for former Sooner athletes in the service, only. | Dec. 19, 1944,

 

CHATTER..-.Our boys are all over the world and here are a few recent excerpts from
their letters....from Capt. Waddy Young who piloted a super-fort on the first bomb-
ing of Tokyo, "You know, I won two gallons of catsup from Col. “Pelly' Diltman,
Texas A. and M. boy. © His s¢hool loyalty midled him. By the way, this catsup makes
powdered eggs taste like real home cooking. The food here is fine and it is just
that time. Speaking of ball team, dam that Tex. U. I guess that is wht I get for
getting a little cocky."...efrom Bob Estep, who played five games with us this fall
before being assigned by Navy to midshipman's school at USS Prairie State, New York
city, "Remember Herb Smith? He is here and will get his commission Dec, 15. Also,
rover Ramsey(all-Big Six basketball center last season for Oklahoma) is here with
m€e Ask Dinkins, alias ‘Merle Pretty Curls,' if he doesn't think it. is atovt time
so make a touchdown?"(Dinkins did, Bobby, in the finale against Nebraska. Levow 1.!*
him with a pass and the redhead cut back through the secondary 35 yards for a touch:
scooLte Thelton "Sonny" Wright, football and track star of 1941-42 who is now a
uarime company commander at Camp ‘endleton and awhile back was decorated for oulline
a comrade out of a river at night during maneuvers, finally wrote in. Asked about:
the new company commandership, Son broke down and admitted it. "I have 337 men tc
be a mother and father to. I teach them the drive and hustle method. They eat it
upe I am also transportation and recreation officer, I am so pooped at night I
can hardly find my shoe strings with both hands," Wright said....0ne of the earlis st
shristmas cards this year came from Cliff Mell, our gritty little Texas broadjumver
of 1931 who still holds the Big Six Indoor record and is now a litter-bearer in
Rurope with the medical corps...-.Mell was always known for his native wit. Once he
wes trying to make the American Olympic team in the hop, step and jump(there wer>
tco many good colored boys among the broadjumpers). It was Mellts last jump ard +c
still hadn't done as good as fourth place, necessary to make the team... He kapt
yaising and waiting at the head of the straightaway, He had a reason. On thi
other side of the field a couple of Californians were pole-vaulting for the worl
records Mell waited until the attention of the big crowd, and also of the hop,
step and jump officials, was on the pole-vaulter. As the latter ran down kis ro---
way with his pole on the east side of the stadium, Mell foxily sped down th« hep.
step and jump runway on the west side of the stadium, unseen by his own judges wh.
were watching the pole-vaulter. Mell hit the board, took a hop, TWO ymmmm steps °2.
a jump, but still didn't go far enough to get that fourth place....Sgt. Billy Cross,
an Army Air Force gunner just transferred to England(son of Bill Cross, Sooner quar -
terback of '04-07 and business manager of athletics) writes, “ive have a stripped
down fortress called the Green ilornet that crews use as a taxi to Paris and I am
going to try to get over there once or twice before I come back, I haven't seen any
of the boys recently but Bill Caldwell was a co-pilot in our group when I came over.
Tell Bruce Drake if I have a chahce I'm going up to Scotland and take a look at som2
of their golf courses as they have some honeys."...sPvt. Bill "Chigger" Pruitt,
crosscountry '45, was in the Battle of the Phillippines and described it as being
like “a good football game, plenty of action," "However it has settled down to
plenty of hard work now. I'm in the best physical condition that plenty of hard
work and lots of sleep will put one. I feel like giving Vicklund a good run in the
twom-mile, Ha. I am writing this by candle light and it is almost out."....Capt.
Herb Scheffler, basketball '39-40, also sends Christmas greetings from the Philipp-
ines. Herby a big 6-foot 3-inch left-handed rebounder deluxe who is still Okla-
homa's greatest backboard rebounder of modern times and loved to rile enemy crowds,
would have a picnic now that the 5-personal foul rule is in effect(for the first
time this year)..,.Lt. Ken “Crow op" Farris, our Big Six champ broad-jumper who ir
now a marine quartermaster, writes from eastern USA, “Had a swell visit with Stan
Green and Butch Chancellor a couple of Sundays ago, They go to Quantico around the
ord of Jan. Stan played six games with Ark. A&M while in V-l2 school this fall.
We are planning a New Year's party with them. I see where Dub Lamb(who played with
the Maxwell Field team this fall) was chosen on the powerful Bainbridge Commodores
all-opponents team. I had a letter from Ray Mullen this week. He is at a transit
center overseas(Pearl Harbor, I think; his address was an APO) and he and Kerbe).
(Joe Kerbel of Seminole) were playing football on the transit center team. Recent”,