Welcome to the Autumn (or Fall if you prefer) edition of DOG TAGS; seems like we just did this, but it’s already been a year.
Fall, competing only with Spring, is my favorite time of year. The leaves begin to turn, the first hints of cooler weather begin to push away the hot days of Summer, and football, cookouts, hunting trips, and outdoor events fill up our calendars. It’s a refreshing, busy time of year for many and the Military Museum of Fort Worth is no exception.
The waning days of Summer saw MMFW providing mobile exhibits for several Veteran functions and the beginning of Autumn means more are on the way.
We especially look forward to the 90th Infantry Division reunion taking place here in Fort Worth on 25/26 October. Actually, by the time this edition of Dog Tags is published, the reunion will have been completed. So our plans of participation in the reunion, including shuttles to and from the hotel to the Museum for the attendees will have been successfully concluded. It is important to note the fact that the grandfather of our Curator and Executive Director, Tyler Alberts, was a member of the 90th ID during WWII and was the inspiration for starting the museum. We have an entire gallery dedicated to the 90th Division in WWII, in addition to exhibits of their participation in WWI, and the Gulf Wars of today.
It is also significant to note that, due to his early research, scholarship, and participation in many previous 90th ID reunions, Tyler was long ago appointed, and maintains the title of Official Historian for the 90th Infantry Division Association; a point of pride for MMFW.
In November, the MMFW road show will find itself at the Doss Center in Weatherford, TX, where Rodger will present a power point tour of the Museum to the Parker County Women’s Republican Party, as part of their salute to patriotism program. The power point “tour” CD is the fine work of Board Member and Special Projects Guru, Bill Leaf, and provides a great tool for remote presentations.
This issue of Dog Tags will include a new feature called “Very Important Persons”, or simply, “VIPs”. One of the more fascinating aspects of the Museum, besides the displays, exhibits, and the stories they tell, are the people who visit our museum. Many are themselves veterans, and many are not, but with few exceptions, they are ALL interesting people with interesting stories of their own. So from time to time, Dog Tags will present a sampling of our visitors, including photos and short narratives. We, at Military Museum of Fort Worth, consider each and every visitor a Very Important Person in their own right; after all, they are why we exist. We hope you enjoy this new “VIPs” feature, .
A question I’m often asked is, “is MMFW a veteran’s organization”? The simple answer is, “no”, not in the traditional sense that we provide goods or services to Veterans; however, we are often able to assist and provide answers to Veterans who have questions and point them in the right direction. After all, our Board of Directors (BOD) and those who operate the Museum on a daily basis are Veterans, or have close ties to a Veteran family member. They include an Army Major General, an Army Major, an Air Force Major, a Chief Petty Officer, an Air Force Master Chief, and an Army Command Sergeant Major.
We are not so much an “organization” as an entity, created to honor veterans by “educating” the public at large, providing a tangible, lasting legacy of their service. Schoolchildren, organizations, family, and friends who visit MMFW come away with a newfound knowledge and appreciation for our military heritage and the sacrifices made on their behalf.
At MMFW we celebrate Veterans Day and Memorial Day, EVERY DAY!
MMFW would like to welcome home BOD member, Dale Wagner, aka CPO Wagner, from his most recent deployment to Dubai. Dale is the only member of our BOD who is an active reservist, and so from time-to-time is deployed on full-time, active duty status. He is currently serving as acting Secretary for the BOD, and is a contributing writer to Dog Tags. See his article “GIBSON GIRL” in this issue. WELCOME HOME DALE!
One of the artifacts you may or may not have noticed in the museum is a yellow hour-glass shaped radio in a display case in the WWII section. It sits next to the Norden Bombsight, the subject of a future article. This is the SCR-578 Emergency Transmitter, known to most by its nickname, “Gibson Girl". The unit, and its accessories, is a compact package that was carried on aircraft, such as the B-17 and B-24 bombers, in lifeboats, and it could be dropped by an aircraft to someone in the water. While designed and used during WWII, it and its later versions could still be seen as late as the 1980’s on civilian aircraft and boats around the world. The name “Gibson Girl” comes from its hour-glass shape, as it reminded people of the girls portrayed in the pen-and-ink illustrations of fashionable American women by Charles Gibson around the turn of the century.
During World War II, Germany developed a rescue radio, the "Notsender" (emergency transmitter) NS2. It used two vacuum tubes and was crystal-controlled. A NS2 unit was captured by the British in 1941, who produced a copy, the Dinghy Transmitter T-1333. Britain then gave a second captured unit to the United States. Bendix Aviation Limited was approached to build the sets for the British and after the US Army and Navy became interested it was suggested that a joint Allied dinghy set (the SCR-578) be developed. When the US became directly involved in the war, the demand was increased and an initial order for 11,600 sets was placed to be delivered '...as soon as humanly possible...' The first sets were delivered in the last week of May 1942, initially by Bendix but later also assembled by a number of other contractors.
All of these units were transmitters only, they could send, but not receive, and they broadcasted in the now obsolete radio frequency of 500 kilohertz (500 kHz), which was an international calling and distress frequency for Morse code maritime communication. Many maritime nations had 24-hour watches to monitor this frequency. It has been replaced by the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS). Crystals for frequency control were a scarce item for the U.S. during the war and the SCR-578 was not crystal-controlled.
The transmitter is waterproof and would float. It came with a hand generator, so no batteries to replace or wear out, and allowed the unit to remain in storage until it was needed; 800-foot wire for the antenna and a shorter one for the ground and two wide webbing belts that strapped the unit to the operator’s upper legs. It came with a light beacon that the operator was to wear on their head, a folded metal frame for making a box kite which was attached to the antenna wire so as it could be extended as far as possible, and in case there was not enough
wind for the kite, a balloon with a hydrogen generator. Water would cause the generator to produce gas and the balloon would carry one end of the antenna aloft. The antenna length was needed not simply for height, but to also handle the low frequency of the unit. Tuning was done using simple panel mounted tuning-lamp brightness, the brighter the light, the more in tune. The light was also less likely to be damaged than a meter and could also be seen at night. The entire kit weighed about 33 pounds and also included a spare balloon, two water-activated hydrogen generators, two rolls of antenna wire, and a parachute so you could drop the whole bag from an airplane.
It was operated by strapping the unit between both legs, and then turning the crank handle that attached to the top of the generator like an old fashion coffee grinder. It was designed to be rotated with the left hand, to activate the generator, while the right hand could be used to tune the unit and to operate the Morse Code key to send exact information needed to be rescued, such as location or the need for medical assistance. If the operator did not know how to send code, the unit could also be switched into the Automatic Send Position and it would transmit a SOS message. The rescuers would then use triangulation to locate the sender. There was no receiver. You were broadcasting into the blind. This way, the enemy could not find the rescuers or their base.
While the unit could be operated in theory without the grounding wire, it was safer, cranking it produced 24 volts, and more efficient if it was used. The grounding wire was located in a small round compartment on the front, and it had a weight on the end. It would be dropped into the water and increased the efficiency of the antenna. An aircraft flying at 2,000 feet could pick up the transmitter from around 150-200 miles away. After the war they made a dual channel model that could have transmitted over one thousand miles.
The number of people saved because of this transmitter is unknown, but there are numerous stories about its use in saving lives. After the war, as with many items used during the war, unneeded sets were declared surplus by the U.S. and other governments. Complete sets with all of the accessories could be found in Army Navy stores around the world for as little as $20. Today, complete sets have become very rare and hard to find.
EDITORS NOTE: GIBSON GIRL is a great example of the penchant of WWII G.I.’s to name anything and everything that had any hint of femininity after their favorite female back home; wives, a girlfriend, a movie star, or as in this case, illustrations of fashionable women with hourglass waistlines. All manner of equipment, large and small, was named after their favorite female; tanks, jeeps, and aircraft are more notable examples, but smaller items of equipment were not exempt, as in this case, the “shapely” SCR-578 Radio Transmitter. Another of the more notable examples is the iconic yellow life preserver produced and used in its millions by all services. It was U-shaped, hung around the neck, with the tops of the “U” strapped to the chest. When inflated, its shape caused the wearer to take on the contours of the famous, buxomy, 1930s movie actress, Mae West, famous for her (then) risque line “…why don’tcha come up and see me sometime…?”. Mae West and the Gibson Girl saved many lives, and hold an everlasting place in the hearts of all the G.I.s who knew them.
In common usage, the term VIP means “Very Important Person”, and conjures up images of celebrities, politicians, high-ranking military officers, “rolling out the red carpet”, and “dog and pony shows” meant to please and impress.
At Military Museum of Fort Worth, all our visitors and guests are VIPs; they’re not only very Important, but also Impressive, and always Interesting They’re as much of the fabric of the museum as the content they come to see; as every Museum display has a story, every visitor has one too. And as for dog and pony shows, MMFW has no need, our displays and exhibits speak for themselves.
Our intent is to include this column in DOG TAGS from time to time to highlight some of our VIPs, and here’s a recent sampling.
Norma Rahja and Kristal Spooner
When Jorma Rahja and his partner Kristal Spooner came in to the Museum and were asked our standard question, “are you a veteran?”, Jorma (pronounced Yorma, but said to call him George), responded, “…yes, in Finland…”. As with all Finnish males, when he turned 18, Jorma was required to perform mandatory national service in the Finnish Defense forces. He served in a Jaeger, (or hunter) anti-tank outfit, and was very conversant regarding the various weapons and techniques he had been trained to use.
He spoke with little or no accent, and during a discussion in the WWI gallery, he proudly announced that only the week before, he had become an American citizen. Handshakes and congratulations all around, as “George” greeted his newly acquired “fellow Americans”.
Today, “George” is a professional glassblower, whose studio and gallery, “VETRO” is located on Main Street in Grapevine, where he resides.
Thanks for your service, George, and for becoming a fellow American.
David and his friend, Scott, came in and did a brief recon of the Museum, then left. They came back shortly thereafter with David’s sister Karen in tow, and took the tour.
Scott, Karen, and David
They were not veterans, but had numerous friends and relatives who had served in various military units; and, like so many of our visitors, touring the museum was a way for them to connect with the stories and histories they had heard over the years from their loved ones.
Scott and Karen were local, but David currently lives in Colorado and was down for a visit.
We thank them for taking the time to tour MMFW as part of their visit.
L-R Britton, Zoey,Talor, Hunston, and Chris Boyd
The Boyd family of Grapevine, dad Chris, mom Talor, and their children Britton, Hunston, and Zoey, visited MMFW recently. They told of visiting the mall a few weeks earlier to see the aquarium, had passed by MMFW on their way in and out. It piqued their interest, so they put the museum on their list for future outings. Chris and Talor are self-employed, working from home with their own marketing business, and their children are home-schooled, so they were able to choose this particular day to visit. They arrived a couple of hours before closing and took a leisurely tour, taking in the full extent of the Museum.
Talking to them afterwards, it was gratifying to see how pleased and impressed they were with their museum experience; it was also clear that they placed a high value on education, as evidenced by the bright curiosity of their children, Britton, Hunston, and Zoey. (Britton is an enthusiastic military history buff, and aspires one day to become a 101st Airborne trooper).
It was certainly a pleasure to host the Boyd family, they were an inspiration to us, and an affirmation of the importance of our mission. We hope they include MMFW on their schedule for a return visit soon.
I hope everyone enjoyed this new feature of Dog Tags, and will plan their own visit to to MMFW soon. You too could appear as a VIP in an upcoming edition.
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