From Hell's Kitchen

Staff Sergeant Chester Davis, class of '35, was sitting in some embarrassment on the platform at Manhattan's Haaren High School in the vicinity of the "Hell's Kitchen" neighborhood. It was Haaren's 45th commencement. Sergeant Davis, flying gunner who was wounded in action, got up shyly, began to speak:

"Now is a good time to apologize to all my teachers for not studying harder. . . . In the Air Corps you have to study. . . . The other Haaren graduates will tell you they'd rather be bombardiers or pilots. . . . A gunner has the satisfaction of taking a crack at someone he doesn't like.

"For a fellow who used to travel to Coney Island ... I have seen . . . California, Florida, Oregon, Canada, London, Algiers."

Haaren's seniors listened raptly. Eleven of them, already Air Corps cadets, will be called to active service soon.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.