63rd Air Strip
Every time the general left his office, he had to pass by min. he must have been saying to himself, “I’ve got to get that guy Brown off his can and out in the field with the troops.”
So, one day he said to me, “Lt. Brown, I’ve made arrangements for you to go to the 63rd Air Strop and get acquainted with the operation down there. I did as I was told. I found the air strip at the south end of Camp. The strip was a large, open area on which stood some kind of make-shift barn-like building which was used for a hangar. There were some blacktop runways with weeks growing in the cracks and along the edges. Scattered about in the hangar and on the runways were four L-4 (Piper Cub) planes.
I nosed around in the quiet country setting until I found a lieutenant working on the engine of plane in the hangar. We were friends from the start. He told me he was overhauling the engine and would test it tomorrow. I volunteered to accompany him. He accepted. Theres planes have only two seats. They were metal framed with some canvas-like material stretched over the frame. Their top speed was about 65mph if there was a strong tail wind. They creaked, shook, and rattled under the least strain.
Next morning, I was at the airstrip ready to accompany the pilot. When he showed up, the test started. We taxied down the runway, revved up the engine, and were instantly airborne. The pilot was probably thinking, “Free at last.” I was thinking, “What’s next?” we soared around for a while in a pleasant, cool, enjoyable ride.
Then came the testing. One test is to nose the plane up at about a 45 degrees angle, put the gas to it and take it as high as it will go. From my experience on this trip, I guess the planes were capable of heights of 5,000 to 7,000 feet. When you reach a heigh at which the plane can go no higher, the motor stalls, the propeller stops, and the plane flops its head down and descends straight toward Mother Earth. At about 3,000 feet, the motor starts again, and you get the feeling this wasn’t the end after all. I have to admit I didn’t like this maneuver a damned bit. But I guess it was necessary to assure air worthiness.
I didn’t get sick, but I was scared. We went through this exercise two or three times, mostly for my benefit, I suppose. Then, for the grand finale the pilot leveled the plane off at about 500 feet and we soared gently over the fields and woods of Mississippi. In the distance was a large farmhouse with a privacy fenced back yard. As we approached and zoomed over this yard, a young girl who had been sunning on the pool deck, arouse and headed for the house. The purpose of this exercise was to improve one’s eyesight.
The plane was a throwback to the aircraft of WWI. It had two seats – one directly to the rear of the other so that passengers were within touching distance of one another – a wooden propeller and a frame covered with a canvas-like material which was painted olive drab. It could fly a maximum speed of about 65 miles an hour.
The seats were barely large enough to be squeezed into in normal dress; therefore, no parachutes could be worn. A pair of binoculars was the only extra equipment I took aboard.
There was a radio for communications. Both side in the war know radio lingo, so you had to be brief but explicit with your talk. The planes used by artillery were mostly for observation, the observer in the plan calling down the commands to adjust fire that would destroy the target which the observer had found.
A mission (flight time) would last from one to three hours. Since the United States had air superiority not much thought was given to enemy aircraft. The very presence of an observation plane in the air would cause a lull in the area under observations. You really can’t blame them. After all, this is the “eyes of the artillery”.
Mission completed, the plane could head for the landing strip, and open field that was conveniently located. The strip might be ten to thirsty miles from the front lines.
I made several more trips to the airstrip until I was completely indoctrinated and ready for the real thing, Aerial Observation and adjusting artillery fire.
General McGaw asked me to take my survey crew to Fort Polk, LA, to put in some survey control. Fort Polk was near Leesville, LA and about 60 miles north of Lake Charles, LA, home of the 10th Corps.
It took us less than a day to drive the 140 miles to Fort Polk. We checked in a made arrangements for quarters, meals, and preparations to start work the next morning.
I figured we had less than two weeks work. After five or six days of field work, it was just a matter of time before we would complete our mission. At this time, I did receive word from Lt. General Courtney Hodges to report to him. (Hodges, General Courtney Hicks 1887-1966, born Perry, GA; failed at the US Military Academy, came up through the ranks. He fought in Mexico, WWI, and WWII; Commander 1st Army, WWII; 4 star general) I did as directed. In his office I went through the usual salutation and was offered a seat. He was the first 3-star general I had ever laid eyes on. I was overcome to think of the power he wielded. His words to me were something like this, “Lt. Brown, from my observations I like the way you go about your work. I need a good man like you on my staff and I’m asking you to be that man”. He then said that I didn’t have to make up my mind right away, but to let him know something in a day or two.
I departed his office and went back to work. I though about his offer for a day and then decided to stay with General McGaw and the 63rd. I called General Hodges and told him of my decision. He gracefully accepted my decision and wished me good luck.
We finished up in a day or two in Louisiana and returned to Camp Van Dorn. I noticed that I got an unusually warm reception on my return, so there was probably known at headquarters more about the offer and my decision than I did.
About this time, I got the feeling something important was about to happen. Sure enough, I received written orders to report to Ft. Sill, OK, to attend the Officers’ Advanced Class #46. The twelve-week course was to take place during August, September, and October 1944.
The class was composed of about 75 commissioned officers of which only about 3 or 4 were from the 63rd. my orders had read that my family was not to accompany me. With orders like that, I proceeded to rent an apartment in nearby Lawton, OK and invited Virginia and little Johnnie (two months) to join me in the ‘far west’ town. In no time at all, they showed up. I got to meet Johnnie for the first time and he, me. With this setup and some men with cars, I got to be with my family almost every night.
I can’t remember much about what we learned in t calls except the aim was to fill us full of details on how to pursue the art of conducting warfare.
As the classes drew to a close, its members decided to have a farewell party. We assessed ourselves about $15.00. this charge included one fifth of Canadian whiskey which was procured by someone who flew from Ft. Sill to Canada and back in a military plane. We got a ballroom on the base and a live band. A big, big time was had by all with no regrets. We all believed that the time was drawing near when we’d get into he real battle.
Meanwhile, I received in the mail a notice of a 10-day furlough, the purpose of which was to put my legal affairs in order and to visit my family. One thing I was supposed to do was to give someone a power of attorney over my affairs.
Along with the furlough papers was a note rom Sgt. Major Leins which said, “Do what you want to do and enjoy yourself,” since, I didn’t have any affairs, I followed the S.M.’s advice and we all used by ten days for enjoyment.
