'Round the Girdled Earth

R. W. BALDWIN, of Libertyville, Illinois, aged 73, is the father of two Dartmouth sons, Vincent C. '23, and Richard S. '31. Mr. Baldwin enlisted as a common seaman in the United States Merchant Marine and is probably "the oldest enlisted man in non-swivel chair duty" in the service.

Mr. Baldwin has long been a friend andadmirer of Dartmouth College and is anhonorary member of Bait and Bullet. Someyears ago he sent to Dean E. Gordon Billsome mallards, pheasants, and other gamebirds which are the ancestors of these gamebirds now on the Ridge, Occom Pond, andother parts of Hanover.

He has now just sailed on a cruise of ayear's duration. A grand old man and weare proud to print his recent letter to DeanBill.

Home again! Away a little over three months. Can now reveal that was fortunate enough to have been a crew member on the A. T. that landed those reinforcements on Guadalcanal. We spent nine days: Jan. 4th to 13th at Guada and Tulagi. Went through five sub attacks, one by air, and one by eight destroyers, three of which were knocked out in less than an hour. I transferred over from M. M. to the Army Transport Service (A.T.S.). Felt that in doing so, my objective, closeness, comradeship with the boys, more opportunities to befriend them, would be gained. Then too a better chance to see and get into action. And so it proved. At Guada after unloading enough bombs, T.N.T. shells of all sizes, that had a flying fish hit us, or a butterfly, Australia would have been turned up side down, we took on board some 250 sick and wounded boys. Our hospital ward being short handed I was permitted to serve as an additional attendant. And what a privilege. Yes, have sat beside boys as they went West, beside others slipping that way, with those sorely wounded and those simply burning up with malaria. With a wonderful boy, back broken, paralyzed from hips down, neither bowels nor bladder functioned, but never a whimper, never a complaint. He suffered, and how, but in silence. Several times he would smile when I entered his bunk room and greet me with "I'm an awful nuisance ain't I, Dad"?

This was the spirit of all the boys. Glorious indeed to have been one with them, thankful and humble in my gratitude for the opportunity. The reward? Standing at the gang plank as they left ship and hearing, "Goodby, Dad. I'll never forget you." We visited the Fiji, New Hebrides, New Caledonia and Honolulu in addition. No mail until berthed in San Francisco two weeks; and not then, as on account of a broken and crushed toe was in hospital for a week. Finally did get my hands on it.

Your "pat on the back" letter was a real bracer. The D.O.C. shirt you contributed is with me and brings up memories. That bit of news item you placed in the Jan. ALUMNI MAGAZINE, proved to be as a score of Pandora's "devilish" boxes, as quotes from it and other sources are here from all over the U. S. And on top of it, when finally signed my name and took the oath refused to have such a normal thing publicized. And then comes this flood! All through that Alumni article. I am a Dartmouth this! and a Dartmouth that; a graduate and so; everything seemingly save the Wa-hoo-waw whom Eleazar matriculated.

After have made another A. T. S. trip or two and in so doing contacted some Dartmouth boys. Hoppy, I guess to square me with these' mis-statements, will have to place that bit of purple around my neck. Went down just 32 pounds, but balanced this by throwing off forty years of that three score and ten. Reported in for active duty today and so in a few days will be on my way again.

Regret that I cannot tell you more, my reactions, etc., but being simply an A. B. S., my lips must be doubly guarded. I know that Dartmouth is covering herself with a new mantle of glory in the work she is doing with these officer training groups. From boys of the 23 to 31 period, alumni I mean, those whom I knew, it would seem as though 65% of them have answered the call, while recent classes have stepped up almost man for man.

My nights are troubled by scenes and happenings that I can never forget. Will write the boys in Bait and Bullet and thank them for the honor conferred upon me. This is deeply appreciated.

To kindle that old heart of yours just a "wee" bit, enclose two "Things" (?) well, hardly that, "Things" sounds harsh and brassy-like; but anyway, two pictures drawn by a dear old friend, that were sent me in varying years before they reposed in book form. Just thought you would enjoy the rather log fire, old pipe feeling of other days with me. Thanking you for the years that I have known you, for the D.O.C. raiment, and with best wishes to your family, to Phil.

H. DEAN BAKER JR. '25 enlisted as anable seaman and is now somewhere inNorth Africa. His letter which follows isan answer to several questions I sent outin March. I think his a fine reply.

It is always pleasant to hear from someone in Hanover and your interesting letter of March 18th was most welcome. You ask a number of questions to which I believe you would like my answers.

If I were to select my college courses again I would choose solely with the idea of gaining an understanding of our civilization—more literature, history and philosophy and no accounting and finance. That part of my Dartmouth education which was cultural has helped me to understand and evaluate ideas, men and events. I have always found it possible to acquire training in "practical" matters as the occasions have arisen. For the future, I hope that the College will continue uncompromising. support of liberal education. I would like to suggest that an examination of the St. John's College experiment might uncover features which would be useful at our own college.

Everyone thinks about peace and the world after war. After national survival I believe that most people want from this war a peace without fear of attack. Such a peace can be established if the power to enforce it is held by those nations whose national self-interest is served by peace, and it will last as long as they have the will to use the power. Nations who are satisfied with the status quo want peace. I should like to see the United States, Russia, the British Empire and China—all with great natural wealth—holding the deciding position in whatever international organization may be set up. Tying up our postwar objectives with our true self-interest, having due regard for that of others, would be useful procedure all along the line.

One more thing and I will have most of it off my chest. I would like to see our educational and religious institutions place continuous emphasis on individual social responsibility. Too many people think of themselves as atoms whose thinking, talking, acting, and voting do not matter. It seems to me that many of our demo- cratic failures stem from this mistaken conviction.

LT. GEORGE R. CRUZE JR. '41, hasbeen in action at the front in North Africasince last December 26th, in a combat unitwith a firing battery of Field Artillery. Incollege he roomed one year with JackBrister '41. There follows an excerpt fromone of his letters.

The night life in this joint is not everything that it might be. I am sitting in a 6 by 6 GMC truck, at present. The nights are cold here, but the cab of this truck is warm, and as Lt. Horn and I sit here writing by candlelight, like a couple of Abe Lincolns, we can hear the run-of-the-mill noises of an army bivouac—Cursing, as a G.I. stumbles over a gas drum; the hee-haw of a distant jack-ass; wind swishing through the upper knobs of palm trees; and the yelps of maltreated native mongrels. It is dark, and the windows of the cab are covered with a G.I. rain-coat, a burlap sandbag and a three-month-old comic strip. Over in another part of the area the Ist sergeant is running a crap game, for yesterday was payday, and from his tent come peals of laughter and the sour notes of a well-worn accordion.

I have seen a lot of N. Africa. I have seen the bare, towering rocky mountains, the desert, and the strange cities. I have seen other things too! When, in future days, men speak of the "Battlefield," vivid pictures will be framed in my mind, for I know now what war is like.

When you get right down to it, it isn't so bad. It's a lot harder on the people back home than it is on us, IN MOST CASES, and they don't get the credit. I censor most of the mail for this battery and I don't feel sorry for a single boy here, but I do for some of the people back home.

I've seen enough action to be able to estimate my chances of coming through this thing alive and unscathed, and take it from me, Mother, they are excellent. Before I got here I was rather pessimistic about such things, now I laugh at some of my former ideas about it. We are very well taken care of here. We have been, and are being inoculated for everything. The water we drink is purified first, and we bathe. . . .WHEN WE CAN .... in places that have been thoroughly inspected. The food is better than you could ever imagine. We never go hungry and I have never been cold. Please don't worry about me, because it is a waste of time. I wouldn't take anything for this experience. It beats those glorious times Halliburton enjoyed and that I reveled in when I was a kid.

Thanks again for that swell Christmas package. You must have put a great deal of thought on that: .. . talked to a soldier or two. The gifts couldn't have been selected any better. Thanks so much. I received that shirt this morning and have it on now. You ought to hear me rattle off the French .... 00-la-la!!! I have frequent occasion to do Army business with the aid of the universal sign language, and with my ever-increasing fluency, I manage to pull some fine deals.

I have sent home over $300, and please acknowledge it toute suite. There was an increase in the value of the franc. Formerly 75 francs equaled one buck; now 50 francs are a dollar. I had in my possession "beaucoup" francs, hence made quite a bit of dough out of it. All that has been sent home and I will continue the practice. I got a new Tommy gun yesterday. It is terrific, as I found out expending many rounds yesterday. I want an M-i now and then will be right proud to entertain some Jerries. As a matter of fact, this battalion is always right proud to provide amusement for the "chosen race."

LT. HANFORD W. ELDREDGE '31,U.S.A.A.F., writes from, overseas a letterwhich will be of interest to all Dartmouthmen.

Through some English friends I had the opportunity to visit Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Eden at their summer house over Easter; quite a wonderful experience. Eden is a member of the Kings Royal Rifles and was invited to be present at a farewell dinner given by Ambassador Winant for the 16 odd boys who went from the U. S. to join that famous English regiment. He spoke very highly of the boys—and while he did not remember any of them by name did speak especially of one who was especially close to Winant. I think that was Bolte. He said it was quite a shock to see all those lads in his regimental mess kit, but he really felt that they were a very fine bunch. He stated that six of them that had gone through their cadet course (the Cadet Course of the Royal Rifles) had been the highest ranking in the entire class. It appears that this group of six were the only Americans in the school at that time. Winant was much amused when Anthony Eden jokingly bawled out the Colonel in charge of the school stating that he "took a very dim view" of Americans beating out English and that it would never have happened in his days as a cadet. I hope that I have not made it appear that the Foreign Minister did not greatly enjoy the dinner and did not feel great pride in the Americans in his regiment. By the way, Winant and Eden seem to be great personal friends.

Mr. Eden told me a little of the history of the regiment which you probably already know. It was originally an American regiment formed to fight Indians better than the Red Coats; Washington etc., were officers at one time or another in the force which was called "Green Coats" which still remains their uniform color. Their first great action was the storming of the Heights of Abraham at Quebec. During the Revolution they were moved to Jamaica where some of them, I believe, remained to found families in the West Indies The boys were all rather badly shot up—THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY WERE ALL WOUNDED. I asked Mr. Eden to have one of his secretaries write a note for his signature to Bolte whom I am certain would be deservedly proud of such a letter. DICK PAUL '41, son of Dick Paul 'll,writes an interesting letter about a newkind of work in Africa.

I am a navigator on a B-17 in our Air Forces stationed in Africa. I obtained my commission on April first of last year and have been over seas since last September. Considering the number of Dartmouth men in the services, I have been extremely unfortunate since coming over seas in my attempts to make contact with alumni. I have met two classmates, Joe Loveland and Ed MacMillan, have heard that Hubey Murphy is working in operations at Natal for Pan-Am, and have met two others, one being Bob Castle, classmate of mine at cadet school. All, of course, have had the same idea, that Hanover was going to see a lot of them when they returned to the States.

Our unit, the 15th Mapping Squadron, has just joined the Ist Mapping for some extensive work on his "Dark Continent," trying to shed some light on it as far as maps are concerned.

It's not combat work. We hoped that once and only once and then the powers-that-be decided that it would be better to map areas where the enemy wouldn't object so strenuously. There's not much excitement to the work, just plodding hard work, long, tiring, high-altitude flights with oxygen, and engine repairs when the old "bag of bolts" gets down on the ground. Everybody pitches in because we're a tramp outfit and our maintenance men can't keep up with us.

There's one thing about the Air Corps and that is that you certainly learn geography. After an extensive course in the geography of the United States and one of its territories (Hawaii) covering every sector but the south-east coast, we have had a short semester study in the geography of England and Ireland. This was followed by similar but longer courses in the geography of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, with promise of more to come, now that I have changed station to "somewhere in West Africa." Not only are we learning geography, but as a mapping unit, we are making it.

Life in this theatre is paradise, compared to what the gang in the Far East is taking in respect to living conditions, although Jerry is a tougher aerial foe than Joe Tojo. Of course, everybody grouses because he isn't some place else, but it wouldn't be the Army unless everybody could bellyache to let off steam.

Well, Herb, guess I'll drink one to Dear Old Dartmouth at the club and so to bed. I'm giving you my present address, but there's no telling where I'll be or what my address will be by the time you get this. Say hello to Warner Bentley for me (or is he working in an airplane factory).

Sincerely yours,

'37 NAVAL OFFICERS Lt. (jg) John Normaii Anderson Jr., left,and Lt. (jg) Walter E. Robson Jr., USNR.

SEVEN DARTMOUTH MEMBERS OF THE FAMOUS MOUNTAIN TROOPS STATIONEDAT CAMP HALELeft to right, Pvt. Dick Howe '46, Pvt. John Watkins '45, Pvt. Don Cutter '45, Lt. CharlieMcLane '4l, Lt. Percy Rideout '4O, S/Sgt. Walter Prager, former Dartmouth ski coach,and Lt. "Doc" Bennett '37.