UNITED STATES TION ACT BENEFITS FORMEMBERS OF THE CIVIL AIR PATROL

HEARINGBaFORE

SUBCOMMITTEE NO. 6 OF THECOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESEIGHTIETH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSIONON

H. R. 3673A BILL TO EXTEND THE BENEFITS OF THE UNITED

STATES EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION ACT OFSEPTEMBER 7,1916, TO ACTIVE-DUTY MEM-

BERS OF THE CIVIL AIR PATROL,AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

HEARING HELD AT WASHINGTON, D. C.MAY 7, 1948

Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor

VzMTW SWAUSGOVERNMENT PRINTIG OITIOD

7O6S WASHINGTON : 1948

COMMITTEE~ ON EDiUCATION AND LABOR~

. RHV A! "ARTLY. JR., NOW Jersey, 0alrmON1

OGRALD) W. LANDIS, IndianaCLARE &. HOFFMAN, MichiganEDWARD'O. MCOWEN, 01hioMAX SCHWAlSE MipouriSAMUECL K. MCCONNELL, JR., PennsjylvaniaRALPH W, GWINN. New YorkELLSWORTH S. BUCK, NeW YorkWALTER E, BREHM, OhioWINT SMITH, KansasCHARLES 3. XERS'iEN, WiseonaillGEORGE MACKINNON, MinntsotaTHOMAS L, OWENO4,1 IlosCARROLL D. KEARNS, PenusYlvania,RICHARD M. NIXON, California

W, MANLv

GRAH AM A. GARDEN, Nortb CarolinatAiUGUSTINE a. KELLEY, PennsylAVAuiso. C. FISHER, TexasADAM C, POWELL, 3m., Now YorkJOHN a. WOOD, GeorgiaRAY 3. MADDEN, IndiansARTHUR 0, KLEIN,NoW YorkJOHN p, KEINNEDY, MamuaaohuNettWINGATS It. LUCAS, Texas

SugverAao, claA

SuRC)ommITTmm No. 6,-UNTED STATES EMPLOYES' COMPENSATION COMMISSION

MAX SCHWA910 Missouri, c~helrvmaf

WINTSMITKa~aSAiUGUSTINE a. KELLEY, Pennsylvania

CHARLSIH KaRsasWscni 0. C. FISHER, TexasCARLLS I. KERTN, W1600y06a10 JOHN 5. WOOD, Georgia

RICHARD M. IXON, CaliforniaPsANK . MCA*SrapvoemI 8&

1' 1

CONTENTS

LIST OF WITNESSESPa'

Beau, Mal. Gen. Lucas V, national commander, Civil Air Patrol, BoilingField, Washinton, D. C ........ ......................... 9-11

Dawson Col. Robert E., Jr., national conmmander, Association of Civil AirPatrol Veterans, Charlotte, N. C ------- _------- - ...... - --- 11-12

Mason, William D., member, Civil Air Patrol Board, Philadelphia Pa.... 18-19Newcomb Col. Wallace D., Association of Civil Air Patrol Veterans,

Bryn Mawr, Pa ......................... .------- ........-.. 12-18Ritchie, Capt, Dan F., Association of Civil Air Patrol Veterans, Charlotte,

N. C ............... ...............---- ------- ........ - 10 13-18Short, Hon. Dewey, a Representative in Congress from the State oF

M issouri- . .. -.... ..... ................ ..................... 2-4Witney, George W., judge advocate, Civil Air Patrol, Veterans' Adminis-

traton, Philadelphia, Pa. .............- 3-9, 10-11, 12, 13, 18, 19-20

INDEXBeau, Maj. Gen. Lucas V. statement and testimony of ................ 9-11Dawson, Col. Robert U., Jr., statement of .................... 11-12Ewing Oscar R., Administrator, Federal Security Agency, letter to Hon.

Fred A. Hartley, Jr ..................-------------.............. 2-8Excerpt from letter to Hon. Henry L, Stimson from Hon. Harold L. Ickes. 19Hartley, Hon. Fred A., Jr., letter from Oscar R. Ewing, Administrator,

Federal Security Agency .......---------------- ------------ 2-3H. R. 3678, by Hon. Dewey Short, of Missouri.------------------- IKersten, Hon. Charles J. acting chairman of the subcommittee, statement

relative to purpose of hearing .................................... ILetter to-

Hartley, Hon. Fred A., Jr., from Oscar R. Ewing, Administrator,Federal Security Agen-- ...................................... 2-3

Stimson Hon. Henry-L., from Hon. Harold L. Ickes, excerpt from .... 19Mason, William D., statement of .................................... 18-19

Excerpt from letter to Hon. Henry L. StImson from Hon. Harold L.Ickes .......------------------------------------------------ 19

Newcomb Col. Wallace D., statement of .......................... 12-13Purpose of hearing, statement by Hon. Charles J. Kersten, acting chairman

of the subcommittee, relative to ...-............................... 1Ritchle, Capt. Dan F., statement and testimony of ................. 10, 13-18Short Hon. Dewey, statement of, relative to H. R. 3673 .......... . 2-4

it. R. 8678 ............................................... 1Statement of Hon. Charles J. Kersten, acting chairman of the subcom-

mittee, relative to purpose of hearing .......------------------ IWitney, George W., statement and testimony of... 8-9, 10-11, 12, 18, 18, 19-20

'Ix

.1

UNITED STATES COMPENSATION ACT BENEFITS FORMEMBERS OF THE CIVIL AIR PATROL

VRIDAT, MAY 7, 1948

Housic or REPRESENTATIVES,COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR,

SUBCOMMITTEE No, 6-UNITED STATESEMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION ACT

Wa/&Unton, b. 0.The subcommittee met at 10 a. m, pursuant to call, in room 429,

Old House Office Building, Hon. ChaAes J. Kersten, acting chairman,presiding .Mr. KERSTEN. The committee will come to order.We have before us at this time H. R. 3673, a bill to extend the

benefits of the United States Employees' Compensation Act of Sep-tember 7, 1916, to active-duty members of the Civil Air Patrol, andfor other purposes,

(The bill is as follows:)IK . 8578, b0th Cong., 2d sem.]

A BILL ''o extend the benefits of the United Ste Employees' Compnnstion Act of September 7, 1916,to sotiveduty membW of the Civil Air Patrol, and or other purpose

Hie it enaded by the Senate and Hfoue of Representatives of the United States ofAmerica in Congress assembled, That (a) the Act entitled "An Act to provide com-pensation for employees of the United States suffering Injuries while in the per-formance of their duties, and for other Aurposes", approved September 7, 1916, asamended (U. S. C., 1040 edition, title 5, sees. 71-791, 793), Is extended to personswho shall have incurred injuries, including those resulting in death, after ember 7, 1941 while engaged as members of the Civil Air Patrol (an auxiliary of theArmy Air Forces) on active duty, or in authorized travel to or from such activeduty. Any compensation payable by reason of the enactment of this Act shall bebased on an assumed monthly pa of $150.

(b) When a claim is filed, the Bureau of Employees' Compensation shall notifythe commanding general of the Civil Air Patrol, who shall Investigate and certifythe facts with respect to (1) the injury, (2) the injured person's membership i.the Civil Air Patrol at the time of injury, and (3) whether or not he wa engagedon active duty as a member of the CivilAIr Patrol (an auxiliary of the Army AirForces) or in authorized travel to or from such active duty. For injuries incurredbefore the date of enactment of this Act, the necessary notices and claims may begiven or filed within a year ol such date.

S.c. 2. Any person who hall have contracted sickness or incurred injury afterDecember 7, 1941, while engaged on active duty as a member of the Civil AirPatrol (ait auxiliary of the Army Air Forces) or In authorized travel to or fromsuch active duty shall be entitled to hospitalization and medical and surgicaltreatment on the same basis and subject to the same rules as a person of corre-sponding grade and length of service in the Army Air Forces of the Regular Army.

Szo. .-Nothing in s Act shall affect the military status of any person.Mr. KERSTEN. Mr. Short, author of H. R. 3673, is present.Mr. Short, it is a pleasure to have you here. You may proceed

with whatever statement you wish to make.

2 BERNrFITS FOR 11EWIE.,Is OF CIVIL AIR PATROL

STATEMENT OF HON. DZWRY SHORT, A REPRESENTATIVE INCONGREO FROM THI SEVINTN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTOf THE STATE OF MISSOURI

Mr. SHORT. Thank you. Mr. Chairman; I am sorry more membersof the committee are not present, There is not much that I can sayabout this bill except to express my own personal individual apprecia-tion for the mn4rvolous contribution which members of the Civil AirPatrol rendered during the war. These men, out of unselfish patriot-ism, gave of their time and money, flying their own planes, riskingtheir lives, runnin great hazards, to help at a most critical time par.ticularly when the Uerman U-boats were at the height of their activity.

You will recall that 54 of the 59 tankers that carried oil-which isthe lifeblood of modern mechanized warfare-54 out of the 59 tankerswere sunk, They carried that oil from Venezuela, Aruba, and Cura.cao. I visited those referies myself.The Civil Air Patrol carried on reconnaissance work, and they even

engaged in combat, I think they sank at least two submarines.Now, why in the name of common sense and just downright decency

should not these men, who received injuries in live of duty or duringtheir operational efforts-why should they not be compensated onthe ridiculously low base of $150 a month? There were about 5,000of them who worked during the war. They are still doing a good joband will continue to do it.

I was fortunate enough to be graciously invited by their organiza.tion to attend their banquet last year, It really would be educationaland helpful, I think, if every Member of Congress attend their annualmeeting.

I have followed this program. This is a very modest bill. I don'tthink it will cost the taxpayers too much money, and it seems to methe least we could do is to give them respectable recognition for theirunselfish patriotic services.

I do not know as I need say anything further, I am for it on thebasis of sheer merit.' I think the bill can speak louder than anyindividual. It speaks for itself.Mr. McARTHWR. Mr. Chairman, I have here a letter from theFederal Security Agency that I think Congressman Short should see.

Mr. KitsTeN. It will go in the record at this point.(The letter is as follows:) F

Ron. Piao A. HARTLY, Jr., Washington, May 6, 1948,Chairman, Commiane on Mducaion and Labor,

Iouse of Representatiee#, WasAington, ). 0.DUAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This letter Is in respeos to an oral request of April 0,

1948, from Mr. Albert Reiman, assistant clerk of your committee, for a report onH. R. 8673 a bill to extend the benefits of the United States EmployeW Com.

ation Act of September 7, 1916, to active-duty members of the Civil AirPatrol, and for other purposes.

The bill would extend to members of the Civil Air Patrol the b6nefite of theUnited States Employees' Compensation Act of September 7 1910, as amended,in the event of injury or death while on active duty or In authio~rd travel to orfrom such duty.

The bU is similar in purpose to other legislation enacted at various timesmaking applicable the act of September 7 1910 to certain groups who thoughnot civl! employees of the United Ett ardtherefore not eligible for bea undoasaid act, nevertheless perform services and functions for the benefit of the United

BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS OF CIVIL AIR PATROL 8

States. Of such character was the act of February 19, 1941, as amended Sep.tember 30, 1944 exen ding the bmefits of the Compensation Act to temporarymembers of the tost Guard Auxiliary.

The provision in the bill fixing the "monthly pay" of the injured member atan arbitrary figure for compensation purposes (the bill provides for an assumedmonthly pay of $150) is appropriate. Since compensation is based upon monthlypay, and in view of the fact that the members of the Civil Air Patrol receive noPay, there would otherwise be no basis upon which to compute the compensationBenefits,

It is noted that the bill makes no provision for the date of accrual of benefits.The addition of another section to the bill providing In substance as follows isrecommended for the consideration of the committee:

"No compensation for injury or death shall accrue In the case of any suchmember for any period prior to the date of approval of this act, but this provisionshall not bar the payment or reimbursement of medical and other expenses asauthorized by sections 9 and 11 of said act of September 7, 1916, as amended, ifnot otherwise paid or furnished by the United States."

Section 2 of the bill provides that any person incurring "sickness or Injury"while engaged in active duty or travel to or from duty shall be entitled to hoa.pitalizaton and medical and surgical treatment on the same basis as persons ofcorresponding grade and length of service in the Army Air Forces of the RegularArmy. The necessity for the Inclusion of this section Is not clear to us since allnecessary hospitalization and medical and surgical treatment can be furnishedunder the Federal Employees' Compensation Act through the use of United Statesmedical officers and hospitals.

We would infer that the terth "injuries" in line 8, page 1, of the bill Includesdisease proximately caused by the conditions of the service as well as so-calledpersonal injuries as does the Federal Employees' Compensation Act. Thephrase contractedd sickness or Incurred injury" In section 2 of the bill, however,throws some doubt on this inference.

The members of the Civil Air Patrol and their dependents have been specificallycovered under the civilian war benefits program with respect to injury or deathoccurring on or before April 20, 1945. On that date coverage with respect tofuture injuries or deaths of civilian defense workers (including the Civil AirPatrol) as a special class was terminated. Benefits are being paid at presentunder that program to the dependents of 'approximately 33 members who losttheir lives and to 4 members who were injured. The continuation of these bene-fits beyond June 30, 1948, would depend upon a renewal of the appropriation andauthorization for the next fiscal year. Should the bill be enacted, the civilianwar benefits payable under this program with respect to members of the CivilAir Patrol who were Injured or died before April 21, 1945, would have to be ter-minated in order to avoid duplication of benefits.

This report has not been submitted to the Bureau of the Budget In view of theurgency of the request for the report, and hence I am unable to advise whetherIi. I. 678 would be in accord with the program of the President.

Sincerely yours, 09AR. EwNo, Adminisl'eor.

Mr;."'Sou. The bill makes no provision for the date of accrualbenefits. That is true. Nor is there any termination date. It is tohelp not merely during the war but anyone that will be injured hence.forth, for all time.

Mr. WImvsY. On active duty.Mr. SnoRT. This is permanent legislation.Mr. WITNmY. The present registration of the Civil Air Patrol is

115,000. But only 5,000 served in active duty during the war, of whomabout 56 lost their lives, and less than 100 were injured.

But this has no termination date in the way it is written at thepresent time.

Mr. KvnscTr. What do you think about that, Mr. Short? Do youthink it should have a termination date in it?

Mr. Seen'r. No. I think that this organization existed before thewar# during the war, and it still exists, and they are carrying on verygood work.

4 BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS OF CIVIL AIt PATROL

Mr. WTNny. IArgely educational at the present time, Mr. hair-man, and that is why we want benefits only when they ate injuredwhile on active duty.

Mr. SHORT. It simply provides hospitalization, medical andsurgical treatment for only those who are injured in line of duty.

Mr. WITNzy. That is right.Mr. SHORT. I would not want this thing to blow up like a balloon,Mr. WIryY. We have no thought of anything of that kind, We

are primarily Interested in those on active du1ty an(Id )artictillarly t hose,who % ere o6 acti e duty during th.t war.

Mr. SHORT. Congress could, of course, changee that at any time.Nir. WITNY. As to the Federal Security Agency set-tup, the widows

and orphans of the men who were killed and injured are not receivingbenefits under the Federal Security A 1ency but through an appropria-tion which was made last year which, will expire on June 30 of thisyear.

If nothing is dote by Congress and that Civilian Witt' Powers Actis not continued, these people will be without assistance, We want,if possible, to have this act put through so as to pick it, up) on June :30,when these people will be out front under the control of the FederalSecurity Agency.

Mr. kfUSsTtN. Are there any questions of Mr. Short?Mr. FISHRn. No.Mr. WITNHv. Conlgressmtan Short, we are Very grateful to you for

appearing for ts.Mr. Snort,. It is a pleasure. The only trouble with these fellows

is that they kill you with kindness.Mr. KIRSTEN. It has been a pleasure and honor to have had you

here; Mr. Short.Mr. SHoUr. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.Thank you, Mr. Fisher.Let us pass this bill. It deserves it. You amy want to amend itslightly. ,, e'u

Mr. KIiSTR.N. We will give it very serious consideration.Mr. SHORT. I am sure you will do that.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE W. WITNEY, JUDGE ADVOCATE, OMLAIR PATROL, VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, PHIMADELPHIA,PA.

Mr. WITNEY. My name is George W. Witney. - I am Judge ad-vocate of the Civil Air Patrol and I reside in Philadelphia, 'Pa.

We have no desire to prolong the hearing any longer than youdesire to secure information. But we have men here from out oftown who would like to say a word or two.

I might say that this billhas been patterned after a bill adopted byCongress In 1934 for the aid of the people who worked in the CoastGuard Auxiliary. The reason the Civil Air Patrol is being taken careof at this late date is that it started so early that it really was inexistence before Pearl Harbor.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary started several months after that, andthey were able to get it started with the proper legislative enactmentsso as to take care of the various d6tails of status and things of thatkind.

BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS OF CIVIL Alit PATROL 5

The Civil Air Patrol started right after the defense program witsinaugurated and became it part of the Office of Civil itn DefenseActivities before 1'earl Harbor. There were a great many men whohad planes.and who were civilian flyers Who felt that they mightrender aid to the Government in the situation and they ban( edtogether in various local groups and finally became a unit of the Officeof Civilian Defense,

Before Pearl Harbor Major General Curry of the Air Force wasdelegated to advise with these groups and he' did, very ably. Thenas of December 8 he was wade national commander of the Civil AirPatrol as a unit of the Office of Civilian Defense.

Following that period the Civil Air Patrol went into a perifcl ofvel active organization work and training, and these groups in thevarious States--practically every State hafa unit.-.were ready for allkinds of missions and services for any branch of the Government,They did a great deal of courier work and guarding and tracking mis-sions and things of that kind, and until the spring of 1942, when thequestion of possibly operating patrols along the coast was first in-augurated.

We have here today the man who really started that., lie representsthe oil industries who were losing so many boats along the coast.He knew of these planes that were available.

Mr. KIJORSTION. Which coast?Mr. WITNEY. The Atlantic seaboard.Mr. Mason, who is here today, will speak to you briefly and tell you

about the situation which developed thle Civil Air Patrol as a coastalpatrol operation.

From that point on we then engaged as active military units andwe functioned under the Office of Civilian Defense, but we were sentout on orders from the Army and Coast Guard and Navy units atwhatever locality we were in.

Some 20 bases were set up along the Atlantic seaboard and alongthe border between Mexico and the United States, These werefully equipped by the civilians who had these planes. They oper-ated under military direction and a man from the Air Force was incharge of these various operations as national commander.

That work really drove the submarines away from the coast. Nowthese men went out on small planes, they were just single-enginecivilian planes, and they went out 25 to 50 miles from land and thenstarted their patrols up and down from the point from which theycame out from the shore.

They worked in pairs. They had radio-controlled communicationwith the shore, and they acted as a ceiling over all of the work thatwas done on the coast. These men went out several times a dayand they were equipped with bombs under the planes so that when theyspotted a submarine they might do whatever they could, in additionto communicating to the Regular Army and Navy units that werethen operating in a rather brief manner. And they did succeed indriving the submarines from the Atlantic seaboard.

Those men never got any money from the Government. Theygot a subsistence allowance., They did get a $3,000 insurance policywhile they were working in that capacity. But their opportunitiesof saving themselves in case of a failure of their engines was veryslight. We lost 56 men in those operations.

75880-48----2

BENEFITS FOR MEMBIRS5 OF CIVIL AIR PATROL

Mr. KEISTEN. Over how many years?Mr. WITNICY. Over a period of about a year and a half of actual

coastal patrol duty, and some wore lost later when they were pitt ontowing missions and duties of that kind. But during tile period ofWorld War It some 5$6 men were lost, Several were injured. Ithink the letter that you have from the Federal Security Agency willtell you how many are now receiving benefits.

This is only. to take (-are of the men who were injured and thewidows and orphans of those who lost their lives. We have here twoof the flyers who were on those missions and can tell you in a briefmanner 4ll the details of the work they did.

Eventually We were assigned by Presidential order to the Army AirForces and we have since tlhat time been under the jurisdiction of theArmy Air Forces.

We function as a civilian group now, doing educational work.Major General Beau, who is now the national commander, being amajor general in the Air Force, will tell you exactly what the unitsare doing now and the attitude of the national office on that.

The thing that I am anxious to bring out to you is that we havedifferent types of service that we have been giving. Those whom weare trying to protect in our particular action here today are thewidows and or-phans and injured men-men who were injured onactive duty-anl the widows and orphans of those who were killedwhile on active duty.

The large bulk of the membership are civilians who help in any waythey can to promote civil aviation. There is no thought at al thatany men in that particular category-cadets and the broad group ofciilians--would ever benefit under this, unless they arc assigned toactive duty by the Air Force and actively engage in it.

In this particular case these men were out on active, offensivecombat and those assignments in every case were made from theArmy or the military forces with which they were cooperating. Sohere are people who were injured or lost their lives under militaryorders as against the fact that we have several hundreds of thousandsof people who are not doing that kind of work.

All -we are asking is that we pattern our bill after the bill that wasadoptel tv help the temporary members of the Reserve force in theCoast Guard. That bill was passed September 30, 1944.

Mr. KvHSTru. What is the number of that bill?Mr. WI'TNEY. Public Law 448 of the Seventy-eighth CongressA,

chapter 449 of the second session: H. R. 3704 of that session. Thewording of our bill is substantially the same as thit.

We ar, not getting the benefits to the full extent that the membersof the Coast "Guard ,reC etting them, Those men on the CoastGuard were doing wonderful duty but they weren't beginning to dothe kind of service that the men n the Civil Air Patrol did.

Our work was out over the water on a landplane at a time when theGovernment had very few planes of any kind, and except for theavailability of these planes and the men who were willing to fly them,mostly over the military age, the Gdvornment would have beenhandicapped.

Mr. KERSTEN. How many planes were iii use during that periodof time?

BENEFITS FORt MEMBER$t OV CIVIL AliR PATRitOL 7

Mr, W iTNyv. At each base there were about 24 planes and therewere some 26 bases established, I would say between 500 and 600planes.

Mr. KlutsTriN. l)id thlat cover the Atlantic seaboard?Mr. WITN;S. And the border.Mr. KuisTrEN. And the Il'acifc?Mr, WIrNv. ]it some cases. In tie Paeflc the situation wits

slightly different because of Pearl labor, burwe did have oUti unitsoil thle Pacific coast,

Mr. KI0utsITi It wits mor or less o t intriated on tli easterncoast?

Mr. WITNiY. That is right. Wo did not have a stibtiarite ninncthere that we couhl cover, We did cover the Gulf coast, too.

We Were c'edited with spotting it great talty suintairines al1d put-ting the limited number of uiiits (if tile Army and Coast OiGart onnotice that, they were there. We had a Very Intricate sys telli of teoe-trpe conuilltiiatioii between the bases so that we cotihIget itiforini-ton to the land proiitly froin these radio telephones that we h1d illtile planes.

I do not wait to go luty further unless you have sonit quie i!,OII.I alti trying to give you just a bare outline. We have placed oil yourtidesk a book of the CiVil Air Patrol. It Wits prepared by the itreiauof Public Information of the Air Forces, and tolls a story ill a typicalnarrative forin of the formation and general operations of tile CivilAir Patrol,

If you are interested in what is happening as to the Federal Sec1urityAgency we can give you schedules of what these people are gettingnow, if there is anything else you would like to have, we will beglad to get it for you.

If you have no questions that you care to ask me, I would like tointroduce next Ma or General Beau, and then introduce to you thenational commander of the Veterans Association of tile Civil AirPatrol, and two of tle fliers, and Mr. Mason, who represented, likeI do, members of the civilian body who helped these boys in their work.I am here just as a representative of that group of civilians who backedthese men tip.

Mr. KmIsTmN. Would you like to ask any questions, Mr. Fisher?Mr. Fisrml. Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that I represent a

district in Texas along the Mexican border and not so far from theGulf coast. I am generally familiar with the fine work that the CivilAir Patrol did during the war, a very highly hazardous type of work,and most necessary during an emergency when we had no other placeto turn for that sort of assistance.

Is the principal purpose of this legislation to take care of the situa-tions that arose (luring tile war rat.ier than the future?

Mr. WITNEY. Yes, sir. If an amendment is necessary to limit it tothat, we are willing to accept that kind of an amendment. On theother hand, we don't know when an emergency of the same typemay arise again, and if these people are protected you are going to getmuch more prompt action from the members of tie Civil Air Patrolto volunteer for active duty, knowing that their families will beprotected to this extent. Every man who went into the service wentin from just pure patriotism. lie got no money; he got a subsistence

8 BENWrITS FOR MEMBERS OF CIVIL AIR PATROL

allowance. He had no assurance outside of the $3,000 insurance thathis wife or family would ever be helped in any way. It has been takencare of by Presdential appropriations and this civilian war benefitspro cam which has been~renewed year by year.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary, which caine into existence long afterwe did, and which rendered a service on the land, largely.--theirpeople are taken care of. Why should not our people be taken careof when we rendered a great deal better service without any comnen-sation, much more hazardous and long before they did? We don'twant our people to be put in a-a embarrassing positio-a. All we areasking for is some recognition of that kind for these people.

I sm certainly glad that you are familiar with our service. I hopeyoj w1l tell the rest of the committee. We have to work rather rapidlyon this because this other appropriation expires on June 30, and unlessthis gets through the House and the Senate, and is approved beforethat time, it Is very apt to lapse.

Mr. Fisrnnt. After all, this represents a comparatively small ex-penditure; does it not?

Mr. WITNEY. Yes, sir; indeed.Mr. Fisnsn. Only a limited number of claimants are involved.Mr. WITNY. Yes. And it is backed by so many civilians who have

no thought of getting anything for their time and service at all.Mr. KsussTrI, I would like to ask a question somewhat along the

same line.As I understand it now this bill provides for benefits to widows and

orphans and also to people who were injured-men who were Injuredduring the period from what?

Mr. WITNEY. The bill itself starts in December 7 1941, includingthose resulting in death after December 7, 1941. TLere is no termi-nation date.

Mr. KoISTEN. No termination date?Mr. WITNEY. No, sir.Mr. KIRSTzN. And the limitation as to those who are included is

the limitation that they must have served under the direction of thearmed forces?

Mr. WITNEY, They must have been in active duty. There is awide distinction between that and active duty. I doubt if we haveany men on active duty right now in the large membership. Theactive duty we are talking about is when the Government asksperiodically for men to volunter for tracking missions or rescueoperations of some type. That may be just for a day. That wouldbe the kind of active duty.

Mr. KERsTEs. Active duty under the direction of the armed forces?Mr. WiTmNmy. Under the direction and at the request of the armed

forces.Mr. KzRsTzN. And it is your idea that there should be no limita-

tion so far as time is concerned, but when there is any active dutyunder the direction of the armed forces you should get these benefits.

Mr. WTNEy. Yes. I think you will get much more enthusiasticresponse. Not that I do not get it now, but the men are taking risksthat they should not be asked to take when they are not fully pro,tooted.

Mr. KiUwSN. How many members are there on the Civil AirPatrol? v ,

BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS OF CIVIL AIR PATROL 9

Mr. WrrtNCY. Major General Beau could give you that information.The active-duty men, of course, ar just the individual oases.

Mr. KEsflTN. Thank you very much, Mr. Witnoy.Mr. WxTsv. I would like to introduce Major General Beau, thenational commander, and a member of the Army Air Forces.

STATIMENT OF MAI. GEN. LUCAS V. DEAU, NATIONAL COM-MANDER, OML AIR PATROL, BOLLING $1LD, WASHINGTON,D. 0

Mr. KNUSTEN. Please state your full name.General BBAu. Gen. Lucas V. Beau, national commander of the

Civil Air Patrol.Mr. Chairman, I would like to tell you that I have only boon with

thigh organization a little over 6 months, when I returned from Europeafter 3 years over there,

I reported in to the Air Forces and was told that I was to be thenational commander of the Civil Air Patrol, of which I knew nothing,since I was not in this country.

I 'became enthusiastic about the organization that does a job fornothing. They asked for nothing. They used their own planes,They gave up their time and effort and they gave up their lives fortheir country. They got nothing out of it. They lost about 100 oftheir planes and, altogether, through the years that they workedthrough the Air Force, they lost 50 lives.

Mr. FISHER. In cases where planes were lost did they get anyrestoration or compensation for that as their own personal loss?

General BOAUY. Not from the Government.Mr. Fisntn. None whatever?General BEAU. They just lost them. They were out.I personally feel I am not too familiar with this bill. I have known

about it for the past 2 or 3 months. I knew it was in Congress, butthat was all.

In my own opinion I feel that these people should get something,their widows and those that were injured and are unable to carry onto make a living.

I do not know the opinion of the Air Force as a whole, what theythnk, but that is my option working with a fine bunch of people,and they are wor king today. Even today we call them out for searchand rescue missions where an airplane is lost; not only an Army plane,but civilian planes, transports, air liners.

Mr. FIsmiR. Is that about the extent of the present active servicethey are in-looking for lost planes?

General BEAu. That is right. They have other activities. Ofcourse, they have this trmendotis program for the cadets which Ithink is one of the finest things in this country because we are bringingup a busch of young people; we are keeping them off the street, weare keeping their minds active, and we are certainly cutting down onjuvenile delinquency, and I think this country needs a lot of goodAmericans.

I really believe that this Civil Air' Patrol is one of the finestorganizations that we have, It can certainly indoctrinate the peopleof this country, and be one of the greatest assets to us for peace.

Mr. KxnsTEx. How many members does the Civil Air Patrol have?

t0 UlN'Ei'l'I' FORl MI-NOISi OF CIVIL, Alit l'AT1101i

00110-41 lI.~Au. WO1V0e haeOi reordI a4Ilut 12'2P00.Mr. IREI~'lN, flow 11ilally iplalles ha1vo beent u1volveol?Oeneral ihtAll. 'We 4i(0 try ig to get that" right tiow, Nil-, Chair.

mani. We don't, know exat ly how many phowes we do halve,Mr'. KHASTriXs itoughlv, (1,61ld YOU give US HoIon' ideat?011neral1 IhIY, 1. (10co1l1 not sily roughly becallso a lot, of thf'mn are

Ilot flying 10w, but th('y Ill-% used I1.1 round officers. We; are tryingto et, that in. I jiresumne We have about 4,000) planes.

NI r.% IHROTsN . Wilit Woild Id hiLlIt fiv( 11olley of netivti du1ty Ilmiderthe direction of the Arm~y Air l"or(4'? Would you, for ('Xtlilple, belikely to have, almost, any 11o01h, SeveraIl Such~l 0ptIMI~Oi?

Genei'arl h:& Well, df ('olml'ii, ii Ii iLe oliroli and( rescue, NMr. Chair-lili, Your winter monthsi ar~e thle nioii1thli that they are genlerlly out.

.hle waty It, is Hilt, ill) t0W thei nearetCuit(wl I) allby theAir Tiinsport Conumai ( wh uchi are charged over all Un i t~od 14tates,territory with seatrch itid l't'iellc. Tlhal, iS their job.,

They have nine dii'isions. whlich, atre separatted and Hot out OvoI'mtrategie, points in the cougiti'v, ATC will call on CAlP, the nearestOlunlit. Wher a0- It S oSt9, Or where it. wats latst heard of, 101(1 they willtell theml hiow many phtumes to send out anid Where to go. Anit thatwill be when1 they atre lled Out onl native dutty.

Nilr. K asiinw, Anything further?Mr. IiSnsR, There. were A601 10elo4 inli 110Of du1ty ill the1 Civil

Air Patrol tlur'iig tlie waxl?General BNAU. Y'eS, Sir.Mr. lamjm, i. Inaitiolm there Were at ntinile Injuredl, I believe

General BNAIT, Yes.Mr. Fisimm. t)o you have thle figure?General BNAV. 1 (10 not have thei figure onl the injured.Mr. KERS'rxmN. DO Anly Of Toil have tile figure?Mr. WITNEY. 1L0ss than A likin)11eI.Mr. Fisnuum. Then clis would, under thle ternis of this bill, be

pretty well limited to those imijured and these that weore lost.General BEAv. That is right. During that period.Mr. Fistmit, Comprising -less tia 200 altogether, in claims.Mr. WITNECY, Thle Federal Security Agency can tell you tile exact

number of dependents of men who lost their lives who tire receivingbenefits now. I don't think there atre very many. I think there areless than So receiving benefits, including wives and chilren.

Mr. KERSTEiq. Another question I would like to ask! General.Do you or any of you other gentlemlen know how many1 injuries ordeaths, if .inyr, there have been since the termination of tie war?

General BEAU. 1, do not know, sir.Mr. KERETEN. Do any of you gtintlemietf know the answer to that

question?Mr. WITNEY. None that I know of.Mr. KEmtsTiN. Were all of these 5o (deaths andl these injuries (lur-

ing tile war period?M.1r. WITNEY. Yes, Sir'.Captaini RJTCHJE. That was not Just due to (lying of sickness.

That was due to injuries.Mr. MAsoN. Twenty-six were lost at seat.Mr. WITNEY. There have been no injuries or- deathss since

BNEFITS FOR WINMBRIIS O1 CIVIL AIR PATROL ]]

(leel i BEAtU, Twenty-six have ieen lost over the water, ''ho.diflereltee 1tetweeit 261 and 5r, 01 R0, were lost oil coul-ler service, towtarget, towing, re0scI(e miiots1, alli oil thi bor(de'r patrol,

Mr. KIlOtl'ri'N, 'rilt wIold stee( to itditiate that tle otily realhazard here woul(l be drinIrig wartime.

(l-1ral IIAII, That iN right,,Mr. K1it0l0,N, Aid thit active (Iduty, ill peae Iiti, s101 its You

have had oil a s ial til(1t1'e sine tll' war, would t'oiiti It a negligi-ble 1isk ar1d tOer wold rot, be aty ral teagolt why the ),otctionshould rIot eaarry through th piotel,,tile likewise,

M 1r, WI'TINmY That is righi,M r. K Nlts'lN. Anything furtlr ?M r, Fl4islmnt. That is all,M I' KItIWsrNN. Tha1( yoU, geritlerirrNI r. WI'TNN, I WoIIId 11(-Xil 111W to itod(Il(e (o010hi4- 1 )Iwsoi,

STATEMENT OF COL. ROBERT E. DAWSON, JR., NATIONALCOMMANDER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CIVIL AIR PATROLVETERANS

Colonel I)AWSON. My nahme is Col, Itobert Edward J)awson, -Jr. Iam the national commander of the Association of Civil Air PutrolVeterans. My address is box 343, Charlotte, N, C.

Active duty assignments were given to CAP flyers and airplanepersonnel in TFebruaty 1042 to patrol coastal sea hae. '1 hse melt,uniformed as Army personnel, flying civil ian-owne(,d land plans,equipped in most cases with boml;s, maintained activey patrols overthese Jultos in combat (dity from 25 to 100 miles beyond the Territorialwaters of the United States, scouting for enemy stbmarines, survivorsof torpedoes ships and convoying Abmp groups.

They acted under orders from the Utitted States Army Air ForceAntisubmarine Command in cooperation with the Navy anti CoastGuard until the submarine menace was removed.

In addition, similar CAP inits were organized to patrol the Mexican)order, to conduct special courier service for the Government offices,tow targets for training antiaircraft units, and operate special expressservice for the Government over the mountainous regions of the farWest.

Thirty-seven men lost their lives in the coastal patrol work, approx-imately 15 on the Army air express service and approximately 14 inthe tow target antiaircraft work.

The oath' and orders under which these men worked, the routineby which they were exposed, were identical in every respect with theoath, or(lers, routine, and dangers of regular active seirvicemen. Theseunits were ordered:

To patrol coastal shipptig lanes am directed during daylight hours for thepurpose of protecting friendly shipping and of locating and- reporting enemysubmarines, enemy warships, or suspicious craft, and to take action as equipmentpermits in destruction of enetay submarines; to conduct such special antisub-marine missions as are director, by Headcquarters Army Air Force AntisubmarineCommand.

Pursuant to like direction of the Army Air Force AntisubmarineCommand, the aircraft of the Civil Air Patrol were equipped with100-pound fragmentation bombs and/or 250-pound or 325-pound depth

12 BENEFITS FOR MUSUERS OF CXVIL AIR PATROL •

charges. The patrols flew some 24,000,000 miles over the ocean andare credited with spotting 173 enemy submarines and attacking 57submarines. Civil Air Patrol is offieially credited with sinking ordamaging two enemy submarines in addition to those sunk by theArmy or Navy called to the scene by the Civil Air Patrol aircraft.

M'r. KERST10N. Thank you, Colonel Dawson.Mr. WITNY. I would like next to introduce Colonel Wallace D.

Newcomb, whois one of the fliers. He might be able to answer anyof the questions you have about the fliers, He is also one of theofficers of the Veterans Association. He is from Philadelphia. Iforgot to tell you that Colonel Dawson is from North Carolina.

Mr. KEHSTN. Will you state your full name?

STATEMENT OF COL. WALLACE D. NEWCOMB, ASSOCIATIONOF CIVIL AM PATROL VETERANS

Colonel NEwcoMp, My name is Wallace D. Newcomb and myaddress is Box 529, Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Mr. Chairman, the only reason for my appearing at all before thiscommittee is that I was one of the pilots on this operation. It takesmy mind back to when we started out over the ocean.

I recall being surprised at the time at how little there was. Therewas nothing out over our coastal waters in the way of Air Force pro-tection. We were amazed to find at the initiation of operations thatthe German submarines were out there. They were out there inlarge numbers. But what was more surprising was that the day afterwe started operating the German submarines started to disappear.Initially they went elsewhere. We started a base at Atlantic City,another one at Rehoboth, and the submarines that liaq been operatingin sight of the boardwalk disappeared and went farther south.

Later they went north. And by the time we got through chasingthem all up and down the eastern seaboard and around the Gulf anddown to Texas and the border of Mexico we had these 26 bases thatMr. Witney has told you about.

I cannot convey to you the feeling of flying over that ocean. Mostpeople that have done it cannot. But I can tell you about whathappens.

You are flying single-engine land aircraft, out of sight of land, overwater. An aircraft engine, no matter how you maintain it, ulti-mately fails. Most of us that have flown enough have had one ormore 'forced landings. On land you pick your spot and you landthere. Over the ocean you pick your wind and all you have a choiceof is the direction in which to land. We found that the airplanes thatwe lost sank in less than 5 minutes; some in 2 minutes.

Most of us have had the experience of seeing the other fellow in theocean. We have had the experience of having to try to rescue him.In the wintertime you could hardly do it. So we lost a few. Notmany, when you stop and think of it. For 24,000,000 miles of flyingwe lost about 1 per million miles But that hazard was there.

I remember seeing our own boys in the ocean., I remember alsosome that carried other personnel. And here is something'that youmight consider. We carried Army personnel, we carried Governmentemployees. We lost some of those as well.

BENEFITS VOR MEMBERS OF CIVIL AIR PATROL 13

The Army personnel were taken care of, and in case of loss, theirwidows and orphans, by the usual procedure that you have for takingcare of lost military personnel on active duty. The civilian personnelthat we carried were likewise taken care of under the Employees'Compensation Act. We have cases-Gordon Pyle was one-wherethe airplane went down, both pilot and, in that case, the Army officeraccompanying him were lost, and the ones who were never taken careof were the widow and orphan of Gordon Pyle.

Mr. FISHER. Of course, the Army officer was taken care of underother laws.

Colonel NnwcoMH, Yes. Of courfie, the Army officer would betaken care of.

Mr. FisHEi. But the man piloting the plane-Colonel NEwcoME. The man piloting the plane, for some reason or

other, because he is doing it as a patriotic thing, even though he isdoing it on the same orders that took the Army man there, was nevertaken care of. That is the thing that we see here. We have no wayof taking care of it and yet we feel responsible.

As we operated this thing these people operated, true, on ordersfrom the Army. Those orders came down through us. We per-sonally, the operators of .these bases, were transferring those orders,the order to Gordon Pvle, the order to the boys that went into theocean, they came directly from us operating the base. When we our-selves went out over the ocean it was the same way, the order camedown directly from our Government.

Now what we see here is that if the Government is going to useits civilian-trained men in different categories, a category of armedforces, a category of employees, and a category of people who for somereason or other cannot be compensated, you should not distinguishto the detriment of those who are operating without compensation.That point has been seen, I think, at the Presidential level inasmuchas the President somehow has taken care of it on a purely temporarybasis. It has been seen in the case of the Coast Guard Reserve andhas been taken care of by permanent legislation.

Having stated it that way I for the life of me cannot see why thereshould be any problem at all here. • But I have been up against thisenough now t realize that you run into people that simply cannotcomprehend the thing. I apologize for taking so long. And I sayagain, the only excuse for it is that I was there and I saw it happen.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.Mr. KERSTrx. Thank you, Colonel Newcomb. That was a very fine

statement.Mr. WITNEY. I would next like to introduce Capt. Dan Ritchie,

also a pilot. He flew on the North Carolina coast, and had the samesort of experiences as Mr. Newcomb.,

STATEMENT OF CAPT, DAN F. RITCHIE, ASSOCIATION OF CIVILAIR PATROL VETERANS

Captain RITCHIE. My name is Dan F. Ritchie. My address is Box343, Charlotte, N. C.

I would like to speak for those of us that did as I did, the pilotsand those who accepted, those hazards out over the ocean. If during

14 BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS OF CIVIL AIR PATROL

the course of my remarks I may seem a little immodest at times it isdone to more clearly bring out what happened on the duties of thecoastal patrol bases.

The first thing I would like to make perfectly clear and frequentlyit has been misunderstood: It has been stated that the boys own theirown planes. Many of them did. But many of them could notafford such ownership and flew other planes that belonged to otherpeople. They were garage mechanics common laborers, policemen,and practically from every walk in lie that reported for duty, andthose men consisted of such men as had, you might say, been bittenby the flying bug and were able, through their own efforts-or hadbeen able through their own efforts to learn to fly an airplanti.

Consequently they were not and still are not financially able to takecare of themselves should their injuries become worse and should theyneed hospitalization, they frankly are unable to care for themselves.

It is my opinion that half of the men that were lost, their familieswere likewise unable, and are still unable, to take care of themselves.When we first reported to duty we were under the Office of CivilianDefense. It was represented to us at the time that we were to partici-pate in patrol activity and with two-way radio and traveling inpairs, we were to report hack by two-way radio, what we saw and whatwe found.

The destruction of such, or the taking care of whatever might be outthere, would then be a part of the armed services. Upon reporting tothe base we were required to take a very comprehensive oath, a littlemore comprehensive, I believe, than that assumed by the members ofthe armed services. We were told in no uncertain terms that wewere amenable to the Articles of War. the rules and regulations of war,and to court martial. We were required to be in uniform 24 hours aday, and on call that way.

In the beginning we were permitted a shorter term of service, thatis, signed up for a shorter term. That was finally gotten to the pointwhere we signed up for the duration and 6 months thereafter.

The point I want to make is that t-he boys, when they went out inthe beginning under the Office of Civilian Defense, were not evenwarned that they would eventually be soldiers in the true sense of theword. Later it was found, by circumstances that it, would take toolong to relate, that it would -be necessary to arm those men. Wewere not asked if we chose to serve as a combatant or belligerent.We were ordered to carry arms, and as was read here just recently,just a while ago, we were ordered to seek out and engage in combatan armed enemy, even beyond the territorial waters of the UnitedStates.

So for as I know there was not a man that rebelled, that is, rebelledto having to perform those duties. We had developed a peculiarstate of mind which is understandable only to those who hadpassedthrough such things. We had seen the wanton destruction of sur-vivors that could not protect themselves being run down, by enemysubmarines, machine-gunned by the same. In other words, it wasan unmerciful warfare.

Having seen that we developed a peculiar psychology that to theperson in peaceful life seems to the person in peace ful life insane.We were willing to"trade out" with them when they knew that there

BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS OF CIVII, AIR PATROL 16

were possibly 70 personnel aboard thl1 enemy submarine, aii twoaboard our plane.We begged our bombardiers, the armament boys-maybe I am

wrong in the terminology-the Army had their own personnel to armour planes with bombs, and to set the bomb fuzes, and so forth. Theywere set at 700 feet, That is, to go off on contact after having fallen700 feet. We tried to prevail upon those boys to set those bombs at200 feet, because if we dropped them at 260 feet and they hit thewater there was some time elapsed before ihey would go off. Ibelieve it was 30 seconds, or maybe 10 seconds.' I don't recall thetime interval.

But we wanted those bombs armed so that even though dropped at200 feet they would go off at contact, which would enalb us to trade2 men for 70. That is the way we figured it.

1 may say that there have been various rernarks made as to how farthe boys patrolled the sea. Originally it was 30 miles. That wasincreased then to 50 miles, then it was increased to 60 mileg, and thenit was increased as circumstances and equipment permitted. Frankly,I have been, myself, out better than 10 miles, in a 90 horsepowerStinson Voyager, a four-cylinder job, overloaded. If I lost onecylinder I knew full well there was no chance of returning.

You saf, why (lid you accept those hazards under present condi-tions? Frankly, we did not know but whit, our families would betaken care of, as, the Nation had taken care of the survivor's familiesin previous times.. e were told, frankly, by our base co)iilktiahrs- -at least on Base

21--that our widows and orphans would be taken care of.We were not so much concerned for ourpoves as we. were for our

families. I might say in this eonwction, in discussing the matter of atermination date in this bill, that i think it is grossly unfair to ask aman to forget his family responsibilities and assume an active dutyjob whereby, if he does not return from that, his family is the loser,if you know what I mean. I do not believe Ihe is morally permittedto work that harship on his family, unless, of course, he is financiallyable to take care of it otherwise.

But very often our men, as I say, come from the lower walks of life.In fact, from all walks of life. Parenthetically, I may say that whenmy discussion here ceases to become informative I wish you wouldstop me.

Another thing I might say I was in the sister ship. I was thepilot of one sister ship when the other sister ship went down. I wit-nessed there one of those things that have happened probably millionsof times during the war, a degree of heroism displayed that, is un-heralded and unsung. The observer of this sister ship, havinglearned that his pilot was dead, instead of abandoning it, put him inhis own sea bag and held on to it as best he may for a period of 8hours before help could get to him. The boy was killed upon goingin, with a head injury, as you might well expect, an airplane withlanding gear digs into the water and there is an art of putting oneinto the water.

This youngster at that time did not do it, in other words. Why,we do not know. But he struck the water with such impact that itinjured his head so that he did hot survive.

18 BENEFIT8 FOR MEMBER OF CIVIL AIR PATROL

The parents of that boyto this day have nothing whatever to showthat their boy existed. They have not even a letter from the WarDepartment, or to the best of my knowledge, anyone else, except ourown base commander that their boy gave his life as much so as he mighthave on Saipan or in Europe or eiewihere. He is just as dead.

There is no provision for an citation, not even the Purple Heart,to the best of my knowledge. The boy is just gone, just the same asif he had died in an automobile accident.

That poses a question of what are we going to do in the future whencalled upon to probably perform those same duties. My colleaguesbefore you have told you what those duties were and what we tried todo. We have been credited with being reasonably successful.

Again should men be asked to go out and perform those sameduties, any sane person, knowing what has transpired previously,would, I believe, hesitate to jeopardize the future of his family, toperform a duty even though he knew it to be his duty he would likelyfeel that he could not assume the responsibility of jeopardizing hisfamily, although he might be able to assume the responsibility ofjeopardizing his life and probably would be glad to do so.

I believe in the future conduct of such activities, should theyarise, that the provision having been made to take care of the indigentthat results from such loss, would be a great factor in perfecting andhaving available such an organization which, if our records are true,performed no little service to the war effort, as Mr. Mason will prob-ably tell you later regarding the delivery of oil. There was one timewhen our oil tankers were smply tied up.

Gentlemen, that constitutes about what I have to say. If thereare any questions I would like to answer them as one who has beenthere, spent something over 300 hours out there. I would be happyto answer them in behalf of those fellows who cannot answer forthemselves.

Mr. KERSTEN. Any questions, Mr. Fisher?Mr. Fiaimit. No, I have no questions.I am quite impressed with the picture you have made for us, Cap-

tain. I think it is certainlv an unanswerable one from the standpointof the need for this legislation.

Mr. KimsTEz. Do you recall the name of this lad who went downand who injured himself?

Captain RITcHIE. Yes, sir. Guy Cherry, Jr., of Kinston, N. C.And the boy who put him in his own sea bag at the jeopardy of hisown life was George Groves, of Hickory, N. C.

And I might say, incidentally, that that ordeal, due to the sun andreflection of the water, injured his eyes severely, and he now has towear corrective glasses. In other words, the doctor said the retinasof his eyes were scorched beyond repair. And of course, he has nocompensation for himself, as it stands now. He must attend to hisown injuries.

Mr. K'RSTmN. And the parents of this boy who lost )iis life, heleft surviving relatives; did he?

Captain RITcHin. I did not understand, sir.Mr. KtssTR5EN The boy who lost his life left surviving relatives;

did he? . ICaptain RITCHIM. ,Ye, sir- his father and mother. But it so hap-

pens in this particular case the father and mother are amply able to

BENEFITS FOR MEMBER R OF CIVIL AIR PATROL 17

take care of themselves. They would not ask for any compensation.The would not ask for it.

Mr. KnwnrN. Inasmuch as you mentioned him I was anxious forhis name to be on the record.

Captain RITCMHI. If you will permit me there is another I wouldlike to mention.

Mr. KuTxsN. I would like to have you do that.Captain RITCHIE. There is a widpw of Fran Cook, of Route 2

I believe at least it is RFD, Concord, N. C. He lost his life on, Ybelieve, tle 23d of December 1942, in very severe weather, both severefrom the standpoint of temperature as well as adverse flying conditions.

That lady, of course, received the insurance that we were requiredto car, of approximately $3,000, in fact it was $3,000. That lackeda smaU amount of paying off the mortgage of their modest home.

She has been receiving, since, apjroximately $40 a month. Havingfour children, two of which are self-supporting, two of which are notself-supporting, she is indigent. In other words, in bad conditionand has been, since, having much difficulty in making ends meet.She lives in a rural community, as her address indicates. She had awater system installed prior to the war, and water systems were notavailable during the war. 'After the husband passed away, in orderto get a couple of dollars a month, she allowed her neighbors to tieon to her water system and they paid her the sum of $1 a month, andshe was afraid all the time that the water system would fail and couldnot be replaced, but she needed the dollar.

I was very close to that. I was in the air only 15 miles from wherethat boy went down. Two of them went down incidentally. One ofthe two, fortunately, happened to find the body some 3 months later,floating near a mine which we were investigating, locating that par-ticular mine floating in the water. This object, this same oy, FrankCook, his body was floating within a few yards of that mine, nothingleft of the body but the torio. The head, arms and legs were gone.But due to the heavy clothing and a peculiar leather jacket that hehad on, preserved or held together his putrifled body and we wereable to identify itby the jacket by the number of his Mae West andby a book he bad Ins sh t pocket that was so tightly closed with therubber band that the water did not get into it.

But he was easily identified. That is all we had to identify thissame widow's husband that I was telling you about.

I might say incidentally, that an individual in providing the casketsealer in which his body was put, to the best of my knowledge therewas no aid even in his funeral expenses, except from individuals, notgovernmental aid.

If I may be permitted to say one more thing, which probably willbe of interest to you, sir; I do not believe the passage of this billwill mean very much, if any, more expenditure than has-been, becauseit is merely a matter of extending what the President saw fit to put inan emezecy bill, or whatever the case may be. I do not know the'technicalities of it.

But I doubt very seriously whether it will increase, or certainlynot very materially any expenditures that are not now already beingexpended, but which will expire on the 30th of June.

I .there anything else, sir?Mr. KIsrN. Any further questions?

18 1IUNFITIT FOR MEMBERS OF CIVIL AI t PATROL

Mr. Fisuaa. No further questions.Mr. KERSTUN. Thank you very much, for a very fine statement,

Captain Ritchie.Captain tRITCHIE. Thank you.Mr. WITNEY. Mr. Chairman, there are several other fliers but we

thought we would limit our presentation to two, today.The next gentleman, who will conclude our presentation today, is

Mr. William Mason, a director of the Sun Oil Co., of Philadelphia.Mr. Mason was very active before the war and during the war, not

only in the Sun Oil Co., but in the entire petroleum industry. He wasconstantly in Washington trying to coordinate the work of the oilindustries for the Government. lie was one of the first men to knowabout the Civil Air Patrol and to recognize the possible use for it inthe war effort.

He had been with the Civil Air Patrol before it started on the coastalpatrol, ie was a private flier himself, had his own plane and was amember of our organization, so he is very well qualified to tel you ofthe start the Government made in getting the coastal patrol set up,and also in answering any questions that have to do with the workthat they accomplished from an industrial standpoint.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM D. MASON, MEMBER, CIVIL AIRPATkOL BOARD

Mr. MASON. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Fisher, my name is William D.Mason. I am a director of the Sun Oil Co. and my address is Phila-delphia, Pa.

After the very impressive testimony that has been given by Capt.Dan Ritchie and the other gentlemen here today, it hardly seemsnecessary that I dwell at length upon this particular subject. How-ever, I would like to say that I, for one, feel a very deep responsibilityin connection with this entire program, in connection with this billand its passage.

During the war I happened to be in Washington during the fall of1941, in connection with obtaining priorities for my company, in orderto build 100-octane gasoline plants.

We realized and appreciated that the war was coming, and prior toPearl Harbor we started our program. So I was here then, and ofcourse after Pearl Harbor, especially after January, from January toFebruary 4 or 5, we had 13 tankers sunk on the east coast. Theystarted, I think, in January 1941.

We were conscious of the fact that the tankers were sunk, and ifthey continued being sunk at that rate, that we wouldn't have petro-leum enough to carry on the war effort. In fact a shortage did exist.

I discussed the matter with my people, Mr. J. toward Pew, particu-larly the president of my company then, and inasmuch as I was amember of the Civil Air Patrol, beinf a private flier, I went to seeGeneral Curry, who was then the national commander, on February4, 1942.

General Curry said that the private planes could be used but thatlie needed two things: He needed money and he needed, a directive.I said, "I will do what I can."

I went to work and I guaranteed him the money from the petroleumindustry to finance the guinea-pig bases that he wanted to install onthe coast.

BENEFITS FOR MEMBIIRW OF CIVIL AIR PATROL 19

The job was to obtain a directive, which we did, and by March 6the first flight went out of Atlantic City and Rehoboth. We put inthe two guinea-pig bases.

For the first 2 months of the existence of the Civil Air Patrol thowhole activity was financed by the petroleum industry.

During that time the airplanes or nothing was insured. After theGovernment took over the operation---this is something which GeneralBeau is not in a position to know-the airplanes were insured. Iknow I lost my own ship and I was paid for it. It was lost in Texas,by the way.

So that is the story, gentlemen. We, of the petroleum industry,are deeply conscious of the great work and the great job that was done.If it had not been for these boys and the contribution that they made,the outcome, the results of the war would have been a lot different.None of us know what would have happened.

During the time that I was Director of the Facilities Security Divi- r

sion of YAW I had to work through Mr. Ickes to Mr. Stimson, in orderto expand these bases on down the coast.

I would like to read here from a letter, signed by Mr. Ickes to Hen.Henry L. Stimson, the last two paragraphs, written on June 25, 1942:

Many persons have expressed a conviction that the Civil Air Patrol has notbeen used to the best advantage and that the delay in adopting this form of pro-tection has contributed to the loss of many tankers, and lives, and to the shortageof petroleum on the east coast.

From time to time tanker owners, prompted by the losses that have occurred,and by the fact that Army and Navy equipment was not available to give adequateprotection, have requested that further use be made of the Civil Air Patrol Ifadded protection to our tankers, and other vessels as well, might be had by extend-ing the use of the Civil Air Patrol planes, I would urge that this be done with anabsolute minimum of delay.

These bases extended on down the coast. Finally, we had completecoverage from Maine to Mexico, and then at the request of the Mexi-can Government, we patrolled the Mexican coast.

The work that they did was outstanding, as well as the contributionthat they have made. You gentlemen have heard the story. Thereis nothing further that I can tell you, except that I do know that thewhole petroleum industry is very deeply grateful for the contributionthat these gentlemen have made.

In the interests of equity and justice I do not think that there isanything that our Government could do, and there is nothing thatshould be done any more than the passage of this bill.

I thank you very much.Mr. WITNEY. I hope you gentlemen will find an opportunity to

read the book. In the book you will find a list of the men who losttheir lives, and a list of the bases and the base commanders.

The second thing I would like to do is to urge speed if you possiblycan, in the consideration of the bill. We are pressed for time. Wemust work against June 30 as a deadline. This must nt only bepassed by the House if it is going to be successful, but by the Senatebefore that date, or whenever Congress adjourns.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your most carefulconsideration of our presentation today, and we want to offer ourservices in any way we can.

If you want more copies of the book for other members of the com-mittee we would be glad to leave them with you, or do anything wecan to help the cause along.

20 SaFZ4EFITS FOR MEMBDES OF CIVIL AIR PATROL

Mr, KmESTaN. I want to say that this story told by you men thismorning was a very impressive one. It demonstrated that in a branchof civilian life, in fact, any branch of civilian dfe, there is that deepfeeling of patriotism among the American people, members of whichwill go out and, risk their Jives regardless of such things as compensa-tion. It is the type of thing that occurred there that occurred, forexample in England when England was faced with invasion, andChurchill made this famous speech that he would fight them in thestreets and in the fields.

While we were not subjected to the same threat of invasion to thesame degree, perhaps, yet it might have been that, and every one ofthese men that went out was operating onthe same basis. It mighthave been that the entire group of Civil Air Patrol men might havebeen wiped out in such a situation,

They %ent into the job with that ppsaibility and they have dem-ostrated greatpatriotism, and everyJAst one of them is to be greatlycomplimented, They have earned the gratitude of the people of thecountry as a whole, I know.

We will give this bill very serious consideration, and personally,I do not see any valid answer to the bill.

Mr. FIssoU, Mr. Chairman, if it is in order, unless therm is some-thing to be done first, I move that we report the bill favorably to thefull committee.

Mr. KERSrsN. If I can second it, I will second it.Mr. WRIry. Thank you gentlemen, very much.(Whereupon, at 11:25 a. m. the committee adjourned without date.)

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