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a 12 Monday, September 11, 1944 . ix

On the Line
sane With CONSIDINE

New York, Sept. 10—Lieut. Comdr. Roland Logan, who was
trainer of the Boston Red S@x, and the West Point, Pittsburgh and
George Washington University grid teams, as well as personal
trainer for Glenn Cunningham, is back in the United States. After
: ‘ 13 months of duty in the South Pacific.

i Logan, a good-looking, muscular little guy

whose nick-name is ‘“Kick-Apoo,’ succeeded
Lieut. Comdr. Jim Crowley as chief of the larg-
est recreation center in the South Pacifie. It
was located in the New Hebrides—affection-
ately known to our fighting men out there as the
He-Brides—and. took care of, 5000 men a day. »
It was a remarkable investment in the morale
of fighting men. It cost the Government about
$250,000, one of the largest suns ever expended
ee for anything as ephemeral as the state of a boy’s
, CONSIDINE mind and muscles. It paid rich dividends.
® Mrs. Roosevelt, when she visited the establishment, called it
“the Coney Island of the South Pacific,” but that wasn’t quite apt.
Admiral Nimitz hit it a little closer when he said, “This place is
worth five battleships.” moe ; Pe aes

HEN

 

 

 

- OS

_ Battle-scarred. warships, filled with war-weary and restless men,
have been ordered to put in at the place—to give the boys a breather,
Jet them play at some games, drink some beer, eat ice cream, or
just lie on the lawns and look up at the sky.

Among the sports celebrities who brought, men to the center were
Comdr, Tom Hamilton, Comdr. Gene Tunney, Comdr. Sam Barry,
‘Chief Fred Apostoli, Lieut. Wellington Mara (part owner of the New
York football Giants), Lieut. Jim Poole, Lieut. George Sauer, Lieut.
Babe Le Vois, Lieut. George Swenson, Lieut, Hal Schumacher, Chief
Bob Feller, Maj. Sam Francis and hosts of others.

Men like that know the value of sports. More jangled nerves were
straightened out at the center, more cases of “battle anxiety’ were
cured and more homesickness evaporated there (and still does)
than any spot in the ocean they call Pacific.

It saw sights, including a football game that started. at 5:30 a. m.,
to beat the heat, and the bug-eyed reunions among buddies who be-
lieved each other dead.

“We couldn’t have done it without the Seabees, Gob bless them,”
Logan tells me. “They built just about everything, though some of
the fields were laid out by hatd working boys in other branches. But
the Seabees are tops, in my book. One day -about seven months ago
two admirals came by and said they wished we had a golf course.
That’s all. Three weeks later the Seabees finished a swell 9-holer.”
. The most popular game on the island is softball, followed by
basketball, then boxing, hardball, football and tennis.

ows

Logan will be sent next to Sampson (N. Y.) Naval Training Center
for a four-week course in physical training rehabilitation, and then
report to a large West Coast hospital as rehabilitation director. To
my mind that’s making wonderful use of a man’s talents,

Inasmuch as Winchell continues to ignore it, we think we should
let you know that Whirlaway is expecting 29 sons and daughters be-
tween next February and May. ;

Great Lakes Training Center is going to have another crack foot-
ball team. The club this year will be coached by Lieut. (j.g.) Paul E.
Pirie the former high school coach who was a sensation at Ohio -

ate.

The team is using the T-Formation right at the moment, because it
was the system in vogue when Brown took over as head coach from
Lieut. Comdr. Paul (Tony) Hinkle. However, Brown is going to put in
~ - Ohio State offense—single wing with a shift either to the right
or left,

The club will bristle with college stars from all over the country
including several Notre Dame boys whose otherwise perfect record
was spoiled last year by Great Lakes.

 

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