4A -- York Sunday News, Nov. 12, 2010

4A cYORK SUNDAY NEWS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2010

DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL

Susan Smith’s used this log book to track her flying hours in 1942 and 1943 while she wasgetting her instructors license. After giving her own lessons, she eventually took on a job as atranslator with the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner to the CIA.

DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — SUBMITTED

In 1943, Susan Smith bought a share of this 65-horsepower plane so she could fly out of theairport at Thomasville. She earned her commercial pilot’s license and instructor’s certificate,which was only the beginning of what would be a great adventure.

Fly: She also worked for the precursor to the CIAAfter flying, Rodrigueztraveled the globeas a translator witha man who wouldbecome her husband.

Continued from 1A• • •

Soon, she quit her teaching jobso she could fly enough hours toqualify for her commercial pilot’s li-cense and instructor’s certificate.

Her father, Gibson Smith, heardthe Army was looking for flight in-structors. Before long, she moved toMontoursville with a job in the WarTraining Service.

She gave service men their first10 hours of flight instruction: How totake off, how to turn, how to land. Itwas the first test to see if they hadwhat it took to fly.

Many of them were nervous,Smith said. For some, it was theirfirst time off the ground.

She was the only female instruc-tor, but the soldiers were respectful.In the afternoon, while they were inclass, she would sit in the hangarand listen to the other instructorstell cockpit stories.

She enjoyed the work but wanteda different way to help the wareffort. She already spoke French, soafter six months of immersionclasses, she took a job with thefledgling Office of Strategic Serv-ices, the forerunner to the CIA.

They sailed from New York on aconverted ocean liner in 1944, zig-zagging across the Atlantic Ocean toavoid Nazi submarines for 10 days.The blitz was still on when Smithlanded in London, and she was ter-rified to hear the missiles explode.

After the Battle of the Bulgeended in January 1945 — the lasttime the Germans would trulythreaten the Allied line — Smithwas transferred to Paris. She spenther days translating.

“Whatever was to be done, pa-perwork mainly, but I did deal withsome human beings,” she said.

She walked the city, not de-

stroyed, but not on display. It wasquiet.

After the Germans surrendered,everyone was on the move. A fewpeople headed home, but most werebeing transferred into Germany.Smith had heard stories about thedesolation in German cities andwanted something else.

“Things were ending,” she said.“That was sort of what was in the air. . . everyone was asking, ‘What am Igoing to do?’ ”

One day in late spring 1945,someone walked into the office andasked if anybody wanted to go toTangier. Why not?

The French were just beginningto return to the North African cityseparated from Gibraltar by ninemiles of sea. She became close toher boss, Alfonso Rodriguez.

But before the end of thesummer, it was time to go home.

She took an all-night train, filledwith animals, to Algiers, where shecaught a flight to New York, then atrain, eventually getting back toYork. She thought she would stay.

Then Alfonso called.He had been assigned to Costa

Rica and needed another translator.Come on, he said.

By then, OSS had become theCentral Intelligence Group. Smithworked out of the embassy and fellin love.

She married Alfonso in the am-bassador’s house. Her parents trav-eled from York to be there, the firsttime they’d left the country.

Soon after, the ambassador toldher she was the only embassy em-ployee’s wife working. Her job wasto be at home now, he said. And thatwas the end of that.

“I felt a little rebellious about it,

but I couldn’t really do anything,”she said.

Through the years, she lived inMexico and Spain, before Alfonsowas permanently stationed in Wash-ington, where he served as directorof training for the CIA.

• • •

She never flew again.A friend, another female pilot,

spun out in a rented plane and diedsoon after the war. It spooked her.

But she always remembered.“When I see a plane taking off or

flying,” she said, “I feel like I coulddo that, too.”

DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL

Susan Rodriguez reflects on her time as a young flight instructor for the Armyduring WWII, teaching servicemen to fly planes. Now 90, she lives inBethesda, Md.

Congressionalhonor

In March, the surviving WomenAirforce Service Pilots were honoredwith Congressional Medals of Honor.The women flew military planes instateside noncombat missions duringthe war.

Susan (Smith) Rodriguez didn’tqualify. But in July, Rep. Todd Plattsrecognized her service on the floor ofthe House of Representatives.

“The achievements of Mrs. Rodri-guez and other female pioneers con-tinue to inspire generations of youngwomen to achieve the impossible,”Platts said.

DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS —PAUL KUEHNEL

Susan Rodriguez sifts through her records from World War II — when shewas still Susan Smith, learned to fly and then became an Army flightinstructor. She met her husband, Alfonso Rodriguez, while serving in Tangierat the end of the war. He later became a director with the CIA.

VETERANS DAY EVENTSSTAR SPANGLED BANNER &13 FOLDS OF THE AMERICANFLAG, performed by the KoreanWar Veterans, Chapter 178 ofYork, will be presented at the fol-lowing locations. For details, call767-7448.

c 7 p.m. Wednesday, TrinityLutheran Church, 243 Hellam St.,Wrightsville.

c 10 a.m. Thursday, Veteran’sDay Program, York Expo Center,Memorial Hall East, 334 CarlisleAve., West Manchester Township.

c 9 a.m. Friday, NortheasternSenior High School, 300 High St.,Manchester.

c 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15, RiversideLodge, 25 Cool Creek Road,Wrightsville.

VETERANS DAY SERVICE,Pleasant Acres Nursing and Reha-bilitation Center, 118 PleasantAcres Road, York, 2:30 p.m. Thurs-day.

VETERANS DAY BREAK-FAST AND CEREMONY, YorkExpo Center, Memorial Hall East,334 Carlisle Ave., West Manches-ter Township, www.yorkexpo.com,848-2596, 7:30 a.m. Thursday. $11for breakfast; ceremony is free.Make breakfast reservations from

VA office at 771-9218 or at thedoor. Korean War Veterans, Chap-ter 178 presents Star SpangledBanner & 13 Folds of the AmericanFlag Presentation at 10 a.m.

FREE CAR WASH FOR VET-ERANS and current service per-sonnel will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Thursday at Cloister Car Wash,2720 E. Market St., SpringettsburyTownship. Veterans will only needto inform Cloister verbally that theyare veterans or are currently serv-ing in order to receive their free carwash.

HAPPY HOUR IN HONOR OFVETERANS, sponsored by WhiteRose Bar and Grill and York Tradi-tions Bank, will be 5 to 7 p.m.Thursday at White Rose Bar andGrill, 48 N. Beaver St., York. Therewill be complimentary horsd’oeuvres and attendees will havea chance to get to know moreabout American Red Cross’ ClubRed, a young adult group of volun-teers between the ages of 21 and40. Admission to this event will beitems for donation to “OperationUplift” for troops in Afghanistan.Donations include internationalphone cards, beef jerky or SlimJims (individually wrapped), wet

wipes (80 count or less preferred),socks (white cotton, crew lengthonly), underwear (men’s briefs/boxers; ladies briefs/boy short) or apack of disposable razors. For de-tails, call 771-3551 or visitwww.redcross-yorkadamspa.org.

VETERANS DAY TROOPCARE PACKAGE DRIVE, spon-sored by Long and Foster RealEstate Inc., in conjunction withVFW Post 8951 Ladies Auxiliary,will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday atLong and Foster York Office, 1770E. Market St., York. Drop off donat-ed items and sign the banner tothank our troops on Veterans Day.Donations may also be dropped offat all Long and Foster OpenHouses 1 to 3 p.m. today or theYork office between today andThursday. Donations will be deliv-ered to VFW Post 8951 LadiesAuxiliary and forwarded to ourtroops. Cash donations are tax de-ductible. Acceptable donations in-clude:

c Comfort items: gel insoles,foot powder, T-shirts, underwear,socks, Glade Stick-Ups, blankets,big fluffy towel, toilet paper, smallbattery operated fan, baby wipesand eye drops.

c Everyday general items: en-velopes, paper, stamps, callingcards, magazines, disposable cam-eras, Slinkys, squirt guns, themepackages, pocket electronicgames, Dixie cups, small batteryoperated light, batteries, sunblock,small sewing kit, stress ball,padded mailing envelope and eye-glass cleaner wipes.

c Food and snacks:nonmicrowave meals, Cup ’ONoodle soups, individual-servingdry cereal, instant oatmeal or grits,breakfast bars, granola, cereal andpower bars, Bowl Appetite dinners,Pop Tarts, tuna in the “freshpouch,” beef sticks, Slim Jims,potted meat and crackers, smallbagged chips, cookies, crackers,Lunchables, candy, snack cakes,M&M’s, graham crackers, chocola-te-dipped pretzels, pre-packagedbrownies, licorice, bubblegum,Chex Mix, mixed nuts, pretzels,Rice Krispie Treats, applesauce,pudding or fruit cups with pop-offlids and trail mix.

c Drinks: instant coffee, teabags, powdered Gatorade (don’tforget a pitcher, jug or some sort ofcontainer), lemonade mix, pre-sweetened Kool-Aid and pre-sweetened powdered hot choco-

late.c Toiletries: razors, shaving

cream, foot powder, shampoo, con-ditioner, after-shave lotion, soapand mouth wash.

STEWARTSTOWN AREASENIOR COMMUNITY CENTER,26 S. Main St., Stewartstown, willsponsor Veterans Day at the seniorcenter 10:15 a.m. Friday. All veter-ans are invited to visit the center forspecial music provided by JackForacher, a puppeteer and soloist,followed by a special lunch. Forreservations, call the senior centerat 993-3488.

FREE BASIC OIL CHANGE,OIL FILTER AND LUBRICATIONAND COURTESY WINTERCHECK to honor our veterans andmilitary personnel, will be 8 a.m. to5 p.m. Friday at Fadely’s AutoMasters Plus Tires, 3177 W.Market St., West York. An appoint-ment is necessary for the first 30calling in for service on that day.Certificates will be handed out forthose not having service that dayto be honored for a specific time.Veterans also will receive a certifi-cate for $6 to be used at MaryJane Restaurant, West York. Fordetails or to make an appointment,call 792-1596 or 792-6272 or stop

in. You must come in that day forservice or to sign up for a certifi-cate. Please bring proof of time inservice. Food will be served duringthe day for all attending, gifts forthe military and door prizes will begiven out. For those attending,please donate non-perishable andnon-expired canned goods for theDover Food Bank.

ST. PETER’S LISCHEY’SUNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST,5671 Lischeys Church Road,Spring Grove, will host a VeteransDay worship service 10:30 a.m.Nov. 14. Keynote speaker will beLt. Col. Lance B. Green and a lightluncheon will follow. For details, callthe church office at 225-3932.

FREE VETERANS BREAK-FAST, hosted by Red Lion AreaSenior Center, 20-C GothamPlace, York Township, will be 8:30a.m. Nov. 17. Veterans are invitedto the senior center for a freebreakfast of bacon, eggs, pan-cakes and toast. Phil Palandro, di-rector of York County Departmentof Veterans Affairs, along with hiswife, will cook your breakfast. Non-vets are welcome for a charge of$3.50. Seating is limited. For reser-vations, call the senior center at244-7229.

Tax

Continued from 1A• • •

Metta Barbour, can’t say for surewhether property tax reform willpass in the coming term.

If it was up to him, propertytaxes would have been eliminated along time ago. Saylor said the issueisn’t partisan so much as geograph-ic. Some areas of the state suffermore from property taxes thanothers.

According to Saylor, it’s not asbig a deal in the areas around Phila-delphia and Pittsburgh, so changingthe system isn’t a priority from law-makers around there.

Saylor is policy chairman for the

House Republicancaucus. On Tues-day, Saylor is run-ning for theposition of majoritywhip, the third-highest position inthe House. Noother state rep-resentatives haveannounced their in-tention to run for the position, butthat doesn’t mean nobody will.

If he becomes whip, he’ll proba-bly be able to use his leadership po-sition to bring a vote on property taxreform to the House floor, Saylorsaid. But that’s no guarantee it willpass.

For years, lawmakers in Harris-burg have put forth countless prop-erty tax reform proposals, whichgenerally involve replacing propertytaxes with other taxes such asincome or sales. Ideally, Saylorwould like to eradicate the sales taxaltogether, but in the meantime,he’d settle for something that helpsreduce it.

“The biggest problem we’ve beenhaving is building consensus acrossthe state,” Saylor said.

State Rep.Eugene DePas-quale, D-West Man-chester Township,said the problem isthat state educationfunding isn’t relat-ed to enrollment inindividual schooldistricts and hasn’tbeen since 1991. So

districts that have grown since then,such as many in York County, havetaken a hit.

Property taxes are used to fundeducation, which is why they’vebeen rising in York County.

In York, which DePasquale’s dis-trict includes, the problem is stillgreater because many propertiesare used for government functionsand thus produce no tax revenue —putting a heavier burden on the re-maining property owners.

The challenge of changing that inthe legislature is convincing law-makers whose districts haven’tgrown over the years, DePasqualesaid.

“The areas that are stagnant in

population basically are benefitingfrom the status quo,” he said.

Steve Miskin, spokesman for theRepublican House caucus, pre-dicted that education funding willbe a “hot topic” in the term ahead,but he wouldn’t speculate on whatform — if any — property tax reformwill take.

A spokesperson for Corbett couldnot be reached for comment.

Tim Allwein of the PennsylvaniaSchool Boards Association said hisorganization is keeping a closewatch on factors that might affecteducation funding.

In debates, Allwein said, Corbetthas said he wouldn’t continue theincreases in education funding thatwere a hallmark of Rendell’s admin-istration. So the PSBA isn’t countingon a bigger state share of educationfunding in the near future.

But Corbett also has hinted hemight remove some of the state man-dates related to education funding,such as a prevailing wage for schoolconstruction projects or certain spe-cial education requirements.

“Things don’t get any cheaper inschool districts,” Allwein said.

Saylor DePasquale

GOP majority in U.S. HouseThe school boardassociation said itdoesn’t expect Corbettto continue increasesin education funding.

In addition to the state House ofRepresentatives, the U.S. House is nowin the hands of Republicans after lastweek’s elections.

U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-YorkCounty, said it’s too early to say whatthat will mean for him personally, andwe won’t know for a couple of weeks atthe earliest.

He believes he’ll continue to serveon his current standing committees:Transportation, Education and Armed

Services. The influx of new membersalso will give him a bump in seniority,which he speculates will lead to himheading one or more subcommittees.

Still, House leadership tries to assignstanding committee memberships ac-cording to the interests and experienceof individual representatives. And withsuch a large group of newcomers, theyhave a lot to sort out.

“There’s a lot of variables,” Plattssaid.