84 Samoans For Us

Navy

Pago Pago, May 10.

AFTER one month of mental and physical examinations, plus special interviews, Lieut.-Com monder J. W. Vercher, USN., and five assistants finally weeded care fully through over 1,000 American Samoan aspirants and selected the 84 best qualified men for enlist ment in the US Navy.

Two huge Naval aircraft, R-6-D’s. largest planes ever to land at Tafuna Airfield, in American Samoa, arrived in April. The following morning, the 84 recruits said their many goodbyes to a throng of over 2,000, plus nearly every motor vehicle In Samoa, and departed in the Va’alele Tele —the great flying boats.

Lieut.-Commander, Vercher said this experiment was “a most novel one,” but he was inclined to re commend that further recruiting be done here for all three services.

These men will be trained for their three months at the US Naval Training Station. San Diego, Cali fornia.

Unwanted Passengers

After a pleasant ten days stay in Pago Pago, the coast-guard cutter Kukui (300 tons —largest ship in the US coastguard) left with 32 Samoan servicemen who had completed local leave, and 13 other Samoan passengers, mostly wives and chil dren of servicemen bound for Honolulu. Out at sea, three more passengers (unofficial) were found.

Two of the stowaways were aged 18, and one 16. They had hoped to join relatives in Hawaii. The Kukui did not have time to return :o Samoa, so dropped the uninvited quests at Swains Island. Here the x>ys will cut copra to earn their feep until they can return to rutuila.

An hour after she left Honolulu or Pago Pago, the Kukui was called

back to Pearl Harbour to pick up two Samoan servicemen who had just been flown in from Japan and Korea, to see their dying parent in Pago Pago. They were Corporal S. Matina and Private Aano M.

Pili Thev thus saw thpir fnfbpr Pastor Mafil Pil l their father, Pastoi Matina Pill, before he died.

Not For Private Use

A new official order in April grimly announced that henceforth use °t Government motor vehicles H™ st be / or , official purposes only.

There 18 be . disciplinary action’^ it the order is disobeyed. Since then, prices of second-hand cars have risen in an unseemly manner.