Pacific Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 18, 1959, Tokyo, Japan T h tors Anci Stripe feature e c t i o n mrs. Depew takes Over temporarily from this Tot s Mother. Mrs. North sterilized baby bottles. Diaper Dawn patrol it meets All planes Prestwick wives Are working around the clock to relieve travel weary mothers at stopovers by Robert j. Dunphy staff writers a photos by Ted Rohde the diaper Dawn patrol at Prosl Wick Scotland a hospitality task Force organized by . Air Force wives to meet All military aircraft arriving with Small children is Riding High these Days. Formed four months ago by a group of enterprising wives at Prestwick the vital Force has already won the Heartfelt thanks of hundreds of travel weary mothers Stop Ping at the base in route to or from the .the program by red Cross staff aides at Prestwick on a strictly Volun tary basis actually is an around the clock operation but the women s workload in variably hits its Peak in the wee Small hours when the heaviest overseas traffic arrives at the military air transport service last october at the Behest of col James h. Johnson commander of the 1602d air transport Wing and col Russell Fisher Prestwick a commander the venture has proved to be just about the most successful Volunteer red Cross project Ever undertaken at Prestwick. In the Short time the program has been in Force the Prestwick gals have cared for some 3,000 infants and children under six and on occasion have accommodated i As Many As 40 toddlers a Day. Grownups come in for their share of attention too but they Aien t instrumental in the program s Success is mrs. Leroy p. Hansen attractive wife of maj Hansen commander of the 1631st Abs at Prestwick. As red Cross staff aide chairman on the base mrs. Hansen nurtured the project in its infancy and serves As its principal guiding Light haphazard affair the Prestwick pro Gram is organized along the lines of a military operation and despite the fact that the entire staff consists of Only 27red Cross volunteers the project is geared to meet All overseas Mats flights Landing at the base for Short or extended special reporting system has been Izttie whip is of mrs. Leroy Hansen who is in charge changes crib Linen. Wednesday february 18, 1959 stretch their legs at first glance staffers do might but at times they during Prestwick Stopover aide helps Small Fry with seat Belt. The stats and stapes devised whereby the volunteers receive three hours notice on Mats planes Leav ing Paris or Rhine main carrying dependents and a strict roster is maintained to ensure that there is a staff aide on Call at All times. The staff aides meet All passenger air Craft on the flight line take care of the children during their stay at Prestwick and then help them Back on Board for the next stage of their flight. The parents meanwhile get a Chance to rest up or in Comfort. The Job the red Cross seem simple enough have As Many As four or five aircraft Landing in one night and scores of children to Wash diaper feed and bed Down. As anyone knows who has Ever had to Cope with two or three children Sud Denly set free after a Long confinement in a plane the volunteers at limes have to Call on All the patience at their com Mand. Things can get pretty hectic occasionally As for example on last oct. 28 when fog closed Clown military airports in the South of Britain and 13 transatlantic Mats planes carrying 500 Pas sengers arrived in a 24-hour of the 27 Prestwick wives is on Call for six hour periods at a stretch but the duty aide does not have to report to the terminal unless a plane is scheduled through with tots Prestwick lassies started from scratch in setting up their program but their efforts have paid off handsomely since. Among other things they be Man aged to scrounge a Nursery completely outfitted with cribs and other items of infants paraphernalia out of Odds and ends at the the most impressive thing about it is that the Prestwick wives did it All themselves. Indeed the nearest red Cross Field director is Carl s. Hoffman head quartered at Burton Wood hundreds of Miles , the women had a dynamic red Cross program on the base to Start with. The Volunteer group at Prestwick numbers in its ranks no less than 14 of the 27 qualified red Cross social welfare aides in the entire european entire red Cross staff of volunteers on the tiny base numbers Only 44 aides in All but its resounding Success is due mainly to the efforts of a few tireless key workers among them mrs. Hansen Pat Smalley and Anne is not Plain Drudgery on the diaper Dawn patrol. There was the Case for example in which pretty mrs Lou John son made her Way to the flight line to Greet a plan Load of babies and found in Stead 100 robust sailors come charging Down the loading ramp. I another terminal staff aide Ann Spenser Speaks seven languages fluently and in the course of her red Cross duties at Prestwick has had occasion to use just about All of of the wives live As far As 30 Miles away from Prestwick so it s not the easiest Job in the world to maintain staff aides on Call 24 hours a Day 365 Days a year mrs. Hansen nights we have a real Assembly line in operation diapering feeding and bathing Reward comes when a Serviceman s wife tells us never in my life has any thing so Nice Ever happened to me be fore " 11
