Vol. I
p86 Chapter VIII

Rolling Down to Palm Beach

By no amount of courtesy could this be called a naval outfit when it reported so blithely at New London. It knew nothing about rank or discipline and cared less. Gold braid could not make it shake in its shoes nor had it learned to snap out a salute. The Unit, however, had a certain method and system of its own. Trubee Davison was called First Officer, Bob Lovett, Second Officer, and Curtis Read, Business Manager. The rest of them were plain gobs or buck privates who did as they were told unless they felt like arguing the matter. The organization might be delightfully informal, but with Trubee in command it was bound to be efficient.

Commander Stirling was waiting to welcome these Yale recruits and to put them at their ease. He had received orders from Admiral Benson to 'enlist these men with the following rank.' Very kindly he took it upon himself to boost them a grade all around. It was one way of showing his appreciation of their patriotic spirit, besides which he felt sure they could deliver the goods. He was not a man to bother too much with red‑tape. The crowd fairly whizzed through the examinations, mental and physical, without a single rejection although 'Bill' Thompson walked into the room with a noticeable limp.

Trubee Davison was made a lieutenant, junior grade. Most of the group that had trained at Port Washington were commissioned as ensigns. A few of these were rated as chief petty officers and promised commissions as soon as they could qualify as aviators. The men who had joined the Unit during the winter were enrolled as machinists  p87 and electricians. The commissioned officers, therefore, were Lieutenant F. T. Davison, Ensigns Gates, Lovett, Brown, Ames, Ditman, Gould, and H. P. Davison, Jr.

His Honor, the Mayor of New London, made an ovation of it. The city was honored by this event. The bunch of blushing Naval Reserves received the freedom of the municipality of which the keys were symbolical. It was a great moment but acutely embarrassing. Lieutenant Davison had to make the speech of grateful response. He did it without going into a tail-spin. One young man, name withheld, murmured that he knew what to do with a corkscrew but the keys of the city had him stopped.

Albert Ditman was excused as absent on leave. Here is the explanation, in his own words:

No longer undergraduates but naval officers and bluejackets, the members of Aerial Coast Patrol No. 1 were on waiting orders for Palm Beach. Colonel Thompson was busier than an admiral of the fleet. Already he had earned his permanent rank and title of 'The Boss.' He engaged railway transportation and reserved quarters in Palm Beach. He was accustomed to doing things in a large way. What he wanted was results. As a purchasing agent, he over­looked nothing from automatic pistols and tobacco to canvas hats and chewing gum.

The young men of Unit scattered over Sunday to pack up their traps and see their folks and friends at home. In the New York Tribune they read:

This report would have been accurate if there had not been so many errors in it. The suspicion arises that it was written by a News heeler just sprouting his journalistic pin‑feathers. But who cared? They were off for the — er — well, not exactly the fighting front. Palm Beach was hardly that!

The horrors of war! The Unit was ordered to muster at Sherry's for a farewell luncheon as the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Davison. This was on Wednesday, March 28th. All hands were present or accounted for. 'Al' Sturtevant had joined from the Harvard Law School where he was in his first year. Albert Ditman was there in spirit. The rest of him journeyed from Pensacola to Palm Beach direct. It was a jolly luncheon party, but with more than one serious note in it. The grateful guests were glad of  p90 the opportunity to thank Mr. and Mrs. Davison for all they had done for them.

While it was good‑bye to home for not many weeks, it was good‑bye to college and the familiar round of life. They faced a great adventure whose pathway was obscured. This was the beginning of it. They were a picked company. Noblesse oblige! Nor was it sentimentalism to feel a new emotion when they sang 'For God, for Country, and for Yale.' This, in truth, was spirit of their crusade.

The train left for Palm Beach on this same Wednesday afternoon. Life was earnest, or partly so, as these pilgrims demonstrated by practice with the radio buzzer in the Pullmans, reading books on aviation, and rehearsing the semaphore code. The two‑day journey helped to shake the crowd together. Freshman like Dave Ingalls and Bartow Read discovered that juniors and seniors were human. The class distinctions of the Yale campus were soon blurred. Although they didn't bother their heads about it, they were all in the Navy where a chief petty officer might bawl out the Chairman of The Lit or the Captain of the Crew.

Colonel Thompson had begun to get a staff together. His medical man was Dr. Kenneth McAlpin who had been recommended by Dr. Walter B. James. A fortunate choice! 'The Little Doc,' as they called him in terms of affection, made himself an indispensable member of the Unit. This was true also of Mr. Charles H. Stewart ('Radio'), a cousin of Albert Ditman, who took charge of this technical branch of instruction. Experience had made him highly proficient and he was very much awake to the increasing importance of radio in aviation.

An assistant manager was essential, a sort of chief of staff with Colonel Thompson as administrator and adviser. The choice fell upon Foster Rockwell who was asked by  p91 telegraph to report at Palm Beach and take hold of things. He started at once from Arizona and arrived almost as soon as the Unit. This was like him, to set aside his own affairs and come on the jump when duty called. He had just the qualities required. He had demonstrated them as a famous Yale athlete and coach. To courage, persistence, and good judgment he added the knack of handling men and getting the most out of them. To this Yale crowd, it was like bringing in an older member of the family. They all swore by 'Rock.' He was one of the factors of success.

The big chiefs Lieutenant McDonnell, Colonel Thompson, Dr. McAlpin, Radio Stewart, Foster Rockwell

When these high-hearted young aviators trooped into The Breakers at Palm Beach, they had the feeling, no doubt, that this was going to be a luxurious war.

An F Boat at Palm Beach

Such were the first impressions. Frank Lynch records his own as follows:

The old‑timers, such as Trubee Davison, 'Di' Gates, and Bob Lovett, went up for short hops on this first day, but the crowd, as a whole, was permitted to take it easy and rest from the journey. They were rolled about in wheel chairs by African slaves amid tropical gardens and cocoanut palms. For light exercise they learned how to  p92 glance at their new wrist watches with an air of easy nonchalance. From this the more astute intellects evolved the 'wrist-watch drill' which consisted of a fancy step in unison, then crossed feet and an imitation of the regulation salute. For Navy men their manners were still startling and peculiar.

Time for oranges

Right away they worked in some wig‑wag and radio drill and began to get acquainted with the flying equipment and personnel. From Dave McCulloch the rookies learned that there was such a thing as the aviation temperament. A man had to be lazy some of the time in order to keep at a wire edge for his hours in the air. Flying was a skittish, sensitive business and too much drudgery dulled the nerves.

A very fortunate addition to the instruction staff was Caleb Bragg, a Yale man of the class of 1908, who had been a famous automobile racing driver. He later took up flying and had a machine of his own at Palm Beach where he spent his winters. He was there, with McCulloch, when the Unit arrived and offered his services. He was a fearless and finished aviator and a wizard at overhauling and tuning motors. The Unit found him invaluable. During the war he was in the Army and had charge of the experimental work at McCook's Field.

William F. Sullivan went south with the Unit as an able mechanic. The head plane man with McCulloch's outfit was Fred Golder. 'The best man for his job I ever saw,' said Trubee. 'He was a wonder. It sounds silly to say that a man could smell something wrong. But I have seen Golder walk by a machine as somebody was about ready to go up and show you that some vital part was weak and needed fixing.'

'Sully,' 'Big Boots,' and Fred Golder

Entire personnel of Unit at Palm Beach

At first the stock of machines was quite limited. There was the familiar Mary Ann, nearing decrepitude after a hard life but still able to fly a bit and to bounce as high  p93 as ever in a bad landing. Her hull had been replanked until she was more like an armored cruiser. After a while Caleb Bragg was ungallant enough to damn Mary Ann as so much junk and to pack her in crates for shipment.

They had to wait for their own machines to arrive from the north and another one to be flown from the west coast of Florida. This was the gift of Mr. Charles Rich, vice-president of the National City Bank. There was no delay, however, in swinging into the day's routine. There were machines enough to begin flying instructions, besides which it was necessary to get the organization shaken down. Squads of pupils were assigned to the several instructors, a scheme which worked to advantage. Colonel Thompson was not a boss to let any Palm Beach grass grow under his feet. And Trubee was notorious for hitting it on all six from morning till night. On Sunday, April 1st, the Colonel was writing to Mr. Davison:

On this same date the Colonel wrote to Harry Payne Whitney, telling him the news, but with one or two variations.

The 'young ducks' were unaware that they were such a noble flock of fellows. The Colonel was careful not to tell them so to their faces.

They might wear overalls and be frescoed with grease but they had not forgotten the courtesies, so on April 2nd Mr. Rodman Wanamaker was informed by letter:

'High results' was an apt phrase, although it was not meant to refer to the altitudes at which the Unit expected to soar. A similar letter was sent to Payne Whitney to thank him for a handsome contribution to the fund and for the use of his speed launch in the patrol work.

◂ previous						next ▸
Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)
UP TO:	The First Yale Unit	History of U. S. Naval Aviation	American Naval History	American & Military History	History of the Americas	Home
A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information.