What's New; 252; Potomac Adventure. Part 2

. . . . . In and out and round about. Here, there and everywhere. What's new? Hi, as I recall it, the last time I was here and you were there, the topic of conversation was the Potomac River and the things that we've seen in and around Washington, D.C. by taking a boat trip on that Potomac.

In addition to that information, I know a couple of things for sure. One, we're going to resume our boating trip on the river today. And two, ever since I put these phones in to help us conduct our what's new business a little more easily, but what's new marching society and glee club has taken great delight in calling me with outrageous questions. Hello. Will I ask Paul if the next time you march and play can Howard be first? Do you mean may Howard be first in line as you march? I'll ask. Goodbye. You're familiar with the kind of diving in which a face mask and maybe a snorkel and fins are used. The kind of diving, skin diving, that has become very popular across our country. I think you'll be interested in comparing that kind of diving with the kind of diving and the kind of equipment that among other things. You'll see today on our Potomac adventure.

Hello. Do you like to play some music for us? How long will it take? Three minutes? I can only give you one minute. What are you going to do? Let's go a river. We rejoin our friends, Commander Sly and Jenna, and read as they continue their trip down the Potomac. The capital, Washington Monument, Jefferson, and Lincoln Memorials, all of them behind us now, a head, though, still many exciting and different things to see, including a few surprises. Their boat crosses to the side of the river next to the Washington National Airport, one of the busiest in the world. There always seems to be a pilot signaling ready for take-off.

And there's one plane taxi's out to take off, another has passengers boarding, part of over six million passengers during the year. Still, another is landing. That's our count is doing 115 miles an hour when it touches down on the runway. Oh, look, there goes a big super constellation taxiing out to take off now. Boy, that's quite an airplane, isn't it?

It can carry over a hundred passengers, and it's roots encompass the whole world. Oh, and here comes a NASA conveyor. It shuttles scientists and personnel to our missile sites all around the country. And let's watch as that big DC-7 taxi's in to park. Now, that man there is the taxi director all set to give direction signals to the pilot. In this area, this man is boss. He is completely charged with the safe movement of the aircraft at this point. The pilot must do just what this man signals him to do, the main reason being that the pilot has limited vision,

whereas the taxi director can see everything that is happening all around the airplane. Now, watch the taxi director's left hand, but when he points down, the pilot will turn the nose wheel and swing the plane around. Home safe. Safety is a habit, though, at National Airport. Commander Sly told Jenna and Reed, they have to be, because they're carrying some mighty precious cargo at times,

kings and queens, congressmen and diplomats, movie stars, and VIPs from all over the world. National Airport has seen them all. You know, until jets came into general use in the 1960s, the President and the Vice President took off from National Airport, and they still do occasionally when prop type or small jet type aircraft are used, but most often, the President now uses one of the big 707 jets. All of the presidential jets are identical with the presidential seal painted on the sides, and they are based out of nearby Andrew's Air Force base. But whatever plane the President has assigned is automatically designated Air Force 1, the Vice Presidential plane Air Force 2. But time for us to leave bustling National Airport, the boat crosses to the Haines Point side of the Patelma.

Haines Point, for Washingtonians, a popular recreation area and park. It and many other beautiful parks in Washington have been entrusted to the National Park Service, whose headquarters are to the right in your picture. At Haines Point, the Potomac on your right meets the Anacostia River to the far upper left, and the Washington Channel at the lower left. The Potomac becomes almost twice as wide at this point, and up the Washington Channel are fishing piers, a police harbor station, and even a sightseeing company offers tourists boat trips down the Potomac. Facing out on the Anacostia River here is the National War College, where military officers get advanced training. A century ago, the conspirators who assassinated Abraham Lincoln were imprisoned here,

and across the river is the hangar base for HMX-1, the Presidential Helicopter Fleet. And you'll see these helicopters from time to time, skirting low over the trees, keeping in practice, so that they'll be ready on a moment's notice from the President. And we had plenty of time that day, so Commander Sly took his friends up the Anacostia River a little way to the Washington Navy yard. And in port that day was the undaunted, a research ship operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Commission, and that's the tug Wataugh, the oldest tug in continuous service in the U.S. Navy. The Wataugh, like all tugs, has an Indian name. It's used for towing, and as a firefighter, and for helping guide ships into port. Ships such as this big destroyer escort.

Now, this is one of the smallest vessels that the Navy refers to as a ship, not a boat. And those things that you see there, can you guess what they are? Well, they're rat guards, and they do just that. They keep the rats that are so often found in the dock area, from climbing up the ropes and getting aboard the ship. Now, this ship, the USS Lozier, is manned by reservists who are ready to go just like this gun turret. And that's rather an unusual gun there. That's used for regular duty, and also can be used as an anti-aircraft gun. Commander Sly had a gleam in his eye as he pointed to the boat tied up at the next pier. The presidential yacht that he had piloted while in the Navy, the honey fits. This is the name given the boat by President Kennedy, and it's the same boat that was called the Barbara Anne under President Eisenhower. Now, President Truman had a larger boat, the Williamsburg.

As an economy move, President Johnson hasn't used the presidential craft very much. Commander Sly, recalling his experiences as commanding officer of the presidential yachts, remembered that what President Truman enjoyed most were long walks on the decks of the Williamsburg. And President Eisenhower once told him after a quiet three-day fishing trip down the river at Commander Sly's favorite fishing spot, that those three days were the most enjoyable and relaxing three days that he had spent since he had been in office. A President Kennedy, a Navy man himself, loved the water. And he often enjoyed joining Commander Sly in the wheelhouse of the honey fits. He even did some piloting of his own, and quite a good job of it too, as Commander Sly. Now, there is another of the presidential crafts, the Patrick J. And it looks as if it's getting some maintenance work by a couple of sailors who appear to be walking on water.

Not really, though. Actually, they're standing on a platform or a scaffold that's just like a blow water. Now, that's the PT boat, which accompanies the presidential boat at all times to protect the President. It's extremely fast. It will go over 45 miles per hour, and it's appropriately named the Guardian. Up ahead was the section of the Navy Yard used by the Deep Sea Diver School. And as we came alongside of their floating school, there was a training session in progress, and one of the divers was getting suited up, getting ready to dive in the murky waters of the river. The tenders are putting weighted boots on him now. They weigh 35 pounds. Now, this diver is receiving a piece of special equipment that he needs for his job. Meanwhile, at another part of the school, in a training tank, we find a diver coming below to work on a project.

Hey, that's sort of spooky-looking, isn't it? Ghosty. You know, these brave men are all volunteers. Incidentally, the Congressional Medal of Honor, as you know, is our country's highest military award, and there have been only seven Congressional medals awarded in peacetime, and six of these were to graduates of this Deep Sea Diving School. Diving really takes a lot of nerve, but safety and caution are very important to the divers. In fact, they have a saying that there are old divers, and there are bold divers. But there are no old, bold divers. Now, the breastplate to which the helmet will be attacked has been put on and tightened,

and now come the heavy belt weights. The meantime, our underwater diver is putting into place a special face mask, and believe it or not, he is going to be working with a torch underwater. And that's right, this special electric arc torch can be used underwater. The cutting flame is fed oxygen through the hollow tube of the torch, and the flame sort of burns in a big bubble of oxygen. Hey Red Diver, check out your helmet. Helmet in place, this diver is almost ready. It's hard to believe that the suit he is wearing is almost the same style as it was

when Augustus CB invented it in 1821. Two pads on the helmet, the signal that he is ready to go below. The river here is so muddy, the diver will be working completely blind at the bottom and standing waist deep in mud. And if he is successful here, he will be successful anywhere, and is out that weighs nearly 200 pounds. Hey Red Diver, get your signal squirt away, stand by to go down. There goes a man down to hand him his tool bag, and then he'll be ready to go below. Hey Red Diver, bring you over to the descending line,

give proper signals, go down. Another part of a diver's training here at the school is in the use of scuba gear. Now have you ever wondered where the word scuba came from? Well, the letters are the initials for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. Where do they go? Oh, there they come. I see you. With his compressed air tank, the diver can take care of such missions as searching for missing things, underwater recovery, photography, and so forth. Now there are a couple of unusual vessels. Nearer to us is the spa. It looks a lot like the submarine next to it, but when it's in operation there is a big difference. It sits in the water vertically. And it's used to study underwater sound transmission and for other scientific tests. And that is the USS Drum, a World War II sub, which is now used for training.

But in its combat days it had quite a score, sinking 27 enemy ships, including three combat ships. At the Washington Navy Yard, the nation's oldest military installation, our relics of our country's past wars. Here you can see, and even climb aboard, a Sherman tank. And that's in the foreground, and in the top left is a captured Japanese tank. And that big gun has a barrel, 16 inches in diameter, and shoots a huge shell almost as tall as a man. And the shell weighs almost as much as an automobile, and can be fired over 24 miles. Lesser, while we were there that day, there was a cracked marine drill team marching. And this is a detachment of the oldest marine post in the core. And they march in inaugural parades, and that other important affairs of state. At the U.S. Naval Museum, you learn a lot more about our country's naval history,

and the important role the Washington Navy Yard played in the growth of the nation's capital. Well, our friends have left the Navy Yard, and are now on the Potomac below Haynes Point and the Airport. This is the Dangerfield Island area, the location of one of the many beautiful marinas along the river, where people come to engage in boating for pleasure and for sport. . . . .

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