Page 1 - Mastheads Jan-June 1945

U.S. Naval Training and Distribution Center

VOL. 111- No. 47 TREASURE ISLAND, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA JANUARY 6, 1945

l. I. Donors Swamp Bloo~ Ban~ At ter Call from Pacific

'Shipmate' Has Meaning
T. I. Sailor Gives Red Cross Moves to New Location All Movies and To Sailors As They Give
Eyewitness Account On Treasure Island Stage Shows · Now Their Blood In Drive

Of Utah Train Wreck "Business as usual" is the slogan at the Treasure Island F-R-E-E
main office of the Red Cross field director, although staff and The biggest news story of the To a Navy man, the word "ship-
Howard E. Lang, GM3c, has had mate" means something.
many severe combat experiences in equipment have recently been moved to new quarters. When New Year broke Tuesday when To prove this, when priority "A"
the Pacific, but for sheer horror the Lt. C. S. Smith and the Personnel Office of the Training the announcement was made by cables were received from Fleet Ad-
crash of the Pacific Limited on Center Command moved to the Administration Building, Commodore R. W. Cary, Com- miral Chester W. Nimitz, Com-
mander, U. S. Naval Training
December 31, on one section of more space was made available to the Red Cross staff. The mander-in-Chief of the U. -S. Pacific
and Distribution Center, that all
which he was riding, is a match for new office is located in Building Fleet, telling of the dire need for
charges to movies on the Island
anything he saw in the Philippines 174, Room 400. Here, as for the past C. S. Shelly, Mrs. Elsie Swabe!, whole blood, especially type "O,"
are now cancelled.
and tl).e Marianas. great numbers of volunteers from
two and one-half years, this office Miss P atricia Brethauer.
From this time on there will be
On his way to report to the Naval will continue to serve the personnel The clerical staff;::onsists of: Of- no charge made for movies or the Navy activities in the Bay Area
Training School at Treasure Island of the Training and Distribution fice Manager, Mrs. Helen D. Pier- flocked to the San Francisco Blood
stage shows in Treasure Island's
after a leave at his home in Chap- Center. From 9 o'clock in the morn- Bank.
son; Receptionist, Miss Barbara three modern theatres. Hereto- .
man, Kans., Lang was riding in ing to 6 o'clock at night someone Mordecai; Locator, Gwenlian Ber-
fore a charge of five cents was These men wanted to give a
the sixth car of section one, trying is on duty on telephone extension cheleigh ; Bookkeeper, Miss Irene made for movie admittance but small portion of their blood so that
to sleep as the train crept along 90-91. Bir beck; Teletypist, Mrs. Genevieve no charge has been made for some wounded shipmate on a
at about 10 miles an hour. The staff, too, ·has been increased Libbey; File Clerk, Mrs. Meredith stage s~ows. jungle-infested battle front might
Suddenly there was a terrific to offer more complete service. Wright; Stenographers, Mrs. Artye
Commodore Cary's announce- live. Many of the men volunteering
smash, and Lang and the other pas- Walter E. Todd, Field Director, Hellner, Mrs. Lois Benvenuto, Miss ment is being welcomed by Treas-
are veterans of many hard months
'---- sengers in his car were hurled from gives the following list of assistant Virginia Wieder.
ure Island's bluejackets as one of fighting and privations in the
their seats. The second section of field directors: Miss Marian Cauth- This office staff will continue to of the best New Year's gifts they Pacific. They know the urgency of
the Pacific Limited, rushing up the ers, Miss Elizabeth Fuselman, Miss assist Navy personnel with prob- could receive. There will be no the blood in putting life back- into
causeway west of Ogden, Utah, had Dorothy Frost, Mr. -Sam Goldman, lems that arise through personal or change in theatre policy- the ·the veins of a wounded fighting
driven squarely into the rear of the Mr. Lawrence Grady, Mr. Joseph family situations. Such problems
same high class entertainment American.
first. E . Hoffman, Miss Julie Salmen, Mr. (Continued on page 2) being presented at all times. Among the leaders for volunteers
"Too Dazed to Realiz-e" was Pre-Commissioning Training
"We were too dazed and sleepy to Center, Treasure Island. When Cap-
realize what had happened," Lang JUST A PINT OF BLOOD tain Proctor M. Thorton, command-
declared. "It was only five or ten * * ing officer of the unit, put a plea
minutes later, when the Shore Pa- * *
before his men for them to volun-
trol entered our car and called us
teer to give their blood, there were
to aid with the injured, that we
ANSWERING SHIPMATES' S. 0. S.-Jerome S. large numbers that filed aboard
understood we were in a train Winnick, S1c, 3821 • 18th Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y., the buses waiting there to take
smash." gives a pint of his bl,ood so that some -one -on the them to the Blood Bank.
Pacific battle front will have a chance t,o live. Ens.
Helped Carry Injured Mary C. Furnari (NC), 441 View St., Mountain View,
Joining other soldiers and sailors California, watches th,e sphygmomanometer on Win-
who had not been hurt in the col- nick's arm. Picture at bottom shows a porti,on ,of the
lision, Lang helped carry the . in- Treasure Island sailors getting info buses that will Masthead Recipient of
jured to the two military hospital take them to the Blood Bank. Many of these men
have seen lo,ng, gruelling months -Of savage warfare Appreciation Certificate
trains· which luckily formed part
in the Pacific. They have seen the miracles that have
of the train's first section. been performed by the needed blood pla-sma.
"Three of them died almost as From S. F. Red Cross
soon as we turned them over to the Treasure Island's newspaper,
nurses," Lang stated, "and their "The Masthead," was recipient of a
bodies had to be taken away to
Certificate of Appreciation from the
make room for those who could still
San Francisco Chapter of · the
be helped."
American National Red Cross Blood
Heaped-up Bodies Donor Service for giving extensive
As Lang went by th_e wrecked publicity to the blood program.
cars, through the windows he could The certificate, signed by K. A.
see the heaped:UP bodies of the Joyce, Chairman of San Francisco
dead. Blood Donor Committe-e, reads as
Lang also carried buckets of hot follows:
water to the hospital trains, to be "I wish to express the sincere
used in cleansing wounds and surgi- appreciation of the San Francisco
cal instruments. Red •Cross Blood Donor Service for
After the emergency cases had the generous support you have
been taken care of, Lang built fires given this vital program through-
near the wreck so that uninjured out the year.
women and children might warm "Due to the efforts of our many·
themselves. friends and the patriotic response of
About four hours later the un- the public, the San Francisco Bay
damaged cars of section one pro- Area has collected and processed
ceeded on their way again, and approximately 300,000 pints of
Lang continued his journey. blood during the year (1944) . This
Logged in Late was essentially our quota.
Logging in at Treasure Island "Your contribution has been a
eight hours late, Lang found that valued factor in this successful ac-
this was one case in which not just complishment and it is gratefully
'----
a conductor's letter, but the na- acknowledged."
tion's headlines explained a sailor's
tardiness in reporting.
While Others
· Personnel Warned Made Merry
In watts if not words, electric
On War Speculation meters on Treasure Island recorded
,speculating by s-ervice personnel a saga of devotion to duty on the
and civilian public officials as to part of storekeepers at the Dis-
the length of the war may throw .a bursing Office during the recent
"monkey wrench" into the high holiday season.
speed defense machinery of the F or several weeks before, and
nation it was recently announced right through Christmas and New .
by the Pre.§ident. Year's Day, the wearers of the.:
'--' ·crossed keys worked late ev-ery
In a terse message to the Secre-
tary of the Navy, President Roose- night doing a balancing act on old
v-elt pointed out that the essential pay records, which expired with
supplies vital to the war effort the old year, and drawing up new ·
could be harmed by these _arm- ones so that you and you and you
chair strategists. might collect in future pay lines.