Army & Navy – Halo Wawa

When a certain troop transport left Seattle some time ago, three of the crew were caught after they had slipped ashore to make forbidden last-minute telephone calls. Checking up, military intelligence officers called the same numbers, to find out what information had been spilled. They found plenty.

Posing as cigaret-company representatives, they said they wanted to send each man a carton as a gift. A wife, a mother, and a girl friend quickly supplied the information that their men had just sailed on a transport. One woman cheerily volunteered its destination.

To choke off such loose talk Seattle last week opened a lip-zippering campaign. Its slogan: ‘”Halo Wawa!”—a Chinook phrase meaning, approximately, “I don’t talk.”

Soon billboards screamed “Halo Wawa.”Seattle newspapers snapped it on the end of news stories. Through the aisles of the Webster-Brinkley plant stalked Chief Yellow Lark, onetime janitor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, in full tribal regalia. His answer to all questions: “Halo Wawa!” Over the central juke-box system into Seattle beer parlors came bugle calls followed by the stern admonition: “Watch your conversation! [Dramatic pause.] Halo Wawa!”

By week’s end, the slogan had worn very thin. But Seattle was more aware than before of its silent responsibility toward the growing military traffic.