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Page 83 text:
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IR EP The Air Department forms the unsung and un- glamorous team whose sheer hard work made the achievements of the ship's famous air groups pos- sible. Here is the story of a typical strike day that will disclose the chief functions of the Air Depart- ment's divisions. The human interest behind this bare narrative can never be related. But, let it be known, the sweat and sacrifice implied in such scenes was Americas truest secret weapon. Here is an average day with the Air Department aboard the i'Blue Ghost. ALL IN THE DAY'S WORK The Air Department, the main artery of carrier life, had six branches, known as V-l, V-2, V-3, V-4, V-5 and V-6, comprising altogether a team of over l000 men ..., It was the beginning of morning as the Carrier Lex steamed along the waters just off the coast of an island in the Philippines. The bitter wind that broke across the bow and gained fOrCe GS if whipped along the flight deck chilled to the very core the men who manned her. The ship was making a high-speed run toward its target to cover the invasion of a small island that would soon serve as a vital base for U. S. troops. Suddenly light glared from the horizon and with- in a matter of minutes the entire task force was visible: morning-and with it the threat of attack. This was the time for greatest vigilance, and for if ---gs... H 3'- l. RT last-minute preparations against enemy submarines and planes. The winged rising sun usually ap- peared with nature's sun, but even more suddenly. l'All hands put on flash gear-Bogiesf' General Quarters soundedl The fast and throb- bing notes of the bugle stimulated the movement of the crew to its tempo. Three thousand men an- swered the alert and took positions at their battle stations with a minimum of delay. The loud speaker blasted final instructions to the pilots, as the air- plane engines swelled to a roar. Bogies 50 miles off the starboard bow, prepare to scramble planes. This was the wartime Air Department, when a skilful team of fighters, bombers and torpedo planes sped to a distant point to deliver knockout punches against a powerful enemy fortressg Tarawa, Saipan, Formosa, Manila, Tokyo. The massive flight deck didn't glitter from constant field days as it does today. The planks were saturated with oil and the surface was scarred with the 23,000 aircraft land- ings since the commissioning of the Lex. Bogies 30 miles out. Launch planes. Hellcats, Corsairs, Avengers and Helldivers had all been spotted in a condition of readiness since 2 A.M. that morning. Early reveille for the Air Department was held at 0115 .... Since that time the airdales had been preparing the deck for an immediate launch to repel just such an emergency . W,-f---- 'f wW'4
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Page 82 text:
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1 4 K A E 3 1 , 1, 3 w 1 1 V! ! I n if iw I 1, 1 131 :M ii N ,V 'a il all 'n 6 L I 1 i L
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