Saturday, December 1, 2001, was CAP's 60th anniversary.  A gala was planned for that day, along with a reception to be fittingly held at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum...  But because of the tragic events and this nation on a wartime footing, it was decided, and rightly so, to reschedule it for March 2, 2002.  At this joyous occasion we will be honoring a number of CAP World War Two veterans, some of whom flew on Coastal Patrol.  I hope to have some pictures that I will be able to post on next month's web offering.

THE GALA AT THE SMITHSONIAN AIR & SPACE MUSEUM SATURDAY MARCH 2, 2002
Hear  Ye, Hear Ye....... Mister and Misses America, and All the ships at sea, we go to press.......Read all about it .....Hot Off The Press.......

    Talking to today's generation of CAP members and "civilians", I'll try to put things into perspective....  First, a reflection on today's light aircraft versus what was available in the thirties and forties.  Whereas today's are usually fully metal-covered, with powerful, high-reliability engines, space-age instrumentation, ILS, DME, GPS you name it; communications and radar equipment that give weather and route advisories; plus the aircraft usually is loaded with creature comforts.  Nice bucket seats and noise dampening, plus the availability of long-range fuel tanks. Yet there is still a reluctance to fly over a body of water, no matter how large or small.  Say ...when was the last time anybody took off from a grass strip?  Because most, if not all, airport tarmacs and strips today are covered with asphalt or concrete.

    Now thinking back to '42 gives a whole new meaning to flight... the aircraft was usually fabric-covered, and with wartime status and restrictions most engine parts were hard to come by - while most mechanics performed miracles to keep them running.  Instrumentation was the basics:  altimeter, compass, turn & bank, and a radio (electron glass-tube type) - parts for them were almost non-existent.

    On a mission day you usually took off early in the morning at "O Dark-Thirty" from a dew-covered grass field (usually built by and for CAP, and guarded by us also) and flew into the rising sun (East) and out some 50 miles off the coast and over the foreboding Atlantic Ocean, then patrolled until it was necessary to fly back now into the setting sun (West).

Now comes the hard part - landing a plane - and you with bone weariness of a long flight time.  Besides testing one's endurance, and above all kidneys... and remembering also you might be still be carrying a bomb or torpedo held on by bailing wire, spit and prayers.....

That's why Tom Brokaw called this group America greatest generation.  And rightly so.
  

  HOW AND WHY WE GOT BOMBS
        -Or- "You want to do what!  And where?  Yer gotta to kidd'n!"

HOW MANY DID CAP SINK, WHERE AND BY WHO......AND WHO WAS THE HIGH RANKING GERMAN  OFFICER WHO SAID, "It vos dose gottdamned leetle red and yellow airplanes!"

   Subs, U-boat's, The German Menace, the plunder of the Atlantic Shipping Lanes.  The one question I get asked most especially in this, our sixtieth year of our founding, is truly how many did we (CAP) sink, where and by whom....  Let's start with the written hard cold facts as we know it from the various author's publications and the embellishment of many...

    Robert E. Neprud, was a contract writer hired by the United States Air Force in 1947 to write the History
 of the Civil Air Patrol.  His book, the "Flying Minutemen", is, and still remains, the definitive true wartime history of this organization.

    Bob Neprud, with an almost unlimited travel budget by being flown all around the USA by the USAF to meet with and gather reflections of CAP veterans, to record their recollections of what and when they did things.  This, combined with CAP Wartime records and history still secured in CAP's National Headquarters at Bolling AFB, Washington D.C., his task, though formidable, was made easy by the availability of the first-hand eyewitness participants and the records available.

Now some sixty years later with most of the veterans having passing on, and with each and every move of National Headquarters causing tossing and destruction of priceless CAP records, it's very hard to uncover the facts in this day of absolutes.  Moreover, combined with the reluctance of the Navy and the military to give credit where credit is due... they said vs. we said.

*But what is known is the following:

    As a result of its effectiveness, the CAP Coastal Patrol passed its experimental or trial period with "flying" colors. The coastal patrol went on to serve its country for nearly 18 months (5 March 1942 – 31 August 1943), flying in good weather and bad, from dawn to dusk.

    The 18-month record of the Coastal Patrol – all volunteer civilians, with little or no formal combat training – is most impressive: it began with three bases and was operating from 21 bases at the conclusion of the program. It had reported 173 U-boats sighted, sunk two, and had dropped a total of 83 bombs and depth charges upon 57 of these – with several other "probables." It’s aircrews flew 86,865 missions over coastal waters for a total of 244,600 hours – which approximates to 24 million miles! The patrols summoned help for 91 ships in distress and for 363 survivors of submarine attacks. It sighted and reported 17 floating mines, and, at the request of the US Navy, flew 5,684 special convoy missions.

    CAP Coastal Patrol’s impressive record, however, was not without cost. Twenty-six CAP aircrew members were killed, and seven were seriously injured on these missions. Of the aircraft, 90 were lost. But the impressive amassment of mission feats brought official recognition to many of the Patrol’s members. They were winners of Air Medals and War Department Awards for "Exceptional Civilian Service." These were merely tokens of the high esteem bestowed by a government representing a nation of grateful people.

*CAP Pamphlet 50-4, Headquarters Civil Air Patrol, Maxwell AFB AL 36112-6332

HISTORICAL CIVIL AIR PATROL AIRCRAFT MARKINGS
                 "The what, where and when , by the who & why..."

CAP- WOMAN IN WAR
                 "Progressive, before their time ....true movers and shakers."

In response to many inquires as to where one can obtain historical reading and purchase historical reference items see the following.

To comment on the web, its content and subject or  provide suggestions for future histories or to ask historical questions:

To Contact the National Historian:    COL Leonard A. Blascovich, CAP

CAP's keeper of the Flame and historical articles is  LTC A. William (Bill) Schell, CAP if you have any CAP historical uniform items or memorabilia please use the following:
To Contact the National Curator:    LTC A. William Schell, CAP