PENNANT PARADE
U.S.A.T. MOTOR SHIP "PENNANT"
Vol. II, No. 8 2 Nov.
1945 10th
day
at
sea
[Editor's note: In the printed copy, the top two headlines were transposed,
each appearing over the wrong story. They are corrected here.]
1st NON-STOP JAPAN TO WASHINGTON FLIGHT
B-29's REACH CAPITAL IN 27 HRS., 29 MIN.
Four new model B-29 Superforts which took off
from Hokkaido
landed at the Washington
Airport between one
and two Eastern Standard Time,
completing the
first non-stop
flight from Japan to the nation's capital. First
plane in made
the trip, 6,544
miles, in 27 hours
and 29 minutes.
Maj. Gen. Frank Armstrong, who said they encountered terrible
weather and 45
knot headwinds
from Hokkaido to
Attu, was flight
commander.
They followed
the great circle
route to Kodiak,
Sitka, across
Winnipeg and Detroit, and one [meaning one of the four planes - Ed.]
attained a speed
of 290 miles per
hour. Which proves: If you have
enough brass,
you can get home
in a jiffy.
HIROHITO LABELED WAR CRIMINAL
MAY PAY PART OF
REPARATIONS BILL
A startled
Japan learned
Thursday that
America may require Emperor
Hirohito himself to pay part of
the defeated nation's untotaled
reparations bill. A welfare ministry announcement brought
still sharper
realization of
the cost of the
war. It disclosed that American
air raids had
destroyed or burned nearly
2,500 buildings
in Japan. Whether
Hirohito's personal fortune of 106 million dollars [about $1.845 billion in 2025 dollars - Ed.]
could be considered more than a
drop in the reparations bucket was
a minor matter in
Tokyo. Far more
important to Japan
was sudden thought that Washington's decision
indirectly labels
their Emperor as
a war criminal.
PENNANT'S DAILY PROGRESS
"Someone's rocking my dreamboat, and brother that ain't
good" [quoting a popular song of the day - Ed.].
Expect the bouncing
"X" to bounce a little more
slowly as we ride out this storm and possibly into another.
We still have hopes of Seattle on the sixth. Keep a stiff
upper rudder.
[map]
Vol. II, No. 8 2 Nov. 1945 Page 2
STAFF
Editor.............Len Stringfield
Sports Editor......William O'Brien
Artist.............R.E. Doyle
Morris Leventhal [spelled Levanthal in a previous issue - Ed.]
Feature Writers....John A. Polomski
Roy K. Dumas
Richard Berlow
Mimeographer.......Jimmy Lucci
Trans. CO...Capt. Richard Gimpel
Master......Capt. George Hansen
Trans. Sv.
Off....Lt. Leonard Miskit
World News by
Courtesy of the Ship's
Radio
MOVIES
MY FAVORITE WIFE
Starring
Irene Dunn and
Cary
Grant.
(Schedule same as last night due to bad weather.)
NOTE: Due to limited space, those officers who wish to attend movie are requested to attend same performance as scheduled for their company.
| 1930 |
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Co. 3 & 4 |
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Co. 1 & 16 |
SPORTS
Ford Frick, President of the
National League and the former
head of the St. Louis Cardinals, in a recent statement, asked for
a league limit
on the number of night
home games a team could
schedule. He declared that seven to fourteen games should be
the limit. Frick, who was one
of the first to start night ball,
admits that it 'saved' Cardinals in the depression years,
but he said, "The nocturnal eliminates the
radio as a publicity medium because most stations have
network commitments at night."
Rumors were squelched
yesterday regarding the retirement of
Joe McCarthy, Yankee manager, when he told reporters he was
looking forward to a big year
with his 'Yanks.' McCarthy reported that for the first time in history the Yankees will have two conditioning camps, both in Florida. Apparently, he plans on looking over a lot of new material coming out of the Army. This week in Chicago he will get
a chance to pick potential Yanks
in the annual players draft. There
are 5,434 of them listed from the
nation's minor leagues.
IT PAYS TO KNOW
ABOUT YOUR G.I. INSURANCE
About
converting your National
Life Insurance to a permanent form.
When you first took out
your National Service Life Insurance, it was for a five-year
period, so long as you kept up your premium payments.
This original five years maximum period has been extended to eight years, which means that eight
years from the date you first took
out your G.I. Insurance your
coverage will be dropped unless
you convert it to a permanent form
of insurance.
The policy you have had with
this time limit on it is called
a "term" policy, which is sold by private companies for a specified period (not usually more
than five years), when temporary
protection is needed for the lowest premium payments, as was the
case in the emergency just passed.
A
popular misconception is
that this insurance is converted
to a private company any of your choosing.
This is not so. What
you do is convert this temporary
term insurance to a permanent
type such as 20-payment life, 30-payment life, or ordinary life,
and continue paying your
premiums to the government.
The Veterans Administration
takes care of notifying you when
premiums become due, and general servicing that you will
need during the life of the
policy, such as loans, changes
in beneficiary, etc.
Term
insurance offers nothing
but protection (which is what you wanted
during the past emergency period) while all permanent
(converted) policies have guaranteed cash, loan, paid up, and
extended insurance values available after your policy has been
in force one year.
When you convert within this
eight-year period, you can keep
the same amount in the permanent form or less in multiples of $500,
but not less than $1,000, and
without a medical examination
(which is an important point).
The cost of premium payments on identical policies in private
companies run about one-third more.
Over a number [of years] this is a tremendous saving. The government absorbs all administration
costs and agents' fees that private companies necessarily have
to pay, which brings us to the one disadvantage of G.I.
Insurance. Long delays and involved
red tape may be encountered when
service is badly needed. New
hope, though, for quick and efficient service by the Veterans
Administration can be expected
with its reorganization, appointment of General Omar
Bradley as
its new head,
and more field representatives who are former G.I.s
qualified to do the job.
It is advisable for you to
keep 8-year Level Premium
Term insurance in force during
the period of readjustment
to civilian life and to convert
it in whole or in part as
soon as and to the extent you are
financially able.
Inquire at your Separation
Center when and where
should
make premium payments as a
civilian. Don't let your policy lapse, if you intend to keep it. Reinstatement is a helluva job.
Vol. II, No. 7 1 Nov. 1945 Page 3
[Should say "No. 8" and "2 Nov." - Ed.]
THE CIGARETTE CRISIS
Whether or not you have given
this important matter any thought,
the fact is clear that a crisis
is or so will be confronting the
discharged veteran.
During the three years you were
overseas, cigarettes were acquired
"for free" (at least in combat
areas) or sold for the sum
of five cents [about 89˘ in 2025 dollars - Ed.].
Now as we are about to be rudely shoved out of the service into
a cold, cruel world, it is being
whispered about that cigarettes will
now cost us as much as sixteen
cents per package [about $2.83 in 2025 dollars - Ed.].
To
cope with this financial
crisis and to help you review your pre-war
techniques, the following aids in bumming cigarettes
is graciously offered.
EMPTY PACK APPROACH:
This is an old standby and is very successful
in 96.33% of
known case histories.
Your victim is happily puffing
away on a
cigarette as you
step into the picture.
Starting a
conversation, you
pull out the battered empty pack and feel around.
Your face now acquires a surprised look (you knew it all the
time, you villain), then a sad and
depressed expression. If your
victim is not a heel, he will gladly shove his pack of butts
in your direction.
THE SEARCHING APPROACH:
Finding prospective victim smoking one of the better
brands, you feverishly search
through all your pockets for that pack of Marvels [a brand of cigarettes that was popular at the time. - Ed.]. Your face takes
on a worried look, then consternation. (Refer to Webster's, please. I don't
know what the hell that
is.) The victim, moved with pity,
offers his pack and perseverance
has again been rewarded.
THE NONCHALANT APPROACH:
This approach is always successful with the suave individual
who is radiant with personality.
He selects a timid victim, and gushing with cheer and good-feeling toward his fellow man (victim) meets the issue squarely with a
direct request.
Stunned, taken
aback, the baffled timid soul seldom fails to come through.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH:
With
psychology the rage these
days, this is a new approach and
definitely proves that people
are human beings (or something). You approach your victim displaying a
battered sack of Bull
Durham. (This always arouses
his interest.) Pouring about five grains of the dust-like contents into your cigarette paper, you proceed
to roll-your-own. Surprised at your poverty-stricken
condition, he practically forces
a cigarette on you.
(Sometimes
he insists that you take the rest
of his pack.)
If any of the above four,
tried-and-found-successful techniques fail, we advise you to get out your own pack (which every smoker
carries), or go back to shooting
butts.
CHAPLAIN'S CORNER
"Search me, O God, and know my
heart;
try me and know my
thoughts;
and see if there be
any wicked way in me, and lead me
in the way everlasting." - Psalm 139:23-24
What would God find if he
searched your heart? Would he approve of your
thoughts, words and deeds?
"The Lord knoweth the way of
the righteous; but the way of
the ungodly shall perish." - Psalm 1:6
Vol. II, No. 8 2 Nov. 1945 Page 4
WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF
WASHINGTON:
Action on legislation to discard the point system of discharging service personnel was sought
Thursday by Representative [Paul W.] Shafer.
His bill now before
the House Military
Committee would permit all inductees to obtain their release upon
request after two years
of service.
* * *
Assistant War Secretary John J.
McCloy, returning to San Francisco
from Pacific war front, says loss of trained men via point system
is hampering occupation
working.
ETO TROOPS HOME BY FIRST OF YEAR
War Shipping Administration director for Mediterranean area predicted in New York that all troops except occupational forces
will be home from Italy, Austria and Germany by end of December.
NEPTUNE'S NEMESIS
-The Pennant-
For the last 36 hours, the
seas have had little respect
for us landlubbers.
Old Neptune has been in one of his tumultuous moods,
possibly because the Pennant crossed
his 180 meridian.
With
the seas as rough as
they are, naturally, a good many of us, not too well versed on sea-lore, have lost faith in our good ship. With each list, chuggle [hesitation - Ed.],
veer and lunge, beads of
sweat drop in rapid
profusions down the forehead. We grow skeptical & nervous. "Will the plates
crack?" we ask. The answer
is seldom anything but comforting, such as, "I hope not!" or "It beats the hell out of me."
So, we just go on sweating
and biting our nails.
To
scotch any further confusion, your editor has probed the
problem.
His findings should allow
a good sleep to all skeptics. Here are some of the facts gathered from He-Who-Knows:
1. The Pennant will not buckle, crack or
split.
Its structure
is among the best and sturdiest of
ships.
2. The skipper, being an old
cautious seafarer, takes no unnecessary chances. He knows the
seas and how to tame them. Yesterday, he turned back 3 hours
to escape a danger zone. Result:
no trouble,
and we're again making headway Stateside.
The only and biggest hazard is fire. Again, we are cautioned and reminded - No Smoking Below!
Rest....
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