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THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C- SEPTEMBER 18, 1942 Washington, D. C. ‘INSIDE’ ON ALEUTIANS The inside story can now be told of why the Japs were able to land in the Aleutian islands and bomb the U. S. naval base at Dutch Harbor With so little opposition. As with most things in this war, the problem goes back to lack of foresight, and also, to some extent, lack of army- navy co-operation. Not generally known is the fact that the navy in September, 1941, some two months before Pearl Har bor, refused to let the army build an air base on Umnak island to guard the navy’s Dutch Harbor base. What happened was that Senator Brewster of Maine, a member of the Truman committee and of the naval affairs committee, flew to Alaska last September with Brig. Gen. Arthur Wilson to ascertain whether Alaska needed further for tifications. At Kodiak they met Brig. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, commander of the army’s forces, whose father, a famous Civil war commander, once helped to pay Ulysses S. Grant’s way home from West Point and later surrendered to Grant in Tennessee. General Buckner wanted to go on from Kodiak to Dutch Harbor with Senator Brewster, and although the navy was willing to supply an am phibian plane to the senator, they balked at having General Buckner go along, referred to him as a “hitch-hiker.” Finally, however, the party, in cluding General Buckner, went on to Dutch Harbor and located an ex cellent site for a flying field on Um nak island. Immediately upon their return, Senator Brewster arranged for a senate appropriation to build an air base at Umnak, while the war department prepared to pro ceed. Navy Says No. The war department also notified the navy of its move, since the army is charged with protecting the shore establishments of the navy. A few weeks later, however, word came back from the navy that it did not want the army to build an air base on Umnak island to protect Dutch Harbor. When senators asked Vice Admiral Frederick J. Horne why, he replied: “The navy can protect Dutch Har bor.” This was in late September. Two months later, after Pearl Harbor, the navy frantically demanded an air base to protect Dutch Harbor, but it had to be started during the snow and ice of an Alaskan winter. Therefore the date of completion was July, 1942. Probably the Japs knew this date. They have had fishing vessels cruis ing through the Aleutians off and on for some time. At any rate it was the first week in June, one month before the Umnak air base was finished, that the Japs struck. And when they bombed Dutch Harbor, the navy’s flying patrol boats there were helpless. Heavy and slow, they lacked protection from the army’s fast pursuit planes, so speedy Jap Zero fighters made mincemeat of them. Lack of a nearby army air base from which fighters and bombers could protect the rest of the Aleu tians undoubtedly contributed also to the ease with which the Japs took Kiska harbor and the western Aleu tians. • • • PERSISTENT LEON The army doesn’t seem to think that hard-hitting Leon Henderson, price-fixing boss of the OPA, is lethargic about wanting to put price ceilings on tanks, guns, trucks and other army material for which it is now paying top prices. In a knock-down,- drag-out session in the office of mild-mannered Un dersecretary of War Patterson, Hen derson banged on the table, told Patterson the army was paying too much, that he demanded the power to put price ceilings on army sup plies. “I’m going to keep after you on this till I get it,” Henderson stormed. “When I was younger and I was 'courting a girl, I kept after her until I got her. And that’s what’s going to happen now.” • • • CAPITAL CHAFF C. Frank Grillo, president of th» United Rubber Workers, is one man who doesn’t believe that labor lead ers at home are more necessary than fighters at the front. He has resigned from the Rubber Workers and asked for his old job back in the army—not a cellophane commis sion (you can see through it but it protects from the draft). He wants to be a sergeant. C. The navy has wisely drafted some of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI sleuths to help train naval intelligence of ficers. They are doing a bang-up job. C. The Truman committee has per suaded the army to lend it Brig. Gen. Frank Lowe, a Maine Repub lican, as its executive officer. C. On her way from Hollywood to Washington to participate in the treasury’s big bond show, demure Ann Rutherford sold several hun dred dollars worth of bonds at each station stop. At Albuquerque one man handed her $1,000 in cash. PSYCHIATRY AND WAR (Suggested by the proposal that, before being inducted, all men in the armed forces should undergo tests by psychiatrists.) CASE 3462: Subject’s name is Paul Revere. Very impulsive type. Admits he likes to ride horseback at night. Prefers to do so alone. As a child played with lanterns, re jecting toys. First words as an in fant according to parents was “Gid- dap!” Admits he liked to go around at night waking up neigh bors. Conclusion: Erratic, stubborn type with little emotional stabil ity. We think he should be care fully watched, kept away from horses and not trusted with any mission of importance. • • • CASE 7629: Subject’s name is Israel Putnam. Admits he can’t stand being left out of a fight. Will drop everything to get into one. Highly impulsive and quarrelsome. As a child he was left in his baby- carriage a few minutes by a nurse. He promptly took hold of the wheels and rode it down a steep flight of steps. Seems proud of the incident when reminded of it now and says he would do it again. Likes to ar gue. Very difficult to stop. Impa tient of those who differ with him. Has sharp temper and is given to violent actions on occasion. Conclusion: Clearly a mental case. Keep in a cool dry place and permit no initiative. • * * CASE 9726: Subject’s name is George Washington. Exhibits many unusual traits and tendencies. As a young man he cut down a fine cherry tree without being asked to do so. When father asked him if he did it he promptly told the truth, in faot it was difficult to tell whether he was confessing or boasting. Liked to fight Indians although he could make good living as a surveyor. Openly says kings are over-rated. Says he wouldn’t be one if he could, Conclusion: Schizophrenia or something. Plainly not type suit ed to position of leadership. * * * CASE 9277: Name, U. S. Grant. Very unstable. Case history shows him indolent and disposed to let things slide. Careless about person al appearance. Difficult to draw into a discussion but very vehement when once aroused. Smoked cigars in grammar school. Drinks. When asked if he drank anything, he re plied: “Anything!” Conclusion: Unreliable, intem perate and a little touched in the head. Suited only to indoor work under careful watch. * • • CASE 6223: Benedict Arnold. Subjected this man to exhaustive tests. He met them all with pose and patience. Very intelligent. Has remarkable self-confidence. Ex presses self lucidly and seems well informed on everything. Is some what vain, a bit impetuous and rath er fond of money and position, but on the whole a charming, highly in telligent person. Conclusion: This man is clear ly of exceptional character. We would not hesitate to trust him anywhere. • • • TIME OUT! It’s bad enough to lose the key To my front door, but worse Is when I’m with the wife and she Has put it in her purse! —Merrill Chilcote. • • * Do You Remember— Away back when if the railroad were doing capaoity business botl in passengers and freight they couh make money? • • • Impending Battle: When th< WAAC who never forgets finds she has to salute the captain who once said she had no style sense. • * • We hear that every time our fleet commanders hear Alex Severesky on the air they check up to see if they still have any vessels left. • • • 500,000 typewriters are wanted for the army and navy. We de plore this. The army and navy have enough troubles without having to master the job of changing a typewriter ribbon. • * * Add similes: As funny as a poli tician urging that politics be dropped for the duration. • • • Ima Dodo watched the recent total eclipse of the moon. It lasted an hour and a half. “Gosh!” she ex claimed. “For a time I was afraid it wouldn’t get out of it.” * * * Secretary Stimson announces that the army will now take men 50 years of age. Bring your pills, liniments, arch support ers, brace and truss! • • • Can You Remember— Away back when woman’s place was said to be in the home? • • • The question every girl with a sweetheart in the service asks when ever any other male of the same age is observed in civvies, “Why isn’t he in uniform?” Jiggers, Japs! Here Come the Marines! Above photos were taken immediately before and after the U. S. marines blasted the Japs from at leas! six of the Solomon islands. The amphibious tractor at top carries marines approaching the entrance to the first Jap army camp on Guadalcanal islands. Lower left: A deserted Jap machine gun emplacement is in spected by marines. The U. S. invaders tossed dynamite sticks down the holes to quiet the defenders. Right: Yanks set up emergency radio outfits for communication with advancing patrol forces of Leathernecks and ships of the fleet. The Well-Dressed Commando—From Stem to Stern The camera got real close to this hard-bitten Commando trooper as he and his buddies returned from the raid on Dieppe, and succeeded in getting the lowdown on what the well-dressed Commando wears. And it’s plenty! At left is a rear view, showing the pack aid tools. (Center, front view.) Notice the brass knuckles and dagger in belt. The tube across the man’s chest is attached to a life preserver. Tube is used to inflate the preserver if the Commando goes into the water. Right: An extra dagger carried in the scabbard in the Commando’s gaiter. Note boots, armored for cliff climbing or high jumping. New Troop-Carrying Glider for U. S. Army Shown above in the air and on the ground is the army’s 15-place troop carrying glider, the CG-4A, now in quantity production at Wichita, Kans. In the hands of a skilled pilot the glider can be landed in almost any small field or pasture. The glider has a wing span of 83 feet and 8 inches, and weighs only 3,000 pounds. Note troops boarding glider in lower picture. Gliders of this type may be used against Axis when invasion time comes. Built in 24 Days Henry J. Kaiser handed to his gov ernment a 10,000-ton Liberty ship, the John Fitch, shown above, which was built in only 24 days. This shat tered all records. By assembling the engine that went into the ship in just 30 hours another record was broken. Photo shows the launching from the Richmond, Calif., yards. Milk Delivery on Pacific Isle Base Pudding Bomb! Here you see USAAF officers sampling local coconut milk delivery on a South Pacific island airbase. The coconuts are a far cry from the containers in which their milk once was delivered “back in the states.” The “pudding bomb,” used with good effect in the Egyptian desert, is said to be more potent than the “Molotov cocktail” for rendering German tanks hors de combat. Thrown at a tank, the “pudding” sticks to the side until it explodes. “YXT'AR,” as the late William v v Tecumseh Sherman said, “is hell.” At least, it is around 97 per cent hell. But here and there it also contributes something on the better side. In the course of a recent trans continental trip I’ve discovered one helpful factor from more than a dozen football coaches. Headed by Curly Lambeau of the Green Bay Pack ers, they all tell me their squads have reported in far bet ter physical shape and all have a much keener spirit than football ever has known before. “In the first place,” Curly says, “most of them know they will be in war service soon. Most of these men are mar ried, with kids to look after. But in the grim game ahead of us they are aL 1 . looking forward to doing their full share. Grantland Rice “In the second place, they all have more than a few pals now in some active branch of war service. They know the sacrifices these men have had to make. They know the harder row they have had to face. And so their pride has made them stick closer to simpler living and the way of life that would leave them ready when needed. Then and Now “I’ve had linemen,” Curly says, “who would report at 250 pounds. These men now come in at 230 or 225. They are ready to go. Others who were from 10 to 20 pounds over weight in other seasons, reported at about the same weight they knew after a hard year last winter. “Practically all of these men have been keeping in shape for months. Maybe that isn’t much to ask, but at least it is something. It may be more than many others are doing who haven’t been called. “This .is all a new sign of the times,” Lambeau continued. “It means we are going to have from now on a far better conditioned set of men. It means that millions of us realize the old, soft days are over. It means a big jump in national fitness. And I think we’ve needed this lesson. “Life, as we knew it, had been pleasant. But has it been physical ly helpful? Haven’t we had too many of our people who led soft lives, physically, who took poor care of their bodies? Who drank too much? Who ate too much? Who took little exercise? And so died well before their due time? I think so. So do most of the coaches and trainers who have seen men report from 20 to 40 pounds above the weight they should carry. And this goes for almost every part of our people. A New Age “With the expected exceptions,” Curly carried on, “we are coming into a new physical age for the young and the middle aged—even for those past 60. “They all read about and know about the rigorous training of the Commandos, the Naval Cadets, the Parachutists, the marines, the sol diers and sailors. “Here we have a war that really means the survival of the fittest. Fittest, of course, means brain and spirit, as well as body. But please don’t forget the big part that phys ical fitness plays in stamina and en durance, especially. “This is why I still insist this country needs all the competitive sport it can get. And that is why I know that football plays, and can play, a big part in this program. “Football means physical fitness, body contact, alertness, spirit, sac rifice, team play, and the ability to carry on when you are either hurt or almost out.” True Condition Every football coach I’ve met feels the same way about the situation. I’ve seen any number of young col lege stars report for training when they were in no condition for a pil low fight. But it takes no great amount of brains for them to see they are fac ing a new age—a different world. Before too long they will be flying above strange seas, using the bayo net, handling a tank, or swimming in oil-fired water. Their best chance against the odds is to be trained and fit for what they have to face. What will happen to sports in an other year is another guess. It may move into a blackout. Baseball Umpires But the main idea is to get from hard, competitive sport all we can at the moment, so that other mil lions called at least will be partially ready for the job ahead. I believe the majority of those in sport have this understanding. Those who haven’t can be listed with “the beau- tiful—and the damned.” There has been a tradition in base ball that aggressive teams are those which attack the umpires. This tra dition is all wrong. 'TPHESE curtains were made ol -*■ the long pieces of good ma terial from each side of a pair ol sheets that were worn in the cen ter. They were dyed a soft cream; then wide strips of gingham and narrow ones of prepared bias trimming were stitched in place to make stripes. The chart shows the colors used and also gives the widths and spacing of stripes. In case you should want to use short lengths of goods for the foundation part, stitch these together with seams on the right side; then place contrasting strips over join ings. Colors used should repeat the colors in rugs, pictures, books or bric-a-brac. • • • NOT i:: The above Idea was taken from BOOK t of the series of 10-cent booklets which hlrs. Spears has prepared for read ers. BOOK 8 also contains several sug- gestior.s for fixing up a kitchen: ways to remo'iel closets and various household conveniences. Send your order to: UBS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS Bedford Hills New York Drawer M Enclose 10 cents for Book 8. Name Address J. 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