America at war! (1941– ) (Part 1)

7692

Die versenkten USA.-Schnelltransporter –
Eisenhower gesteht nach vier Wochen

dnb. Berlin, 23. Oktober –
General Eisenhower, der Befehlshaber der amerikanischen Truppen in England, hat am 22. Oktober eine Erklärung herausgegeben, die einer Bestätigung der deutschen Sondermeldung vom 28. September über die Versenkung der drei großen Fahrgastdampfer vom Typ Viceroy of India, Reina del Pacifico und Derbyshire gleichkommt.

Die Erklärung hat den offensichtlichen Zweck, die Unruhe zu beseitigen, die unter den zur Verschiffung bestimmten USA.-Soldaten und der amerikanischen Öffentlichkeit entstanden ist. General Eisenhower stellt zwar den Untergang der drei Truppentransporter nicht in Abrede, er bestreitet aber, daß diese „mit amerikanischen Truppen schwer beladen gewesen“ seien. Da es auffallen muß, daß er mit dieser Erklärung fast vier Wochen gewartet hat, setzt er hinzu, die Erklärung sei zurückgehalten worden, bis die amerikanischen Soldaten, die sich damals auf dem Atlantik befanden, unversehrt in England an Land gebracht worden wären und man sich über ihr Schicksal versichern konnte.

Diese vorsichtige Zurückhaltung wäre nicht nötig gewesen, wenn die britische Admiralität den amerikanischen Stellen gegenüber den Untergang der drei Transporter hätte dementieren können. Die drei Truppentransporter würden, wären sie nicht versenkt werden, in etwa vier Tagen britische Häfen erreicht haben. Spätestens vier Tage nach der Versenkung hätte also General Eisenhower im Besitz der Tatsachen sein können, denen er fast vier Wochen lang nachforschte.

7693

U.S. Navy Department (October 24, 1942)

Communiqué No. 166

Central and South Pacific.
U.S. naval forces have recently carried out operations in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands with the following results:

  1. Two small enemy patrol vessels were sunk by gunfire near Tarawa Island.
  2. One enemy destroyer and one merchant ship were damaged by gunfire near the same island.
  3. No heavy enemy forces were encountered during the operations.

There has been no report of any new action in the Solomon Islands area.

7694

The Pittsburgh Press (October 24, 1942)

Fortress raid knocks out 10 of Japs’ ships

MacArthur’s fliers sink at least four vessels in Rabaul Harbor
By Don Caswell, United Press staff writer

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7695

Senate nears showdown on draft curbs

Leaders say adoption of restriction on youths appears likely

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7696

Ambassadress of good will –
We know too little of you, Mrs. Roosevelt tells London

By Kathleen Harriman, United Press special writer

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7697

U.S. Navy shakeup –
South Pacific chief replaced

Adm. Halsey put in charge in Solomons
By Sandor S. Klein, United Press staff writer

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7698

U.S. asked to control railroad for duration

Washington (UP) –
The War Labor Board announced today it was preparing to recommend government control of the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad for the duration of the war because of the refusal of the company’s president to accept the board’s order for settlement of his dispute with the railroad brotherhoods.

A directive order issued by the WLB on Sept. 23 granted TPW employees wage increases to conform with those paid by Class-I railroads. The directive also informed President George P. McNear Jr. that the railroad would be returned to private management only when he complied with the directive.

The railroad has been under government control since March by order of President Roosevelt, who intervened after Mr. McNear consistently defied the WLB and other government agencies seeking to settle the dispute.

7699

WLB moves to halt pirating of workers

Washington (UP) –
The War Labor Board, acting to correct a “very grave situation,” today froze maximum hiring rates of tool and die workers in the Detroit area to stop pirating of workers.

The order set the top rate at $1.75 an hour for approximately 35,000 skilled workers in Wayne, Oakland, McComb, Monroe and Washtenaw Counties, Michigan. Wages will not be reduced in cases where present rates are above the top, but no more workmen can be hired for more than the maximum.

7700

I DARE SAY —
Troop train

By Florence Fisher Parry

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7701

Bomber collision blamed in plane crash killing 12

Army ship angled into airlines transport, witness claims

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7702

Steel production hinges on public’s scrap donations

Sustained pace in war industries calls for materials that must be found, not made, Weir says; place of junkyards is explained
By E. T. Weir, Chairman, National Steel Corp.

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7703

Senate hits at Petrillo

Proposal would free radio from ‘stranglehold’

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7704

Politician freed of dope charges

New York (UP) –
A federal court jury today acquitted Sam Maceo, of Galveston, Texas, politician and nightclub owner, of conspiracy to violate the federal narcotics laws, but found his co-defendant, Joseph Schipano, guilty.

The jury deliberated Maceo’s fate for more than six hours last night, and was locked up in a hotel overnight.

They had agreed that Schipano was guilty.

The jury resumed its deliberations today and returned its verdict on Maceo within an hour and a half.

Schipano will be sentenced on Oct. 30. He faces a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment or a $10,000 fine, or both.

7705

Editorial: Who will win the war?

Lt. Gen. Ben Lear, an able military veteran, says that the war will be won by ground troops. A large segment of articulate opinion believes it will be won by aviation.

Experts say only land-based aircraft have any major value. A naval hero says only carrier-based planes have been worth their salt in fighting Jap craft.

Who will win the war? Isn’t it possible that each arm is necessary – that the war may be won by the intelligent use of all weapons, each playing an assigned part in a master plan?

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7706

Editorial: A Baruch Committee for manpower

The manpower muddle needs the Baruch Committee treatment.

The problem of getting the right men – and women – in the right jobs at the right time is one of the toughest this country has ever faced. And one of the most important.

It hasn’t been solved, it isn’t being solved, and apparently it never will be solved by the present methods of approach.

It is, like rubber, like food supply, like anti-inflation measures, like many another of Washington’s wartime problems, a victim of indecision, divided counsel and conflicting authorities.

We can raise an Army and Navy big enough to win the war and at the same time provide the war industries, the farms and the essential civilian Industries with workers. We can, because we must.

But to do all that, we must have a master plan for the use of manpower.

And though the need for such a plan has been evident for many months, though Paul McNutt’s War Manpower Commission has been in existence for nearly a year, no master plan is in evidence.

This is not to single out Mr. McNutt for special criticism. Not until last week did the War Department issue any adequate statement as to the size of the army it intends to raise and equip. There has been little coordination between the Manpower Commission and the Selective Service. And it is true, as Mr. McNutt tells Congress, that he has no power to compel employers or workers to obey his orders.

Mr. McNutt wants compulsory-service legislation, and promises that a proposed draft will be submitted to the President within two weeks. But his own Management-Labor Policy Committee contends that such legislation is not yet necessary. The big labor organizations take the same stand. And the Tolan Committee of the House argues persuasively that, until there is better machinery for mobilizing manpower, an attempt at compulsion would only cause greater chaos.

Certainly the drafting of workers would create many new and irksome problems. Mr. McNutt talks them down. He thinks most people affected would comply voluntarily. It has been proved time and again that most Americans will comply willingly with drastic restrictions, if – but only if – they are convinced that the restrictions are wise, and intelligently applied, and necessary to win the war.

As yet, in our opinion, most Americans are not convinced of the necessity for drafting workers, and are emphatically not convinced that compulsory service would be applied intelligently.

This whole subject should be referred to a non-political committee of unbiased, thoughtful and public-spirited men, not necessarily the same who served so effectively on the Baruch Rubber Committee, but of comparable caliber and prestige, with instructions to recommend a master plan and a real solution. That would take a little time now, but in the long run, it would save both time and trouble.

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7707

Editorial: Our Mexican ally

Our government is making progress in smashing the fifth-column movement and the southern submarine menace so closely connected with it. In this clean-up job, Mexico has helped a lot.

Much of the credit for the increasingly close cooperation between Washington and Mexico City should go to our Ambassador, George S. Messersmith. As a foreign service officer of nearly 30 years’ experience, and a former Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Messersmith knows how to get things done. The Good Neighbor Policy, advanced by President Roosevelt, Secretary Hull and Under Secretary Welles, is not so good in the field when it has to be applied by some generous campaign contributor or worthy politician playing diplomat.

Fortunately, we have been represented better in Mexico in recent years than in some other foreign posts. And that is the basis for solution of present problems.

At the moment, rehabilitation of Mexican railroads is to the fore. Our war industries are getting Mexican ores and concentrates, and must receive more. Mexican labor can be useful when we have a serious shortage of manpower on the farms, particularly if the two governments can control the experiment in planned seasonal migration and eliminate the low-wage evil of the past.

In addition to economic, financial and cultural cooperation, and joint effort against fifth-column activity, Mexico has a less publicized role in the Pacific. Without her military collaboration it would be much harder to guard the flanks of our Panama Canal and Pacific Coast defenses.

The old Mexican distrust of the United States, left over from the period of dollar diplomacy and Marine intervention in the Caribbean, is disappearing more rapidly than anyone dared hope. If the relations between the two countries can be kept on the present intelligent policy, both will benefit greatly.

7708

Editorial: Canada can teach us

Elmer Davis did a good job in Montréal the other day. The Director of the U.S. Office of War Information praised the fighting forces of our neighbor, and also the Canadian government’s policy of telling the truth about war losses.

We in this country are negligent in voicing the pride which we feel for our neighbors-in-arms. We have been boorish at times in praising our own exploits at the expense of our allies’.

Dieppe is a case in point. Though that valiant raid was predominantly Canadian, a few newspapers in this country headlined it as a Yankee affair – and some English newspapers also neglected to give full credit to the Canadians. Too many Washington reports of the Battle of the Aleutians fail to note the help we are getting from the Canadians.

Equally justified is Director Davis’ praise for the Ottawa government’s “candor and common sense” in announcing bad news. It took courage to tell Canadians that two-thirds of their Dieppe force was lost, Unfortunately, all of Mr. Davis’ efforts in Washington have not convinced the White House and the War and Navy Departments of the wisdom of such a frank policy.

Washington withheld publication of the loss of our three cruisers off Guadalcanal for 65 days – compared with Australia’s 10 days of silence on the sinking of its cruiser in the same battle – though the enemy announced destruction of those four cruisers the next day. The usual Navy Department delay with bad news is about five weeks.

Washington is still withholding the report on our plane losses at Pearl Harbor and Manila after 10 and a half months. As Mr. Davis put it in Montréal:

A free people wants to know how the battle is going, and will fight all the harder if it realizes how hard it must fight for victory.

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7709

Millett: Family must back victory

Every household has patriotic duty
By Ruth Millett

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7710

RICKENBACKER LOST ON PACIFIC FLIGHT
Ace missing 3 days on secret mission

Wide area south of Hawaii searched for bomber, prospects ‘gloomy’
By Frank Tremaine, United Press staff writer

oo1_original
Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker. Will his luck hold out again?

Honolulu, Hawaii –
Army and Navy planes and surface vessels searched the sea south of the Hawaiian Islands today for Capt. E. V. (Eddie) Rickenbacker and the crew of a bombing plane which disappeared Wednesday evening.

At 2 p.m. EWT, Capt. Rickenbacker, the plane, and its crew had been missing 66 hours and authorities felt that prospects of finding them were “gloomy.”

But there was hope. In addition to the chance that the plane had made an emergency landing on one of the countless atolls in the Pacific and had been unable to establish radio contact, there was the possibility that all the men were adrift on the life raft with which the plane was equipped.

Planes sink quickly

Land planes forced down at sea sink almost at once, but the rafts, painted yellow so they can be spotted from the air, are easily launched. There have been cases since the war started of Navy pilots drifting on them for as long as a month before being rescued.

Though the fortitude of the greatest American ace of World War I is well known, he is now 52 years old and was seriously injured in an airplane crash near Atlanta, Georgia, in 1941, and authorities feared that he might not have the physical stamina to endure prolonged exposure to the blistering sun.

On special air mission

It was revealed in Washington last night that Capt. Rickenbacker, who is president of Eastern Airlines but is serving as confidential aviation adviser to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson had been aboard a bombing plane of unspecified size but believed to have been a four-motored one, which disappeared while en route from Hawaii to “an island in the South Pacific.” He was on a special inspection trip on behalf of Lt. Gen. H. H. Arnold, commanding general of the Army Air Forces.

Washington reported that it was believed there Capt. Rickenbacker was en route to Australia.

The number of men with Rickenbacker was not known, but was believed to be 9 to 11.

Gas for only an hour

Late Wednesday afternoon, the plane reported that it had gasoline for one more hour of flight. Then nothing more was heard and because of that, it was feared it had been forced to make a crash landing at sea.

The plane disappeared in approximately the same region where Amelia Earhart Putnam disappeared in 1937, during the course of an around-the-world flight, never to be heard from again.

Capt. Rickenbacker only recently returned from Great Britain where he was on a mission similar to the one on which he was engaged when he disappeared.

His presence here had been a closely guarded secret known only to a few high military and civilian authorities. His friends here refused to believe he had perished, saying he had a faculty for pulling out of difficulties.

Capt. Rickenbacker flirted with death most of his life. He was an auto racing hero in the early days of the motorcar, a flying ace who took on seven German planes at one time by himself in World War I, an auto manufacturer and head of Eastern Airlines.

His narrowest escape from death was in the crash of one of his own company’s planes near Atlanta, Georgia, on Feb. 27, 1941.

Eight persons were killed; he suffered a broken hip and numerous other fractures, and lay pinned in the wreckage for hours before rescuers arrived. Despite his pain, he did what he could to make the other injured comfortable and kept them from lighting cigarettes that might have set the wreckage on fire and burned them all.

Toured air units

Although his health was not fully restored, he made a 14,000-mile flying trip around the country early this year at the request of Gen. Arnold, Chief of the Army Air Forces, to deliver talks to air combat units.

Before Pearl Harbor, he urged a stronger air force and said most Americans did not appreciate the global problems confronting the Allies.

Capt. Rickenbacker was born in Columbus, Ohio. He quit his first job, selling autos, to become a racing driver and won one of the early Indianapolis Memorial Day races.

Pershing’s chauffeur

He volunteered in the Signal Corps in 1917, but because he had no college education, found it difficult to get into flying school, until after he had served several months in France as Gen. John J. Pershing’s personal chauffeur. He was sent to the flying school at Issoudun.

Soon after he graduated, he became commander of the 94th Aero Squadron. His record, the best of any American flier, was shooting down 25 German planes.

He was awarded the Croix de Guerre, French Legion of Honor medal and the Congressional Medal of Honor for his attack upon seven German planes – five fighters and two bombers. He shot down one bomber and one fighter, and the rest fled.

Mother confident he’ll be found

Los Angeles, California (UP) –
Mrs. Elizabeth Rickenbacker, 79-year-old mother of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, today would not give up hope for her son who is missing somewhere in the Pacific.

Mrs. Rickenbacker was quoted as saying by the missing aviator’s brother, Dewey C. Rickenbacker:

Eddie had many narrow escapes from death and I am sure he will be found alive and well.

The brother reported that his mother was upset by the report but she expressed the firm belief to him that Capt. Rickenbacker would be found alive and well.

Dewey Rickenbacker said:

She’s as confident that he will pull through this as she was that he would live through that crash last year in Georgia when the doctors just about gave him up.

The brother disclosed that Capt. Rickenbacker visited them only last Sunday.

Mrs. Rickenbacker hopes for the best

New York (UP) –
Mrs. E. V. Rickenbacker sat by her telephone today, hoping for the best.

Friends called and tried to comfort her. Occasionally, she wept a little.

She said:

There is nothing I can do – nothing. That is what makes it hard. I just sit here and wait.

Lt. Gen. Henry Arnold telephoned her from Washington yesterday that her husband was missing.

She said:

Since then, I’ve just been sitting here, hoping he will call again to tell me all is well.

With forced jollity, she said:

Oh, I’m used to waiting for news that Eddie has arrived. He always has spent a lot of his time going places. He’s not reckless and he knows the air. And he always has said that he’s the darling of Lady Luck.

She and Eddie were married in 1922. They had two sons: David, 15, and William, 18, who are attending school in Asheville, North Carolina.

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7711

What about the army and Air force? Did they allow soldiers and pilots to keep diaries or were they torched too?

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