The Fighter (Abilene Army Air Field, Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, February 23, 1945 Page: 4 of 4
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THE FIGHTER
February 23, I94S
Page 4
Field Golden Glovers
Lose in State Finals
FORT WORTH, Tex.—Abilene
Army Air Field’s entrants in the
1945 Texas Golden Gloves here
met quick disaster, two of the
three Reporter - News district
champs being eliminated by
knockouts and a third losing my
decision.
Pfcs. Don Pross and Wally Ross
saw just three minutes and 45
seconds of boxing between them
while the third, Sgt. Ray Chais-
son, went the distance but lost
out on a decision.
Last year Pfc. Billy Sivillo, the
“punchin’ private,” fell by the
wayside here in Cowtown.
The “Canvas Kids,” Pross and
Ross, were knocked out in the
first round of their scheduled
three-round bopts.
Hector Marquez, 116 pounds of
clever Mexican bantamweight
who later went on to win the title,
did a 1:35, first-round kayo job
on Pross. The photo lab special-
ist didn’t get a chance to display
any of the talent that in previous
years carried him to bantam-
weight titles in the Armed forces.
Marquez floored Pross in the
first few seconds, and then fin-
ished up with a hard right to the
chin for the kayo.
The Navy stopped the AAF in
the heavyweight division. L. G.
Haak, Corpus Christi sailor, didn’t
waste any time on the Abilene
champ. In 2:35 of the first it was
all over. Ross went down for no
count in the first seconds of the
round but popped right back for
more punishment. And he got it!
Haak met up with some stiff
opposition in the semi-finals and
lost a tough decision.
Chaisson ran into a high school
kid who loves school spirit and
doesn’t know when to quit.
Featherweight Lloyd Densman of
Marlin high in the Waco district,
edged the AAF radio specialist
who was flown by special plane
to Fort Worth after missing the
team when it left Thursday.
Chaisson drew a bye and auto-
matically moved to the quarter-
finals. The much-smaller high
school kid, backed by a roaring
mob numbering high in the
thousands, took a close decision
over Chaisson.
Chaisson had Densman down
twice in the second round but
both times the youngster, like a
dog with a firecracker tied to his
tail, barked back fast and furious
without a count. Densman ral-
liedin the third for a strong fin-
ish.
The Waco product lost out in
the semi-finals, but not before he
gave the opposition plenty of
trouble, and the fans plenty of
heart-aches.
Probably the most-talked of
bout of the entire tournament—
the light-heavyweight meeting of
Cpl. Billy Heikkila of Camp
Barkeley, also a member of the
Abilene team—and Cpl. Tommy
Attra of San Antonio—was the
biggest disappointment. Heikkila
broke a hand in the first round
of the semi-finals and later tried
it against Attra, another knock-
out artist, for a round or two but
had to ask the referee to call it
off.
Attra and Heikkila had the
“green” boys behind them and
their meeting had been billed by
sportswriters as “the” bout of the
tournament.
Attra won by a technical
knockout since “Hike” was un-
able to continue. Afterward both
expressed regret that the fight
could not have finished.
Attra paid him tribute as a
“good, clever boxer and one I was
anxious to meet.”
-o-
9
m
cvuiri
line
Q. Can a soldier overseas write
to relatives in the States in any
language?
A. There is no War Department
regulation prohibiting soldiers over-
seas from writing to relatives in
the States in any language. How-
ever, security is involved, and in
matters of security the theater
commander can impose such re-
strictions as he feels are warranted
by circumstances. Maybe there is a
shortage of Portuguese or Arabian
interpreters in your theater.
WHAT
D'ya Know Joe?
The Question—
“SHOULD WOMEN WHO ARE
NOW HOLDING IMPORTANT
WAR JOBS GIVE THEM UP
WHEN THE WAR IS OVER?”
PFC.
WILLIAM
THOMAS
Section “C”
Memphis,
Tenn.
“I think women that have an im-
portant war job should keep it un-
less she has no one to care for her
home.”
SGT.
ALFRED W.
GREENWOOD
Photo
Houston,
Texas
“If it’s a job an ex-soldier had
and wants back I think she should
give it up. I don’t think most wo-
men will want to deprive an ex-
serviceman of his job.”
SGT.
JOSEPH P.
DURR-
WACHTER
Drafting Dept.
(Hangar)
Detroit,
Michigan
“I believe they should all go back
to their duties at home and let the
soldiers make a little money for a
change.”
PVT.
SAMUEL
THOMAS
Section “C”
Memphis,
Tenn.
“Women who are holding impor-
tant war jobs now should keep them
after the war.”
-o-
HONG KONG NEXT?
Chungking (CNS)—Unofficial
sources here, jubilant at the
American entry into Manila, pre-
dicted that both Canton and Hong
Kong would be freed from Japa-
nese control within the next six
months.
ENLISTED MEN’S
BOWLING RESULTS
Team
Won
Lost
Line Communications .....
........... 2
1
Rangers .................
........... 1
2
Unit E. Eng..............
........... 3
0
Misc. Pre-Flight..........
........... 0
3
Unit D. Eng..............
...........3
0
Shutterbugs..............
...........0
3
Thunderbolts.............
...........3
0
Chairbome Troopers......
........... 0
3
Three Teams Tied
For First Place
!n Officers League
The red-hot pennant chase in
the Officers Bowling League finds
three teams—the Alley Cats,
Medics and Maintenance—tied for
first place as the season comes
to a close next Monday night at
the Palace Bowling Alleys. Each
has a 13-5 record.
Occupying top spot a week
ago, the Alley Cats and the
Medics kept pace by winning two
out of three games last Monday
and come to grips next week in
the feature match.
Meanwhile, Maintenance took
three easy points from the Smok-
ers and now enjoy a wonderful
opportunity to slip in as second-
half champion while the Medics
and Alley Cats are battling it
out.
Bandits, first-half champs, were
eliminated from further consid-
eration in the home streteh when
they lost two out of three to the
Cats. They are two full games
behind and no matter how they
fare next week cannot finish bet-
ter than second.
Belden again led the Alley Cats
with games of 217-165-144—526, a
figure good enough to give him
high honors for the second suc-
cessive time.
Sutton’s 501 count was tops as
his Medical teammates won two
out of three from the Dots to
stay in the pennant fight. The
loss of Price might seriously
hamper the Medics’ efforts in the
final games.
Eyres and Stoliker provided
the winning punches, with counts
of 491 and 489, respectively, as
Maintenance deflated the Smok-
ers, knocking the latter to the bot-
tom of the league.
In the fourth match, the Pin-
Slammers climbed out of the cel-
lar for the first time this season
Plenty of Fun in Store
For Avenger Athletes
Plenty of fun, excitement, and
competition are in store in the
weeks ahead for military person-
nel of Avenger Field with the an-
nouncement today by Lt. Earl P.
Beckman, physical fitness officer,
that various classes and leagues
are in the process of being or-
ganized.
According to Lt. Beckman,
classes in tennis, weight-lifting,
and “Judo” with individual in-
struction will be offered to mili-
tary personnel. In addition, a
badminton league tournament,
and a horseshoe league tourna-
ment league are scheduled for
the first week in March with a
tennis league tournament sched-
uled for the second week in
March. Full particulars on league
play will be announced in the
near future.
The classes are as follows:
Base Officers: 11 a.m. to 12
noon; 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Trainees: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.; 5
p.m. to 6 p.m.
Enlisted Men: 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.;
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Lt. Beckman, who recently as-
sumed his duties as Avenger Field
physical fitness officer, was trans-
ferred from Harding Field, La.,
where he was physical fitness of-
ficer for 11 months. He captained
the U. of Illinois tennis team in
1936 and was a star player on the
college baseball team for three
years. He also coached high
school baseball, basketball and
track while teaching social
sciences. His home is in Wenona,
Illinois.
Assisting Lt. Beckman, are Sgt.
Art Flori and Sgt. Dick Capen,
physical training instructors who
also came from Harding Field.
and did so in convincing fashion
at the expense of the T-Bolts, who
lost all three contests. Pillow's
475 was high.
AAF P^*n+o hv Diehm
PT STAFF PUTS AVENGER FIELD GIs through their calisthenics. Lt. Earl P. Beckman (left),
PT Officer, watches as Sgt. Dick Capen. Hollywood. Calif, (center on platform), goes through the
paces with the class. Sgt. Art Flori. Providence, R. I. (right), assists in conducting the class. Lt. Beck-
man is planning a complete athletic and recreation program for Avenger Field.
WARMIN’
,HE BENCH
By SGT. FRANK DEBLOIS '
By Camp Newspaper Service
Lt. Joseph R. Hunt, USN, 1943
nanonal men’s singles tennis
champion, was killed recently
when his fighter plane crashed at
sea off Daytona Beach, Fla., dur-
ing a routine gunnery practice
flight. Naval officials reported
that Hunt’s F6F went into a spin
from 10,000 feet while he was
making a run on a target pulled
by another plane. He never came
out of the spin.
Joe Hunt won his first tennis
title at the age of 15 when he be-
came National B o y s’ Singles
Champion. But he made his first
headlines in 1937 when he trim-
med Don Budge, the national
champion, in a warm-up match
for the Davis Cup. He made the
cup squad that year and the next.
In 1939 he teamed with Jack
Kramer on the cup doubles team
which lost to Australia, and in
1943 won the national singles
crown by defeating Kramer 6-3,
6-8, 10-8, 6-0.
Hunt was a superb volleyer.
His ground strokes were not out-
standing and his service never
killed a man, but he brought to
the game great physical equip-
ment, a great competitive drive
and a real love for tennis.
His naval career began in 1938
when he entered the U. S. Naval
Academy. He served after grad-
uation on destroyers in the At-
lantic and Pacific before trans-
ferring to the naval aim arm. He
was completing his training when
he was killed.
Blue Plate Special
Pro athletes no longer will be
rejected for military service be-
cause of physical disability until
their cases have been reviewed by
the War Department. You can
read about it in WD Cir. 17, 13
Jan. 1945 if you’re interested . . .
The Broadway Wise - Guys are
predicting that NY Yankee man-
ager Joe McCarthy will hold his
job just long enough to get into
one argument with Larry Mac-
Phail, new president of the club.
There’s little possibility, however,
that Lippy Leo Durocher will suc-
ceed McCarthy if Joe goes. Th'..
loud-mouthed one will remain in
Brooklyn . . . Manager Joe Cronin
says baseball will “carry-on” in
1945 “even if we have to do it on
18 players per club.” “Even I will
be in there playing regularly,”
Cronin predicted, “and so will Leo
Durocher” . . . Andre Lenglet,
French heavyweight who once
licked Buddy Baer, has been con-
victed as a collaborationist in
France. He faces 5 years in the
gow . . . Cecil Isbell, former Pur-
due and Green Bay Packers for-
ward passing star and now head
coach at Purdue, and Ethan Allen,
ex-big league baseball star, are
among the 8 civilian athletic lead-
ers who have volunteered to go
overseas for the Army in the final
phase of the current drive to set
up coaching clinics in several the-
aters overseas . . . Ron Northey,
Phils’ outfielder, and Flat Foot
Frankie Sinkwich, Detroit Lions
grid star, have been called for
their pre - induction tests. Both
are ex-4Fs.
Enjoy Your Food
at the NEW
Civilian Cafeteria
Opposite the Hangar
©
—WE SPECIAL IN GOV'T.
INSPECTED MEATS—
T-Bone, Sirloin, Porterhouse,
Club and Round Steaks. Ap-
petizing Chili, Home Made
Soup. Breakfast Rolls. Pies.
Selected cold plates and a va-
riety of sandwiches.
Open from 6:45 a.m. to
8:00 p.m. except Sunday
Breakfast 6:45 to 11:00
Lunch 11:00 to 2:00
Dinner 2:00 to 8:00
Short orders at any time.
LT. ROBERT K. BROWN,
Officer in Charge
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The Fighter (Abilene Army Air Field, Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, February 23, 1945, newspaper, February 23, 1945; Abilene Army Air Field, Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth598245/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Grace Museum.