Stearns High school - Northern Lights Yearbook (Millinocket, ME)

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try it again. Ten-shun! OK. Right face! 'l'he thirty odd privates went into many interpretations of right face . Look, rlopes. when I say right face--. Ilere Sergeant Mooney went into an explanation of all phases of right face and related terms. When the meaning of his little speech seemed to be understood by all. he put them through a drill with a fair degree of suc- cess. llowever. the crowning Haw came as the squad was marching back to quar- ters. On the double! commanded Ser- geant Mooney. The privates looked at each other with amazement. All seemed at a loss to explain this command ex- cept Collins. Boldly he went up to the sergeant. Pardon me. sir. hc stammered. 'ibut if you'll show me where the double is l'll he glad to get on it! Sergeant Mooney was speechless. wk ir -is at jack Collins wandered aimlessly past headquarters after eating his evening meal. As he did so. his eye glanced at the large bulletin board hanging there. Out of sheer curiosity. he ambled close enough to read it. Show tonight at eight for soldiers off duty-all interested in basketball please report to Lieut. 'lef- ferson-K. P. duty-all men in Company ll4 report to officers after supper for special assignment. XYhy. thought Jack. that tneant him! Bubbling over with ex- citement he rushed up to Sergeant Mooney's tent. All others in his squad were present and in the same state of excitement as -lim. XYhat's up. sarge ? lley. quit yer shovin'. I wuz here fnst l Hope it ain't no hike! Sergeant Mooney dispelled all this ex- citement by appearing. Xtith a sharp command he silenced the group: and then. in a very serious tone. he gave the news. Look. yon bums, keep quiet. Every- one be at the dock in six hours in full equipment. Mere goin' across. Silence reigned for a moment. and then the men came to. Shouting and yelling. they hurried off to their pack- ing. 'l'hc time was short. but nothing could stop these Yanks. They were on their way now! lk Pk all is Sh1. Quiet. now. Remember, guns out of water. no talkin'. and keep goin' no matter what. Oh, good luck! One after another. the men of Coni- pany 114 silently jumped out of their barges and waded up to the noiseless shore. The first streaks of dawn were lighting up the dark sky. and in the dis- tance one's eye could just perceive the moon's gleam on the city of Algiers. It was the African Invasion! Silently the men reached the beach. Still not a murmur of life came from the shore. All around them. as far as they could see. men were landing in the same manner. Machine guns were hastily set up. scouts fanned out through the dense brush: in fact, every job was done to perfection. Pic. john Collins waded ashore. grim- ly carrying a box of machine gun bul- lets. He trotted over to the spot where his two mates were already assembling the weapon. and squatted down beside them silently. ready to start feeding the gun as soon as hostilities began. How- ever, nothing happened: and as the ad- vance units had already penetrated the thick sage to the coastal highway. the weapon was dismantled and, with his comrades, Jack made his way towards the distant city. I31l

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Ir-rl - ----v---- - orchestra. band. and glee club practice: the second hour different activities are carried on in the home rooms. and the fourth time it is used for assemblies. ral- lies, or educational moving pictures. llome room groups sponsor programs of interest and benefit to their members. Guest speakers, discussions, projects of various kinds satisfy these interests. 'l'his year many projects were under- taken for the benetit of service men- writing letters, collecting news items of interest. working through the junior Red Cross to furnish games and amusements. Different vocational opportunities were presented to senior groups and every attempt was iuade to offer the class the best advice on planning for the ftiture. ... , 0 Y., Z . Contact One good way to approach a new job is to contact someone who is already familiar with the workings of that par- ticular assignment. 'l'hcrcfore. we felt very fortunate while making last-minute preparations for flight to be able to hear from one who had had considerable ex- perience in the air. Un September 30, ,limmie Regis. former member of fleu- eral Chennault's Flying Tigers in China. spoke to us at an assembly. 'l'he program took the form of an in- terview in which Mr. Regis was ques- tioned by Mr. llalc. Mr. Myers, aml Mr. NYitty. Xte heard something of the and adventures ligers from one make-up, maintenance, of the famous Flying who had actually been a part of the or- ganization. lt seemed to bring story- book excitement right into the audi-- torium, and we-marveled at the fact that Mr. Regis could speak so calmly of what mtist have been terrifying experi- ences. L Round Trip to Africa The weary postman of Richfield, Minnesota. trudged tip the long latte leading to the Collins home. 'l'he day was bleak and cold, and the mail car- rier's frosty breath rose in the morning air. ln his gloved hand he held only two things-the Minneapolis Courier aml a long letter bearing the postinark of the same city. Reaching the small front porch of the two-story dwelling. he de- posited the mail in the box and turned back towards the road. ln tive minutes he had disappeared behind the tall snowdrift formed by the country snow- plow. Over an hour later, young .lack Col- lins picked tip the letter addressed to him. lle had completely covered the sport and comic sections of the Courier --the front page held no interest for him, and was now staring meditatively at the letter. lle took his time about opening it: and he was not outwardly surprised at the missive's contents. 'lack knew that his draft number was up, aml with his classification of l.-X, he was not surprised to learn that he would be in- ducted and sent to lfort lleyeus. Massa- chusetts. in eight days. .Xfter all. what else could a person expect? x at -if wr l'en-shun Y l'rivate -lohn l.. Collins. C. S. Army, snapped to smartly-he thought. Not that way. you bone-headed jelly- fish! roared Sergeant Mooney. Draw- ing himself tip to his full six feet. he informed this row of raw recrtiits that he-Sergeant Michael Mooney-was in the correct position. l,ike this, sir? one bright lad spoke up. No talkin' in the ranks. you half- witted fugitive from .Xlcatraz. Now let's i so i

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The sun appeared in full force as the :Xmericans entered Algiers. A few shots had been tired. but opposition was ex- tremely light. It seemed to be just an- other day to the native Nloslems. who were going about their business calmly. .lack Collins and his buddies looked up a narrow. dirty street and decided to investigate further. 'llhey had no busi- ness doing so: but, to tell the truth. they were quite disappointed at the lack of action and decided to find some if pos- sible. just as they entered the dark street. a fusilade of bullets niet them. There had been no warning. and thc Yanks had fallen into the trap neatly. Slowly they dropped. as if their bones had turned to jelly. Collins rolled over and lay still in the dust. Une. two. three hours slipped by. It was not until high noon that another tloughboy. yielding to the same tempta- tion that had enticed .lack to enter, made his way into the narrow street. Startled. he stared at the forms before him. lt was a gory sight. All three men lay in grotesque positions. sprawled in pools of their own blood. l'pon examination. the doughboy found no sign of life in any of the wounded Yanks: but. to be on the safe side. he sprinted out of the street and up to a soldier with a walkie- talkie . Quickly a doctor was called for. As yet. few emergency cases had been reported, so it was not long before an ambulance rolled up. :Xttendants care- fully placed the three bleeding figures on stretchers. and within five minutes the ambulance was rolling towards the nearest field hospital. ll! 'lf lk Sli Forceps Quickly and silently the nurse handed the instrument to the white-clad doctor. l'robe. With this instrument the doctor prodded with care for the bullet. He had already extracted four from the body of .lack Collins. and this was the last. Suddenly the doctor smiled under his mask. Taking the forceps. he got a good hold on the small lump of lead and brought it to light. He stepped from the room and removed his equipment. Xl'ell. he'll live now. 'llhe surgeon breathed with relief. Had quite a time of it. though. He should go back to the states. lt was too bad about the other fellows. wasn't it? They didn't have a chance. If if ii FY 'l'he small. gray steamer plowed through the calm Atlantic. Ou its sides and deck were painted brilliant red crosses. signs of mercy. Inside was the first contingent of wounded to return from the .-Xfrican front. 'l'here were l27 men. and among them was 'lack Collins. Still on his back. but cheerful as ever. he looked forward to seeing Richfield again. It was this thought that had kept him going through many dull days. All aboard the steamer were oblivious of the submarine whose periscope was a bare foot above the water 300 yards off the port bow. Inside the sub the cap- tain and mate were conferring in Ger- man. As the mate turned from the peri- scope. he spoke. There is one there. and it has no guns. We could shell it successfully, llerr Captain. Good Let me see. Yes, you are right. Give orders to rise. Silent minutes passed as the sub sur- faced. 'l'he captain and mate stepped out on the slippery deck with their binocu- lars. followed by the silent Crew. She will make a good target. llerr Captain. Yes. Give orders to tire-but wait! What is that on the side of the ship? lf?-'ll