’09 Conference Exceeds Expectations

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Photo courtesy of AFP 2007 By Maj. Steven Solomon Meinhardt Raabe, right, joined some of the other Munchkins, thought to be the only surviving actors from the 1939 movie classic, “The Wizard of Oz,” in 2007 for the unveiling of their star on the Hollywood W alk of Fame. CAP’s smallest WW II pilot spoke with authority as a ground instructor as well as on the big screen H He is described as the only surviving cast member with a significant part in “The Wizard of Oz,” and he still receives fan mail from across the country and around the world. But that’s not what has brought a visitor to the Penney Retirement Community in northeast Florida to talk to him. Meinhardt Raabe (RAH’-bee), the actor who portrayed the coroner in Munchkinland, joined Civil Air Patrol in World War II as a pilot and gr ound instructor, and he is only too happy to Civil Air Patrol Volunteer 34 November-December 2009
talk about these five years of his life. HEIGHT NO OBSTACLE TO FLIGHT “I was 2 inches short for what the requirement was to go into the Air Force to fly the big boys,” the 4-foot-7- inch Raabe said just a couple of w eeks before his 94th birthday. “So, I joined Civil Air Patrol.” He’d heard about CAP from his flight instructor when he was taking flying lessons. He learned to fly on grass fields and lo ved when it snowed and the airplanes were fitted with skis. He flew missions every weekend he could for the Michigan Wing and later, after he relocated, for the Illinois Wing in the Chicago area. The airplanes he piloted, all single-engine two-seaters, were made by Taylorcraft, Aircoupe and Piper. “Over the course of years, I flew everything they made at that time,” Raabe said. “Fortunately, I never had a bang-bang experience,” he said, referring to CAP pilots who tangled with Nazi submarines and were sometimes fired upon for their efforts. The CAP missions he flew were for the Coast Guard and Fire Service, whose own pilots, he said, were called into military service. His patrols took him over a new military dock that would’ve been used if the Great Lakes’ locks were damaged, and he also looked for dangerous woodland fires. A MAN OF MANY TALENTS “During that time I was working for a meatpacking company, doing their public relations,” Raabe said, explaining that for more than 30 years he did everything from serve as navigator in the original two-seat Oscar Mayer Wienermobile to act as company spokesman Little Oscar, World’s Smallest Chef. He recalled that, in Background: Raabe declared the witch was “most sincerely dead!” the part of the country where he lived, people would ice fish in the winter, and that one year there were several fishermen shacks on an ice flo w that broke off and began to float away. He wasn’t on duty when it occurred, but a friend of his br ought the fishermen back one at a time in his two-seater airplane. “That was the most exciting thing that happened at the time,” Raabe said. When not flying CAP missions, Raabe was a navigation and meteorology ground instructor. “Many of the people in CAP w ere hoping, or should I say anticipating, being called into full ser vice,” Raabe said, explaining that many of his students enter ed the military more knowledgeable because of his presentations. All of this happened, of course, after Raabe got his famous part in “The Wizard of Oz,” which he said opened doors for him. TRAVELING THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD “I was 2 inches short for what the requirement was to go into the Air Force to fly the big boys, so I joined Civil Air Patrol.” — Meinhardt Raabe Raabe, 94, talks about his experiences as a CAP pilot during World War II. “I heard that MGM was intending to make a mo vie, that an author named Frank Photo by Maj. Steven Solomon, Southeast Region Baum had written a book called ‘The Land of Oz’ populated by little people. It was a visionary type of movie. I got a part in the picture,” Raabe said, crediting his familiarity with phonics and his clear diction for convincing the director to hire him instead of any of the five others who auditioned. “I was the only one the director could understand,” he said, laughing. His only lines, later dubbed over like most of the other Munchkin parts, took up less than 15 seconds of film time: As coroner, I must aver I thoroughly examined her And she’s not only merely dead She’s really, most sincerely dead! Citizens Serving Communities...Above and Beyond 35 www.gocivilairpatrol.com
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Page 4 and 5: During CAPʼs annual conference, NA
Page 6 and 7: CAP Salutes the Best of the Best Ph
Page 8 and 9: Lt. Col. Jonathan E. Reid, left, of
Page 10 and 11: CAP applauds its 2009 award recipie
Page 12 and 13: CAP cowpokes for an evening Ranch s
Page 14 and 15: [ from your national commander ] I
Page 16 and 17: Memories and moments from CAP’s 2
Page 18 and 19: Astronaut Carries Brother’s CAP I
Page 20 and 21: CAP member and NASA astronaut Eric
Page 22 and 23: — long trips.” The plane is ext
Page 25 and 26: Four CAP Aerospace Education Member
Page 27 and 28: Chantelle Rose prepares to fly a st
Page 29 and 30: State of the Organization: The heal
Page 31 and 32: distributed. Already in place are a
Page 33 and 34: Tuskegee Airmen Visit Troops in Com
Page 35: the numerals “332,” a souvenir
Page 39 and 40: “We have survivors!” Incredible
Page 41 and 42: Civil Air Patrol Capt. Steve Steinb
Page 43 and 44: “Look! Look!” as the man accide
Page 45 and 46: Photo by 1st Lt. James E. Robinson,
Page 47 and 48: Public Law 557, signed on May 26, 1
Page 49 and 50: TThough the recent search for three
Page 51 and 52: A cadet’s project blossoms into a
Page 53 and 54: Jung, said, “We are all extremely
Page 55 and 56: [ region news ] Great Lakes Photo b
Page 57 and 58: Pacific Hawaii Wing ready to respon
Page 59: Discover the Value of Civil Air Pat

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