AEF in North Ireland Given First Review
By Rice Yahner
WITH THE U.S. ARMY IN NORTHERN IRELAND, (AP) – American troops proudly stepped out Thursday in a show for their British buddies and Irish townsfolk in the first ceremonial since the second A. E. F. vanguard landed in the British Isle less than two weeks ago.
The portion of the force marched miles through the countryside to a community where, with fighter planes winging overhead, they passed in review and inspection for Maj. Gen. Russell P. Hartle, the U.S. commander in Northern Ireland.
Eyes of civilians and soldiers followed the Americans on march, with their own band of more than 50 pieces playing American march tunes.
The British have been in the war so long that ceremony has been cut out, but the American review could be called an official visit of the soldiers to the town near their concealed bases, and it gave an opportunity for mass inspection.
British rifles cracked on a nearby target range as the Americans paraded in khaki ranks.
Following every step through the ceremony was an Irish mongrel dog which, uninvited, became loyal to Sergeant Max Shepherd of Waterloo, Iowa. The dog was named “Hawkeye,” for Iowa.
Among the troop contingent Thursday was Corporal Lloyd Carpenter, of Waverly, Iowa, who has two sons in the U. S. Navy Air Corps. His chin is a little firmer and his step a little stauncher than those of most of the officers, for he served in World War one and “came along this time because nobody was left at home.”
Source: Globe Gazette, Mason City, Iowa, Friday, February 06, 1942
