FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, ISH*
Seaman Finds Acting Mild
After Overseas Service
As State Trooper Brendell in.
players’ forthcoming production,
“Papa Is All,” Seaman Mat Szeyl
ler of Barracks 41 finds that act
ing in a play is easy, mild business
compared to his performance in
the drama of war for four years.
• Enlisting in the Navy in August
1940, Szeyller was assigned to the
aircraft carrier- Yorktown which
was operating in the Pacific
Ocean. After nine months the
warship transferred to the Atlan
tic by way of the Panama Canal.
Seaman Szeyller was then placed
aboard the aircraft carrier Ran
ger as radioman and remained on
the ship for two-and-a-half years.
During the North African in
vasion the Ranger was operating
just off Casablanca. When the
signal was given planes based on
the Ranger took off and protected
the ground forces swarming
ashore. During three days of op
position, the waters were infested
with enemy submarines which at
tempted to torpedo .the carrier.
The Ranger’s planes and destroy
er escorts sunk the enemy subs.
Szeyller was situated in the
Orkney and Shetland Islands just
north of Scotland during the lat
ter part of 1943. The Ranger was
ordered to destroy enemy ship
ping in company with the British
home fleet off the coast of Nor
Players To Hunt
Authentic Props
Promising to scour the country
side like a swarm of hungry locusts
in search of genuine Pennsylvania
Dutch furniture and kitchenware
for the forthcoming presentation
of “Papa Is AH,” Players technical
crews prepare to lend an authentic
air to the sets, Pat-McClure, assis
tant to the director, announced to
day.
■Cupboards and chests, such as
would be found in a Mennonite
kitchen, are being reproduced by
the assistants to the designer in
painting the sets, she said.
The crew heads as released by
Prof. Frank Neusbaum, director
of the play, include 'Libby 'Peters
as prompter, Bill Morton as stage
manager, and Bob Whitall as con
struction engineer. Property man
agers‘are Allene Babbitt and Nan
Hoeflich.
Helen Blanker has been named
costume manager, Norma Lee Hoo
ver, paint manager, and Mary
Anne Mason, light manager. Ad
vertising manager is Louise Zim
mers. Assistants to the designer
are Audrey Kreeger, Nan Charles,
and Jean Bre'skin. Anrie Hazard
■ is the assistant to the technician.
Nightly rehearsals continue to
prepare the play for its presenta
tion in Schwab Auditorium Sept.
29 and 30.
There is a smart student
named Joe
And his flower orders
all go
To WOODRING'S for they
Have a special way
Of filling each order,
you know!
way. When the Norwegian garri
son stationed at Spitzbergen ra
dioed that they were being at-,
lacked by the German battleship
Scharnhorst, the Ranger and her
British escort attempted to inter
cept and annihilate her.
The Ranger landed in Scotland
for minor repairs in the latter
part of October 1943, which meant
a brief leave for Szeyller. He rail
roaded to London where he met
his sister Margaret, first lieuten
ant in the Army Nursing Corps.
For five days the couple toured
England and Scotland, including
the bombed areas of London.
Rituals more elaborate—and
painful—than any' campus' fra
ternity could devise were ex
perienced by Szeyller when he
crossed the Equator. A sailor who
had crossed the imaginary ring
around the world the longest time
ago was crowned King Neptune,
and supervised the ceremonies.
Shellbacks, gobs who had sailed
across the Equator before, mas
queraded and escorted the Polly
wogs or greenies to the Regent Of
Waters.
Before the grueling proceedings
were oyer, Seaman Szeyller had
delivered a speech, had' his hair
clipped, and face painted, and had
been sufficiently dunked. Because
Szeyller survived the ordeal he
was awarded a Shellback certifi
cate, handed out to all sailors
who cross the Equator.
During May and June of this
year, the seaman attended pre-V
-12 school at A'sbury Park, ;N. J.
In July Szeyller reported to Penn
State for 16 months of training.
CLASSIFIED SECTION
Will the man who was looking
for the girl Dan pleace contact
room 130 or 137 Atherton. '
Lost: A gold activities key with
safety catch. Contains initials E.
R. P. on back. Mount Carmel-High
School inscribed on front. Senti
mental value. Phone Bebs Parke,
Womans Bldg. 2nd East.
•Spaghetti dinners served every
Wednesday and Saturday 6 p. m.
Make reservations. Parties by ap
pointment. Alpha Phi Delta;
Phone 3412.
For rent. Four room ahd bath
furnished apartment. Suitable for
four students. Rental $40.00. A
vailable at'once call 2904.
Help wanted. Male student. A
vailable from 8-11 p. m. Apply
Nittany Lion Inn.
Lost: Shell rimmed glasses in
brown 'leather case. Call 232
Grange. Reward.
Room and board. Only board'if
preferred. Call 3332 or come to
243 South Pugh.
THE COLLEGIAN
Rabbi Eppstein
To Direct Hillel
RABBI VICTOR EPPSTEIN
Beginning next week, Rabbi
Victor Eppstein will take Rabbi
Benjamin Kahn’s place at the Hil
lel Foundation when the latter
leaves for McGill University, Can
ada.
The. new Rabbi, who arrived
Tuesday, graduated in 1926 from
the University of California and
did- graduate work at Columbia
University. He was ordained in
1929, after attending the Jewish
IhstitUte Of Religion.
Havana, Cuba, Scranton, and
New York have been some of the
cities whose congregations the
Rabbi has served. In 1940 he ran
for Congress on the Democratic
ticket in Montgomery county,
Pennsylvania.' ..
. Rabbi Eppstein operated a mod
ern dairy farm- in Montgomery
county near Pottstown. He doesn’t
think farming is too far a cry from
politics—“ George Washington had
a farm.” .
In 1941, after Pearl Harbor was
bombed, Rabbi Eppstein enlisted
m the Maripe Corps as a private.
Now honorably discharged, the
Rabbi is acting as counsellor of the
Hillel organization at Bucknell
University as Well'as being direc
tor of the State College unit.
Rabbi Kahn will introduce his
successor to the congregation to
night at 7:30 p.m. during the Hillel
services.
Departure Of Lt. Rua
Marks Official Close
Of Air Corps At College
Lt. Frank D. Rua, acting com
mander of the 330th Army Air
Corps Division leaves today for
Freeman -Army Air Field, Sey
mour, Ind. He was transferred to
the College April 21, 1943 from
Pittsburgh, where he served with
a College Training Detachment
Unit.
Lt. Rua, resident of Los An
geles, served here first as Plans
and' Training Officer, then as
Special Service Officer. Since the
departure of Maj. Thomas E. Leet,
six weeks ago, Rua has been the
acting commander at the College,
in charge of winding up the gov
ernment’s Air Corps affairs re
garding property and supplies. He
is the last member of the Air
Corps to leave the College.
After being graduated as a sec
ond lieutenant of the Infantry at
Fort Benning, Ga., July 1943,
Rua was assigned as an admini
stration officer to the Air Corps
at Fort McClellan. He has also
served at Maxwell Field, Gunter
Field, and Stuttgart Army Air
Base, Pittsburgh. In February
1943 Rua was promoted to first
lieutenant. Previous to his induc
tion he was a chemistry major at
Captain Describes Death,
Defeat At Kasserine Pass
By ESTELLE SIMON
Today United Nation troops are
blasting the very foundations of
Hitler’s Fortress Europe. Two
years ago the war situation did
not look auspicious where the Al
lies were concerned. Among the
factors which made for pessimism
was the decisive defeat of Amer
ican troops at the Battle of Kas
serine Pass in Tunisia.
Capt. Benedict C. Hausdorf,
stationed at the College with the
ASTP units, took part in that bat
tle. Attached to the First Infan
try Division he fought through
out the entire Tunisian campaign
and then went on to Sicily to help
give the “soft'underbelly of Eu
rope” its first gas pain.
Military experts m the United
States attributed the loss of the
battle to green inexperienced
troops? According to Captain
Hausdcrf the Americans lost be
cause there weren’t. enough of
.them.
Against one infantry battalion,
some combat engineers, and a few
other odds and ends from differ
ent divisions, the Germans at
tacked with parts of two Panzer
divisions from the famed Afrika
Corps.
While he and his men were
holding the pass so that tanks
and other mechanized armor
might effect a strategic retreat,
Captain Hausdorf recalls an inci
dent which seemed grim at the
time.
“As the last tank rumbled by,
the driver stuck his head out and
and yelled, ‘The next tank you
see will be German’.”
Death or capture appeared in
evitable for the men holding the
pass. At the strategic moment a
British atmored brigade rushed
there and counter-attacked. It was
the Americans first contact with
the British who as Captain Haus
dorf puts it, “saved our necks.”
Catain Hausdorf recollects the
plight of one outfit which had
been badly chopped up. in battle.
Five tanks, detailed to save them
if possible, crashed through to
their position.. Everyone climbed
aboard the tanks. All of the
wounded and some of the dead
were evacuated.
After the dismal failure at
Kasserine Pass the Americans
were organized as one Corps and
PAGE THREE '
went from the defensive to the
offensive. Fighting for the first
time as a team they participated
in the Battle of El Guettar. This
was the battle in which a com
bat team succeeded in stopping
the 10th Panzer Division. El Guet
tar was also the point where the
British Eighth Army succeeded
in making a junction with the
Americans.
Meanwhile Captain Hausdorf.
had become company commander
of a rifle company. Shortly after
Easter he met what he describes
as the worst situation in all of
his overseas service.
“My company was designated
to make an attack on a small hill.
We got to the hill and found we
had bitten off more than we could
chew since the Germans were
firmly established there. We did
manage to get a foothold on the
hill.
“The Germans made six coun
ter-attacks the first day. We lost
five of our six officers. I. got by
without a scratch although they
put a bullet hole through my
jacket sleeve.
“It did not seem as though wo
would get out of there alive, but
the colonel was able to send the
remnants of the battalion up. We
stayed there for five days under
coristant shelling and mortar bar
rages.
“By the end of the fifth day
the stench from dead bodies made
remaining there almost imposs
ible. We decided to move up. The
Germans had evacuated ahead of
us but we captured many prison
ers.”
Some of the prisoners wore a
special ribbon to show- that they
had taken part in the siege of
Stalingrad. Captain Hausdorf. saya
wryly that he suspects they were
given the ribbons because they
succeeded in surviving.
TO BE CONCLUDED
NEXT WEEK
Carrier Corp. Interviews
Carrier Corporation representa
tive W. G. Hillen will be on cam
pus Thursday to interview seventh
and eighth semester engineering
students. Arrangements for inter
views should be made in the Col
lege Placement Service office, 204
Old Main, as soon as possible.