The Nome Nugget

Nome Has "Perfect" Armed Forces Day Celebration

With perfect weather and the thermometer reaching over 70 on Front Street, Nome enjoyed a gala Armed Forces Day with about 70 out of town guests participating.

Marshal of the Day, Lt. Tom Prendergast of USAF, who for the past week had been laying the ground work in preparation for Armed Forces Day in Nome, is to be congratulated for a well-planned program executed flawlessly with good showmanship through the various phases of the entertainment.

Front Street was cleared of parked cars and a reviewing stand set up in front of the N.C. Store. Flags were displayed on the business houses. One flag in front of the City Hall drew a lot of attention as it is almost as old as Nome and was taken from the archives for this special occasion. This flag, now the property of Fire Chief W. W. Laws, has only 46 stars and was used in Nome 40 years ago before the last two stars were added.

On the reviewing stand, were: the honorable J. Earl Cooper, judge of the District Court; Steffen Andersen, mayor of Nome; Capt. Fulton, commanding officer of Nome Field; Lt. T. M. Prendergast, USAF, Marshal of the Day; Lt. Col. Charles D. Parker, 4th RCT training director at Ladd AFB representing Carl Lundquist, 4th RCT commander; Rev. Reeves Havens, minister, Community Methodist Church; Capt. Hart, company commander 4th RCT; Major Adeline Franzel, USAF, adjutant at Ladd AFB; Lieut. Ruth Shew, USAF; Major John Cooley, Alaska National Guard; Robert Scott, American Legion commander; Phil Lancaster, VFW commander; Clarence Ausley, Spanish-American War veteran; Pfc. George Moto, Purple Heart veteran of the Korean war; A. Polet, veteran businessman of Nome; Clint Gray, president of Arctic Native Brotherhood; Emily Boucher, representing the press; and Maj. Lester Bronson, C.A.P.

Lt. Prendergast opened the program by extending greetings from Brig. Gen. Donald B. Smith, commanding general of the Fairbanks area who made possible the celebration in Nome. After introducing the guests on the reviewing stand and invocation by Rev. R. Havens, the honorable Steffen Andersen, mayor of Nome, expressed appreciation for the people of Nome, stating that we are deeply indebted to Gen. Smith for his thoughtfulness to the Americans on this far northern coast.

The address of the day was made by Col. Charles Parker, who, in well chosen words used the slogan Armed Forces Day "Power for Peace" and cautioned that the peace can only be kept through power maintained on land, sea and air. Only through the coordination of the armed forces and its many branches can the peace be kept. He stressed the point that the armed forces cannot do the job alone but needs the assistance of every American everywhere, and in every way. He pointed out that these are crucial days and we must not relax at this point.

Maj. Adeline Franzel, speaking for the women in the service, spoke briefly on what had been accomplished in the short time women have been a part of the Air Force and the importance they play in the overall plan of the armed forces today.

The big parade marched down Front Street, starting at the Wallace Hotel and was headed by the 774th USAF Band led by C.W.O. L. H. Meyers and followed by the colorful R & I platoon of the 4th Regimental Combat Team, led by Lt. Helmick. Next in line was the color guard of the American Legion and a unit of the USAF from Nome Field. The Veterans of Foreign Wars had a color guard followed by the Alaska National Guard. The Civil Air Patrol Cadets were well represented, followed by the Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Brownies. An unofficial part of the parade was Prince, Nome's pet horse.

Following the parade there was a display of ordnance including: .30 cal. machine gun, .50 cal. machine gun, M-1 rifles, carbines, a "grease gun" machine pistol, 3.5 "bazooka" rocket launcher, 35 mm recoilless rifle, two open-air jeeps and an army tent.

The USAF's largest cargo plane the C-124 was opened to inspection at Nome Field.

The Band concert was held in front of the Federal building at 4 until 6 o'clock with the band generously playing a wide variety of popular, semi-classical and military music which was enjoyed by everyone. Special instruments were featured which was of special interest to the children to whom the concert was a rare treat.

Retreat was held at 6:00 with the R & I platoon of the 4th RCT, the National Guard, CAP, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars participating.

At nine o'clock taps was played at the cemetery and three volleys were fired by a squad of soldiers in memory of their fallen comrades.

In the evening, the band gave generously of their time and talent at the Junior-Senior prom until midnight. The crowd enjoyed the barbershop quartet of the group who recently won a prize in the territory and are going stateside to compete in a national contest. The musicians generously played at various night spots until closing time, and returned to Fairbanks Sunday morning.