Word: 110th
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Alexander has been a pilot himself for more than 20 years now -rose to be Major in the 110th Observation Squadron, National Guard. But Alexander is a journalist first and a flyer second. He worked 15 years with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, before he came to TIME (he applied for his job here by flying an Army plane into New York in the morning, meeting TIME's editor at two o'clock, flying back to St. Louis that night...
Toward midnight the trucks were loaded again and the convoy was off. To rest tired drivers, it stopped three hours on the way, resumed the journey by dawn. Before noon the 110th had pitched tents on Memphis airport, was waiting for the lightning to strike. It struck soon. To the airport came Ben Lear in person, read the riot act again-"disgrace to the Army . . . loose conduct and rowdyism . . . breach of discipline." Then he announced sentence. After a night's rest, the 110th would head home. And on the way every man in the outfit must march 15 miles...
...Second Army's hard-bitten infantry outfits this would have been a breeze. To the truck drivers, clerks, typists, mechanics of the 110th it was no such thing. But the General had spoken...
...110th's Battalion took the whole business as soldiers should. When civilians were not around, they laughed and kidded, sang snatches of songs, tried to improvise on an old theme-"General Lear he missed his putt, Parley Voo-. . ." And when they finally got back home they grinned at the gibes of other soldiers. They did not seem to feel that they had disgraced the Army...
Meanwhile the hooraw had proved embarrassing not only to Ben Lear but to the 110th and the Army. Last week in Olympia, Wash., soldiers from Fort Lewis tossed out mash notes to girls ("Please write to this lonely soldier," etc.) tagged with the postscript: "Don't tell Lieut. General Ben Lear." From 70 noncoms of the 250th Coast Artillery went a challenge to the 110th to a 15-mile marching race. Wrote the 250th: "If we don't finish first without having to write our Congressmen, we'll let you yoo-hoo at us." At a bathing...