recently disappeared from the rearview mirror. A drive through the California desert can be a hypnotic occurrence, the terrain can be most monotonous and it is easy to speed along the highway without realizing it. That was not the case at this particular time but a red light was now to be seen in the car's mirrors. Somewhat perplexed, one of the Army's newest flyers, in full uniform, pulled to the side of the road with the California Highway Patrol car immediately behind. He was greeted with: "Good afternoon. Where are you going young man, don't you know there's a war going on?" And where were you on November 23, 1963 or December 7, 1941? (Continued in KTB #105) Back to KTB #104 Table of Contents Back to KTB List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Harry Cooper, Sharkhunters International, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com Sharkhunters International, Inc., PO Box 1539, Hernando, FL 34442, ph: 352-637-2917, fax: 352-637-6289, e-m: sharkhunters@hitter.net