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House Mother to Army Angels of Drew FieldMother of a United States A^jiy paratrooper now serving in a battle zone, Mrs. Bessie Strickland, life-long Tampan, is also the House Mother to the 44 Drew Field “Army Angels.”“I am happier now, being here with the nurses, than I have been since Gene enlisted in the army because, somehow, I feel closer to him by being a part, if only in a small way, of the war effort,” Mrs. Strickland said.Paratrooper David “Gene” Strickland, 22, an only child, enlisted August 15th, 1940. His first eight months were spent in the infantry, but he wasn’t satisfied, he wanted more thrills and excitement and that, to him, meant only one thing—zooming through the air. Gene’s opportunity came with the call for volunteer paratroopers, and after passing a rigid mental and physical examination became a member of a parachute battalion at Fort B ending, Ga.After four months of intensive training he got ‘the “thrill of his life’ when he' heard the brisk commands,.’“stand.up,” “hook up,” “stand in the door,” and “go” that sent him sailing into space on his first jump. Tw.o months later, in September, 1941, paratrooper Strickland left for foreign service.“His letters are full of enthusiasm about the paratroops and his job,” Mrs. Strickland said. Gene is now the cameraman for his outfit, which is the 551st Airborne Infantry Company, and he is crazy about it.During this interview Mrs. Strickland was busy mending for one of her girls. “I was always called mother by the boys who used to come into the USO where I worked before I came here, but my girls here all call me ‘baby’,” she said, laughingly.Mrs. Strickland has been at Drew Field since early last December. When asked about her duties, she said, “I really don’t consider them duties. What I am and have been -trying to do is really take the place, as much as possible, of the girls’ own mothers—make this a real homefor them. I take their telephone calls, console them when they don’t get the letter they were expecting, and try to do the many other little things that will make them happier here,” she continued. “Naturally, I miss my son. We have always been so close— but I am not alone in that, the thousands and thousands of other mothers with boys in the service feel the same way I do,” Mrs. Strickland concluded. “a
Newspaper Details
Tampa Drew Field Echoes
Tampa, Florida, US
Fri, Feb 26, 1943
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
BE 23 Aug 2022
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