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COMMUNISM IN HOLLYWOOD MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY 2055 I said that I would be willing to serve in any capacity. So he wired me later and said that there was no commission for me, but would I come on anyway. I wired back, "Name the date and I will come on," and I did. So I went back to Wright Field and worked in a civilian capacity. Mr. AVood. What was the nature of your work ? Mr. Strawn. I wrote, directed, and produced motion pictures for the war effort, and for the Air Force. Someone in Washington, going over the work in that unit, singled my work out as the most profes- sional work and wanted to know why I wasn't commissioned and came back and said that they had better commission me before they lose me, because as a civilian I wasn't obliged to stay there, so they promptly put through a commission to keep me with the unit. I served for several years, until I was disabled and discharged from the service. Mr. Wheeler. What was your rank ? Mr. Strawn. I was a captain. Mr. Wheeler. When were you discharged? Mr. Strawn. I was discharged out of the Birmingham Hospital here, I believe, around August of 1944. Mr. Wheeler. From what period of time were you a civilian em- ployee of the Air Corps? Mr. Strawn. I went in around June, following Pearl Harbor, and they commissioned me about 4 months later, right after my first scripts were seen in Washington. I remained until my discharge, which was, approximately, August of 1944,1 believe. Mr. Wood. Did you say that you were disabled while you were in the service? Mr. Strawn. Yes. Mr. Wood. What sort of disability was that ? Mr. Strawn. I had internal injuries and was operated on. I volun- teered for overseas duty in fact, I was seeking overseas duty and in the course of a routine overseas examination they discovered that I had hurt myself so they sent me to a hospital and I was operated on. There they found other things wrong and discharged me after 4 or 5 months in the hospital. Mr. Wheeler. What has your employment been after your dis- charge from the Air Corps ? Mr. Strawn. I wrote a play which was produced in New York. Let me refresh my memory for just a moment. Then I sold several original stories. Mr. Wheeler. What was the name of the play and the names of the stories? Mr. Strawn. The play was called Sleep No More which was sub- sequently bought by Universal. That was a comedy. Then I sold some original stories. One was called Blossoms for Effie and another one called Affairs of Geraldine, and for Monogram Studios I did a rewrite on Bad Men of Tombstone and then I did an original, sold an original screen play called Hiawatha, and another one called Flight to Mars. That just about brings it up to date. Flight to Mars was completed last December. I would say; approximately that time. Previously I had had another play produced in the East, See No Evil, and another play of mine which was called Anthony Nero. That