Page 108 - Mastheads Jan-June 1945

PAGES THE MASTHEAD, SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1945
. · I d h I Hollywood Stars to From Aleutians To Solomons
T reasure Is an C ape a House p t St Sh
, resen age ow
Of Prayer In Navy Tradition Here Next Week On Vesse·l 'From First War
Beginning wi h four years in the Naval Academy during
(Picture on Masthead Front Coyer) The stars of the silver screen
will again shine on Treasure Island World War I, Commander Charles J. McWhinnie, head of the
Treasure Island Chapel is truly dedicated to the devo- next Wednesday evening, April 4, gunnery department at Operational Training School, has had
tions of sea-going men. at Theatre No. 1 when another one a varied and at times precarious Navy career.
"He maketh the storm a calm"-a verse from the Book of those ever popular Hollywood Plans to join the Navy in 1917
of Psalms-consecrates the stained glass window over the stage shows will be given for the were diverted to training at- the
personnel of this naval base.
chapel entrance. Dominating the window is the figure of .academy with subsequent commis-
An added feature to the gigantic sion and duty until resignation in
Christ upon the waters, beneath His feet the Navy anchor.
show will be the Alameda Coast 1928. In 1940 he was called to active
Each service closes with the The building houses a large
Guard band under the direction of duty as lieutenant (jg) with the
singing of the Navy hymn. chapel and a small. Its interior was Chief Musician Leonard Hickson. reserve. After serving in various
An 9ld Navy call, "Rig for constructed to resemble that of an With possibly four top stars, plus capacities in local defense units,
church," summons chapel person- eleventh century English country- a number of starlets, the show will he filled a position as aide to Rear
nel to prepare for services. All side church. Pews are of ponderosa get under way for the first per- Admiral Osterhaus, then com-
faiths on th.e island worship in the pine. On July 17, 1943, the struc- formance at 1 H5, followed at 2000 mander of Treasure Island and
same chapel, so this call often by the second show. No movie is local defense units. During his
signals a change of cross, candle- ture was dedicated.
scheduled for the evening. In the stay here, he saw an island naval
sticks, and altar frontals to accord Since then, in countless numbers,
last Hollywood Victory Committee base emerge from the ashes and
with the ritual of different re- men 3.:bout to put out to sea and
surprise show such stars as Danny mud of the exposition.
ligions. For Jewish services, the men newly returned to American Kaye, Bonita Granville and Chico
altar is slid back into a recess in soil have meditated in its sacred Marx appeared. We will now see Shipping out on a World War I
four stacker as executive officer at
the wall, above which is a taber- quiet or raised their voices in what Hollywood has in store for us
the outbreak of the war, Com-
nacle to hold the sacred scroll of prayer. It has been the scene of next week. Tickets will be pro-
the Hebrews. rated to Tadcen division heads and mander McWhinnie rode the craft
much joy, for at its altars many
Gr·ound for Treasure Island the Welfare officers of the separate through the Jap-infested waters Commander McWhinnie
Chapel was broken in April, 1943. Navy couples have been wed and activities. surrounding the Aleutians. Rough
Fittingly, on that site once blos- the Children of Navy parents bap- U SO Show Monday weather was the worst enemy, "The reason we were uneasy
somed a magRificent .garden of tized. On an average day, two Theatre No. 3 will be the scene however, because of the lack of was that we knew nothing of the
flowers- the "Magic Carpet" of the weddings are celebrated at the of an excellent USO show Monday modern navigational equipment. purpose of the fires, but later we
1939-40 Golden Gate International chapel-436 last year, 120 since the evening, April 2. The stage pro- Then followed the months of learned they were used by friendly
Exposition. first of 1945. duction "Who Goes There" will be early 1943, in which the newly ap- native lookouts to communicate
given at 1800 and 2000. No tickets pointed captain took over the helm with their headquarters. However,
are necessary for admittance and of his converted APD and headed we knew Japs were in the vicinity
no movie is scheduled for the eve- for the South Pacific. and since these fires silhouetted us
nihg. "One day off Guadalcanal," he beautifully, we expected to be
taken under fire by shore batteries
recalls, "we shot down three Japs.
at any moment.
One dive bomber laid his eggs so
"At the time these fires blazed
COLORED DANCE ..!lose that it felt as if the old ship up, I suddenly felt the old bateau
Jumped out of the water. I re- scraping and straining on the bot-
SET FOR APRIL 4 ,nember looking aft, and the water tom. It is a sickening sensation to
spilling over the ship added to
Colored personnel of Treasure Is- smoke from the laboring boilers feel a ship lurch aground, but for-
land are invited to be on hand created the effect that all the· ship tunately we cleared without dam-
Wed.nesday, April 4, at another .rrom the stacks aft was blown age.
dance to be held ·n Gym No. 1 "We steamed on about a mile
starting at 2000. away. However, the rugged engi- further to the small beach where
neers came through with a growl we were to land our Raiders. As we
The Treasure Island swing band
by phone to the bridge about why !!.pproached to about 1000 yard;, a
will furnish the music, and partners
we didn't give a little more warning blinker light from ashore slowly
will be invited from the surround- when we wanted full power. All or and deliberately flashed 'O.K.' We
ing area. As usual there will be
the ships in the area were maneuv- suspected Jap ambush because
plenty of food. Tickets may be o_b- ering at high speed to avoid the 'O.K.' is not an established re-
tained from the welfare officer of planes. One of our innocent crew cognition signal even if things are
each activity.
members, observing the fall of O.K. ·
machine gun strafing fire as ii:: "About that time, two native
If You Can Janced alongside the ship, com- canoes came out of the darkness,
one heading for · each of the two
,nented on how many fish were
ships composing our force. We had
Sing or Dance jumping.'' them covered with machine guns
In the spring of 1943, the old but as the canoe neared our ship,
You Are Needed Waters (nick-named "Old 8-Ball") a Marine called out and identified
joined a division of APD's operat- himself as part of an advance
Talent for future Treasure Is- ing in the Solomons area. Marine Reconnaissance unit.
land shows is urgently needed. If
Describing the first landing on "After the Marine came aboard
you are an actor, dancer, comedian,
singer, acrobat, or magician-we New Georgia in which several with directions for our Raiders, we
want you! hundred Marine Raiders were put put our boats in the water, loaded
ashore, Commander McWhinnie them, and sent them ashore. It was
Anyone, male or female, with any daybreak before we finished un-
type of entertaining talent-pro- says, "It was one of the blackest, loading. A few Jap planes appeared
rainiest nights ever seen in the
fessional or amateur, naval person- but they made no approach, doubt-
T REASU RE ISLAN D CH AP.EL'S three choirs will sing during the nel or civilian - please contact Solomons, and the only chart of the less because the · green of our
special Easter services in the chapel -on Sunday. The chapel choir of Sps(A) Wise or Paige at Theatre area where we were to land con-
thirty voices sings each Sunday in the chapel and the Wave sin(rers and tained a note, 'Do not navigate camouflage - blended with that of
Jubilee choir each sing at regular intervals. The chapel and Jubilee No. 3, phone Extension 15. · the island.
choirs will sing at the Sunrise service at 0630, to be br,oadcast by the these waters • without intimate "Covered by some of our own
Blue Network. The chapel and Wave choirs will sing at the 0930 and knowledge.' fighters on the way out, we passed
1030 services .. All personnel are invited to attend all services Sunday, "Fortunately, some helpful over shoals five times and in each
including the 1130 Easter Communion. :l)~o/; natives gave us a boost when they case had less thal\ one fathom of
Se/Ul.ice,J, ~ .<J. J. lighted some signal fires on two water under our keel. Guadalcanal
Many T. I. Sailors which Spencer Tracy was starred. p e/U(J.H,H,eL small islets near which we passed. was supposed to be a pretty grim
The unit includes seven enlisted
We steered so close to one that the place even in those· days, but after
To See Their Faces men, all specialists ( P), photo- * natives' fires looked like they were our experience it looked like a
grapher's mates, or strikers for
beautiful safe haven.''
on the ship.
On Silver Screen these rates. Prior to entering the BANKING FACILITIES '
Navy, they were employed by the
Every sailor on Treasure Island motion picture industry in Holly- WESTERN UNION Mobile Opera ting Room for Use
knows "there's a job for you in the wood. To make the film, they PosT OFFICE
Navy"-but not one ever guessed brought with them three truck- w AR BOND OFFICE In F"ront Lines Shown by N avy
it might involve acting in front of loads of equipment.
a motion picture camera. In their work on the island, the Atl 4 services located in Bldg. · The Navy this week unveiled its surgical attention within the "gol-
Last week, many men attached movie-makers were assisted by Lt. 258, Ave. H, near 4th St: answer to the urgent need for a den six hours" after men are
to the Operational Training School, (jg) T. H. Collinson of the Opera- * complete mobile operating room wounded.
the Frontier Base, and-the Naval tional Training School. SMALL STORES permitting major surgery in front-
Training Schools played "bit" parts Bldg. 215, 10th St., between line areas of the Pacific.
The self-contained unit, measur-
in film sequences which wer.e shot Cross-Word Answers Aves. M and N. ing 8 by 10 by 20 feet inside, is THE MASTHEAD TO
at those activities by a Bureau of *
Aeronautics movie unit from Holly- E D TRAVELERS· Arn mounted on a trailer that can be FEATURE ERNIE PYLE
wood. The picture concerns the role T E towed by any vehicle.
RAILWAY EXPRESS
of colored personnel in the naval ROLE The Navy said 28 such units have Articles by GI Joe's favorite
service. I Both located in Bldg. 221, rrth been ordered. Eighteen will be de- columnist, Ernie Pyle, now cover-
Technical adviser for the film is St., between Aves. G and H. livered to lhe Pacific in the next ing the battlefronts of the Pacific,
Lt. Commander_ C. N. Dillon, for * 30 days, three to a Marine division. will be published weekly in The
one and a half years in charge of SmP's SERVICE :tqo. I The other 10 will be held in reserve Masthead, starting with this issue.
the colored s'ection of the Bureau of Bldg. r:;2, 9th St. and Ave. C. '. for replacements. Pyle's column is published daily in
Naval Pers·onnel. Working with him · The unit can be unloaded and the larger newspapers of the
are Lt. D. M. Stuart of the Bureau * ready for· use within one hour. United States and is appearing in
Sm~'s SERVICE No . 2
of Aeronautics, previously an art Navy medical officers explained this naval publication through the
director for Walt Disney, and Fred I R AD D IE Bldg. 8, ;th St., between Aves. that any type operation can be per- courtesy of the United Feature
Zinnemann of MGM, who directed E R T E POL L S M andN. formed in it. They said it will be of Syndicate anq the San Francisco
the film "The Seventh Cross,''. in I MA E E S WE ET immeasurable benefit in providing News.