Ferguson: Army’s Pentagon
By Mrs. Walter Ferguson
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In New York City –
War industries told to retain draft-free men
Plants must drop younger men first
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Theater wins damages from film companies
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Roz Russell signs a pact with Warners Studio
And Hedy Lamarr may leave MGM to make films as freelancer
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Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
In Italy – (by wireless)
Gunner Sgt. Alban Petchal, who comes from Steubenville, Ohio, said that if I would come over to their tent after supper they’d see if they couldn’t drum up a snack before bedtime. He said they often cooked just to pass the time.
So, I went over about 8 o’clock and Sgt. Petchal said:
I didn’t put the potatoes on yet. We were afraid you weren’t coming.
The potatoes were already peeled. Petchal sliced some thin and dropped them into a skillet on top of the fiery gasoline stove. When he got them a crispy brown, he said:
Have you ever eaten eggs scrambled right in with potatoes?
Sgt. Petchal said that’s the way his mother always fixed them, so broke up a few eggs in the skillet, scrambled them with the potatoes, and served them in the mess kits. They were wonderful.
The eggs cost 20¢ apiece.
There were seven boys in the tent, all aerial gunners. We sat and talked for a long time about things in general. Finally I started to out down their names, and one by one I discovered that every boy in that tent with one exception had been through at least one violent experience.
One from Pennsylvania
Sgt. Robert Sweigert is from Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The others good-naturedly call him “Pretty Boy,” because he is sort of suave looking. He had on nothing but shorts, and while I was there, he shaved and then took a sponge bath out of a wash pan.
Sgt. Sweigert was wounded once by flak and spent two months in a hospital. Another time his plane made a crash landing after being badly shot up, and it broke in two and caught fire when it hit. Yet the crew escaped. The boys showed me snapshots of the demolished plane.
Then we turned to Sgt. Guadalupe Tanguma of San Antonio, Texas. He had just got his orders home, and may be in America by the time this gets into print. He was feeling wonderful about it.
Sgt. Tanguma is of Spanish blood, speaks fluent Spanish, and therefore gets along fairly well in Italian. His experience was a gruesome one, although it turned out fine.
His plane went into a dive and he couldn’t get to the pilot’s compartment, so all Tanguma and the other gunner could do was try to get out. They finally made it.
Tanguma landed upside down in a tree. Italians came running and got him down. He gave the parachute to the crowd. Forty-five minutes after his jump, he was in a farmhouse eating fried eggs.
An Italian volunteered as guide and started walking with him. The Italians wouldn’t take money for their help. The other gunner got back also.
Fliers rated ‘tops’
Next, I put down Sgt. Charles Ramseur of Gold Hill, North Carolina. Sgt. Ramseur used to fly with my dive-bombing friend Maj. Ed Bland, and Maj. Bland says he’s tops.
Ramseur was about to shave off a half-inch growth of whiskers. He was feeling a little abashed because the first sergeant had spoken sharply about it that afternoon. When he did shave, he left a mustache and a straggly little goatee.
Ramseur is the quiet, courteous, unschooled but natively refined type you find so often in the hill country in the South. He hopes to be going home soon, although his orders haven’t been put through yet.
Ramseur has taught himself engraving since being in the Army. At least it’s a form of engraving. He pricks out designs on all his medals with a penknife. His canteen top is covered with names and flight insignia.
He has a photo album with aluminum covers made from a German plane, and all over it are engraved names and places. Sgt. Ramseur hopes maybe this talent might lead to an engraver’s job after the war.
On the fiber lining of his steel helmet, he has chronicled his missions, with a small bomb representing each one. They cover the entire front of the helmet, and he looks at them with relief.
Stokes: GOP problem
By Thomas L. Stokes
Washington –
The optimistic state of mind among Republicans over November election prospects shows itself in the current disagreement among them in the Senate over election of a successor to the late Senator Charles L. McNary as party leader in that body.
Aside from the question of who it should be – and the rivalry is lively – the Republican Senators are divided over whether they should choose a leader now or wait until after the election.
One group, which includes the nine “freshmen” members swept into office in 1942, wants to elect a vigorous leader, carry the fight aggressively on every issue to the Democrats from now until election, and perfect a smooth-working party organization that would function effectively if the party captures the White House.
Other group wants to wait
The other group, which includes some, but not all of the older members, prefers to wait until after election to see if their optimism about victory is borne out, meanwhile retaining their temporary organization with Senator Wallace H. White (R-ME) as acting leader.
In the event they capture the White House, they might want to choose a different type of leader than if the party were still a minority party. They would want as leader a man who would work well with their President and no one knows now who this might be, or what the party situation might be, it is pointed out.
They want no repetition of their last experience with Senate Republican leadership when they were in power. Senate Republican Leader Jim Watson, who had little regard for President Hoover, was constantly crossing up the President and making light cracks about him. One of his favorite quips about the President was:
How’re you going to follow a man who has St. Vilus dance?
Senator McNary, rather than “Sunny Jim,” became the liaison with the White House when the Depression began to pile trouble high.
Should the Republicans capture the Senate, which looks now to be a long-shot bet, the Senate Leader would assume commanding influence in the party councils.
Even should Republicans fail to get control of the Senate, they are certain to make gains and narrow the margin between the parties. There are now 58 Democrats, 37 Republicans and one Progressive. With a Republican President and a Senate nominally under control of the Democrats, a skillful leader would be needed who could work with the Democrats as far as possible to the best interests of the administration, particularly with the country at war.
Conference to decide course
The group which wants to wait leans toward caution. Among them are some who would not go too strong in opposition now, depending rather upon the present trend picking up momentum of its own weight, without any continuous running fight that might produce tactical errors of which President Roosevelt could take advantage.
Republicans will decide on their course at a party conference next Wednesday, with the advantage on the wait-and-see side.
Mentioned for the leadership are Senators Robert Taft (R-OH), Arthur Vandenberg (R-MI), John A. Danaher (R-CT) and Styles Bridges (R-NH).
Senator Taft takes the position among his friends that he would step aside if Senator Vandenberg wants the post. The Michigan Senator, it is reported, would like the job as long as the party is in the minority, but if it won control of the Senate, he would prefer to be President pro tempore and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, on which he is now ranking Republican member.
Senators Danaher and Bridges are younger men who have taken an active role in the Senate. Each has a following.
American dress fashion frills make visitor from Britain gasp
Unlimited buying is startling
By Rosette Hargrove, special to the Pittsburgh Press
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U.S. Navy Department (March 11, 1944)
CINCPAC Press Release No. 304
For Immediate Release
March 11, 1944
Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force bombed Ponape and Kusaie Islands on March 9 (West Longitude Date). Explosions and fires were observed among ground installations at Ponape, and waterfront facilities were hit at Kusaie.
Two enemy bases in the Eastern Marshall Islands were attacked by Army and Marine aircraft, including Mitchells and Dauntless dive bombers, and another was bombed by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two.
No fighter interception was encountered in any of these attacks, and only slight damage was suffered from anti-aircraft fire. All of our planes returned to base.
The Pittsburgh Press (March 11, 1944)
FORTRESSES RIP GERMAN ARMS CITY
Yanks hammer Münster, hit invasion coast
Italian-based fliers attack Florence
By Phil Ault, United Press staff writer
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Beachhead rips another attack
Nazi morale slumps on Italian front
By C. R. Cunningham, United Press staff writer
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Bombers wreck Jap plane base
Town on Ponape in Carolines razed
By Dan McGuire, United Press staff writer
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Dublin defies U.S. demand to expel Axis diplomats
Hull warns presence of enemy in Ireland menaces lives of American soldiers
By John Reichmann, United Press staff writer
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