America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

4766

Medal of Honor awarded to 32 in Army, 44 in Navy

Washington (UP) – (March 25)
Since Pearl Harbor, 32 men out of an Army of about 7,500,000 and 44 men out of the approximately three million in the naval services, have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for heroism.

Authorized by Congress for any man who distinguished himself “by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty,” the medal stems from an award voted by Congress in July 1862, for enlisted men who distinguished themselves during the “rebellion.”

A second act in 1863 authorized it for officers. In the Navy, the medal was not authorized for officers until 1915.

Becomes harder to get

In the Army, the Medal of Honor at first was also presented for merit. Now, however, merit is rewarded with the Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal, which were not created until 1918. As a result, fewer Medals of Honor are presented now than 80 years ago.

The first Navy Medals of Honor were authorized in 1861 for “petty officers, seamen, landsmen and marines” for gallantry in action and “other seamanlike qualities.” In 1901, the medal was authorized to be awarded only to a man who distinguished himself in battle or displayed extraordinary heroism.

95 in World War I

Prior to World War I, 1,723 Army Medals of Honor were awarded. During 1917-18, there were 95, and in the present war, already longer than World War I, there have been but 32 presentations.

However, the Navy has awarded more Medals of Honor in this war than it did in the last because there has been more naval action in this war. In World War I, 12 Navy men and seven Marines received it.

Four Army men and five Marines have won the medal twice. The Army men won both their medals prior to 1917. In 1918, the five Marines received the medals from both the Army and Navy for the same action.

2 peacetime awards

No woman has ever received a Medal of Honor from either the Army or the Navy.

Only in rare instances has the medal been awarded in time of peace. This occurred, however, in 1927, when Charles A. Lindbergh made the first transatlantic flight to Paris. Another recipient, Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, did not receive his medal until 1937, although he earned it in 1918.

4767

Union publications send propaganda to Armed Forces

Both AFL and CIO mail news sheets and pamphlets through civilian channels
By Phelps Adams, North American Newspaper Alliance

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Steel union bases plea on reconversion principle

Guarantees to farms and industry cited in demand for post-war pay program

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4768

Poll: Democrats favored to win war; opinion split on peace maker

Republicans considered most likely to usher in post-war prosperity
By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion

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4769

Raise for fighting men –
Pyle bill’s approval hinges on its drain on Treasury

Members of Military Affairs Committee assure Weiss of ‘sympathetic consideration’
By Robert Taylor, Press Washington correspondent

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4770

americavotes1944

Hull claims comment garbled

Washington (UP) –
Secretary of State Cordell Hull said today that accounts given by some Republican Congressmen of their foreign policy discussion with him yesterday were “garbled and inaccurate in important respects.”

Mr. Hull’s brief statement, made in response to a request for comment, follows:

As is usual when a few people get to talking about an off-the-record discussion, second-hand accounts are garbled and inaccurate in important respects, as in this case.

The State Department would not undertake to give what it considered a correct version.

The Republicans, describing the administration as having too much of a “do-nothing” attitude on international affairs, appeared to be preparing to inject that theme in their political campaign.

4771

americavotes1944

‘Get into open,’ Dewey dared by Hannegan

Governor is called ‘blushing violet’

Boston, Massachusetts (UP) – (March 25)
Democratic National Committee Chairman Robert E. Hannegan tonight described New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, leading potential candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, as a “blushing violet” and challenged him to “come out into the sunshine.”

Speaking at a Jackson Day dinner, Mr. Hannegan also challenged minority party spokesmen to discuss openly and frankly government scandals and other incidents that transpired under Republican rule following the end of the Civil War and World War I.

Without identifying Mr. Dewey by name, Mr. Hannegan said his challenge was inspired by predictions of newspaper correspondents that the Republicans would nominate for the Presidency a man who is not even a candidate in the party primaries.

‘Smirking and lurking’

Mr. Hannegan said:

They report that he is smirking and lurking and dodging behind the pretense that he is not a candidate for the Presidency, and hence has no obligation to discuss the fundamental problems which lie before the American people.

If Republican leaders plan to put over such a candidate, then we propose to turn on the searchlight of truth so that all may know their plans.

He described as “arrogance” and as a “libel on our citizenry” a statement which he said Republican National Committee Chairman Harrison E. Spangler made to the effect that the GOP “can win the Presidency with anybody.”

‘Offer nothing’

Mr. Hannegan said:

This means that the Republican Party, in the opinion of its leaders, needs to offer the American people nothing at all – which, in the way of constructive principles, is exactly what the Republican Party has.

It means that the Republican Party is expecting America to accept its own social and economic bankruptcy – take it and like it. It means that our people di not desire nor deserve leadership based on principles of freedom and equality, in the opinion of leaders of the Republican Party.

Mr. Spangler has repeatedly said that he was misquoted in the “win-the-anybody” statement made at a press conference in Chicago during the meeting of the GOP National Committee recently. He contends he said the party could win with anyone the convention nominated, explaining that it “would not nominate a weak candidate.”

Irish issue mentioned

Mr. Hannegan touched lightly on the recent refusal of the Irish Free State to accede to President Roosevelt’s request that Axis missions in Éire be closed for the duration on the ground that they are the sources of espionage activities which threaten the safety of Allied forces poised in England for the invasion of the continent.

Noting that many of his listeners were Irish, Mr. Hannegan said:

The land of our forefathers is in the news these days – not as we Americans would have it, not in the time-honored tradition, not in the great part that Ireland has ever played through the ages in man’s fight for freedom.

Three problems listed

Today, he said, “there is frustration; there is bewilderment. Irish eyes are not smiling.”

Three major problems, he said, will face the post-war world:

  • Formation of a just and equitable plan for taking care of the nation’s 11 million returning soldiers and sailors.

  • Reconversion to peacetime needs of America’s vast and sprawling war machine.

  • Adoption of a peace plan providing cooperation with other nations to banish war from the face of the globe.

4772

americavotes1944

Gen. Hurley is mentioned as keynoter for GOP

Washington – (March 25)
Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Hurley, Secretary of War in the Hoover Cabinet and now roving ambassador for President Roosevelt, is being discussed here as a possible keynoter for the Republican National Convention at Chicago in June.

Gen. Hurley’s name, put forward by Rep. Leo E. Allen (R-IL), elicited a favorable response in many Congressional quarters, where it was agreed that he not only would be an excellent choice as the keynote speaker, but that he might develop formidable strength as a vice-presidential possibility.

His colorful career, his military record and his forthright manner of speaking qualify him, in the opinion of his backers, for a place in the front rank of contenders for these posts, while his strongly nationalistic views, coupled with his “energetic support” of Mr. Roosevelt’s foreign policy, would make him an asset to the entire Republican campaign.

The choice of a keynoter will be made by the Committee on Arrangements which will meet April 18 and 19 in Chicago. Others mentioned as possible keynoters are: Rep. Clare Boothe Luce (R-CT), Senator Edward H. Moore (R-OK), Senator Chapman Revercomb (R-WV), Pennsylvania Governor Edward Martin and Illinois Governor Dwight H. Green.

Started as miner

Born in the Choctaw Nation before it became Oklahoma, Gen. Hurley made his way from a humble beginning as a coalminer and a cowboy to positions of prominence in the legal profession and in government. his military record is unusual, in that he has held every rank in the Army from private to a major general.

During World War I, he participated in the Aisne-Marne, Meuse-Argonne and Saint-Mihiel offensives. President Hoover appointed him Assistant Secretary of War when he formed his Cabinet in March 1929, and, late in the same year, promoted him to the secretaryship.

On domestic issues, Gen. Hurley opposes governmental ownership in general, and is an ardent believer in private enterprise; yet, abhorring communism and those who advocate its adoption in this country, he is a strong believer in Russia as a world power.

At Tehran Conference

He has long been a member of the English-Speaking Union and believes that the future peace of the world rests upon the maintenance of Great Britain in her present position of eminence.

As one of the President’s aides at the Tehran Conference, he drafted the Iran declaration guaranteeing the independence of Iran and reaffirming the principles of the Atlantic Charter. For several months, moreover, he has been ironing out differences and difficulties between the British and the United States in Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Near Eastern countries.

He thus is being suggested by his friends as the logical answer to the problem which the Republicans face this year in charting a course between the isolationist elements of the party and the interventionist supporters of Wendell L. Willkie.

4773

Hoodlumism runs rampant –
War gives movies a boom and also a headache

By Maxine Garrison

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4774

Red Cross to aid soldiers’ dependents

Will provide ‘basic maintenance needs’

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4775

30 persons die in eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Dreaded flow of lava subsiding
By Eleanor Packard, United Press staff writer

Naples, Italy – (March 25)
More than 30 persons were killed and several score injured this week as tons of flaming boulders, brimstone cinders and huge walls of scorching lava poured from the crater of Mount Vesuvius, crunching and searing everything for miles around.

Most of the deaths were the result of crashing roofs, which, buried under tons of heavy volcanic ash, toppled in during the night on sleeping citizens, the Allied Military Government said.

The volcano still belched smoke and ashes thousands of feet into the air, but the dreaded flow of lava had subsided considerably.

Prof. Giuseppe Imbò, director of the Royal Italian Observatory on Vesuvius, said the volcano still continues in an “abnormal condition,” but he declined to comment on whether it had passed the critical stage.

The bodies of 26 dead have already been dug from the wreckage of homes and buildings, the AMG said.

In the province of Salerno, 12 people were killed at Nocera and nine others at Pagani, due to collapsing roofs, AMG officials said. In Naples Province, three persons were killed at Terzigno by stones flying from the crater of the volcano.

4776

Rabaul raided for 49th day

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Red Cross worker attacked; 5 to die

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4777

150-passenger planes at 280 mph foreseen

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4778

CANDIDLY SPEAKING —
Service and smiles

By Maxine Garrison

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4779

Hope given up for 16 caught in mine blaze

Another victim of blast listed

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Charlie Chaplin’s case in recess

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4780

Editorial: What price freedom?

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4781

Editorial: The oil inquiry

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4782

Editorial: Bloodthirsty Charlie

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4783

Editorial: Greece and Yugoslavia

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4784

Ward: Air Force action alarms flying enthusiasts

By Henry Ward, Pittsburgh Press staff writer

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4785

Revenge on Nazi is theme

Manhunt covers 2 continents
By Harry Hansen

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