Independents await President’s action in WLB membership row
Confederated unions ready to strike if compromise proposal is rejected
By Fred W. Perkins, Pittsburgh Press staff writer
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Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
With 5th Army beachhead forces, Italy – (by wireless)
This is a little series of vignettes about four frontline sergeants. They’re just little scenes that came along in conversation as we lay on an Italian hillside chatting one day. The four men are platoon sergeants of the 45th Division of the Allied 5th Army on the Anzio beachhead.
Sgt. Samuel Day of Covington, Kentucky, is a big guy. He weighed 257 pounds when he came into combat in January, and he still weighs 240 despite all the K-rations he’s eaten.
Sgt. Day would be hard on his feet in any circumstances. But when you get into a trench-foot world, 240 pounds is a lot of aggravation for sore dogs.
We get to discussing trench foot, and Sgt. Day told about an incident that happened to him. It seems his feet got in pretty bad shape during their last recent tour in the foxholes, so he went to the frontline medics for ointment or something.
The medics’ solution for his troubles was simple. With a straight face, they told him, “Keep your feet dry and stay off of them for two weeks!”
Sgt. Day went back to his watery foxhole, still sore-footed but unable to keep from chuckling over the irony of this advice. Their prescription for trench foot takes its place in history alongside W. C. Fields’ sure cure for insomnia – get lots of sleep!
Under weeds in ditch
Sgt. Eugene Bender of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, is the company first sergeant. He is short and curly-headed, and has a thin black mustache. When I saw him, he was sitting on a C-ration box, getting a between-battles haircut from a soldier barber.
The sergeant asked:
You don’t write news stories, do you?
I told him no, that I just sort of tried to write what it was like over here, and didn’t even especially look for hero stories, since there were so many guys who were heroes without there being any stories to it.
The sergeant said:
That’s good. Hero stories are all right, but they don’t give people at home the whole picture. You read a story in America of something terrific a guy does over here, and his folks think that happens to him every day.
Now take me. Once I was on patrol and was behind the German lines for 36 hours. We lay all day covered up with weeds in a ditch so close to Germans we could have reached out and touched them. When we finally got back, they had given us up for lost.
Now if you just wrote that story and nothing else, people would think that’s what I did all the time.
Riding waves in foxhole
Sgt. Vincent Mainente is from Astoria, Long Island, and of Italian extraction. He isn’t voluble like most Italian-Americans, but friendly in a quiet and reserved way.
Sgt. Mainente used to be a steam-heat inspector for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and he says:
I sure could use some of that steam heat in my foxhole these days.
We were just lying around on the ground talking, when one of the other boys said:
Vince, tell him about your raft.
“What do you mean, raft?” I asked. So Sgt. Mainente told me.
It seems the bottom of his foxhole was covered with water, like everybody else’s. So the sergeant saved up empty wooden C-ration boxes, and one night he nailed them together and made a raft to float on top of the water in his foxhole.
From all I could gather, it wasn’t 100% successful in keeping him dry, but at least there wasn’t any harm in trying.
Just can’t take it
Sgt. Michael Adams is from Akron, Ohio. He used to work for a truck company. He has been with the regiment ever since it came overseas last spring.
Sgt. Adams seems a little older than the others; his hair is beginning to slip back in front, and you can tell by his manner of speech that he thinks deeply about things.
We got to talking about soldiers who crack up in battle or before the ones who hang back or who think they’re sick and report in to the medics as exhaustion cases.
I personally have great sympathy for battle neurosis cases, but some of the soldiers themselves don’t have. For example, Sgt. Adams was telling how some of the replacements after only a few hours under fire, will go to the company commander and say:
Captain, I can’t take it. I just can’t take it.
That makes Sgt. Adams’ blood boil. He said to me:
They can’t take it? What, what the hell do they think the rest of us stay here for, because we like it?
And it’s that spirit, I guess, that wins wars.
Unfit for fighting –
4 of every 10 disabled soldiers are victims of emotional wounds
Toll of mental and nervous illnesses greater than battle injuries
By Marjorie Van de Water
Mental and nervous illnesses take a greater toll in the armed services than war wounds, Marjorie Van de Water points out in the first of five articles dealing with the return home of men discharged as “NPs” – neuropsychiatric cases. In this series, Miss Van de Water, author of Psychology for the Fighting Man, shows how the mentally wounded should be handled.
Four or five men in every 10 discharged from the Army for disability are mentally or emotionally unfit.
This means that mental and nervous illness is responsible for a far greater loss of manpower to the Armed Forces than are battle wounds, influenza, malaria or any other single illness.
It is a serious problem for the Army. And it is a serious problem for the home front, too. For the people at home are wondering just what it means when a man is charged for neuropsychiatric reasons. Are such men mentally ill, insane? Are they going to act “queer”? Can they make good on civilian jobs?
Each month approximately 25,000 of these men will be coming back to American homes and looking for civilian jobs if the present discharge rate continues.
Majority neurotic
Most of the worry of families, friends and employers is due to a lack of information about the sort of person the Army is sending home for this reason.
The great majority of the neuropsychiatric discharges are men who belong in the first, the “neuro,” part of the classification. They are neurotic. Few actually suffer from mental diseases. Few need hospitalization after discharge, although many might profit from good psychiatric advice.
Up to the present time, at least, the great majority are men who have not seen services overseas. They have had their crackup after a few months, perhaps only a few weeks, of training. They do not fit into military life and cannot successfully adjust to it.
It is debatable whether they can blame their troubles on their Army experience. Certainly, it is true these men might have adjusted perfectly well in civilian jobs if the war had not uprooted them. Most of them will go back to civilian jobs and fill them quite adequately. A few undoubtedly would never be very successful in either civilian or military occupations.
Many just don’t fit
But the Army has no corner on neurotics; there are plenty in civilian life. They just become more conspicuous in the Army. In the first place, men are so closely associated in the Army that they have no “private lives.” The oddities of any one individual become matters of public knowledge and public concern. Then, too, many individual oddities and quirks of behavior cannot be tolerated in a military situation – they just do not fit in.
Think how many persons in civilian life suffer from “nervous indigestion” – cannot eat this or that. They have their own private stock of favorite “tummy treats” or “banish burn” in the bathroom medicine closet. The Army cannot issue soda mint. Nor can time-out be taken in combat to stir up something for that after-meal discomfort.
Neither can the Army afford to have soldiers subject to headaches, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, heart palpitation, dizziness, or faintness. These are ills to which the neurotic is liable. All are aggravated by emotion, by worry, by overconscientious “stewing” over present and future problems.
Few result from fear
Some men can’t stand the sight of blood. They pass out cold. But unless that person wants to be a dentist or a butcher or a surgeon, this is not likely to interfere much with his job in civilian life. It will in the Army.
Few of the nervous troubles of men discharged from the Army during military training are due to fear of combat. Many more can be traced to worries and troubles at home. Financial worries, homesickness, hunger for affection and companionship, concern over sickness at home – these are the things that make a soldier crack up in camp or “go over the hill.”
No one who leaves a comfortable happy home enjoys the tough grind of military life. Strict discipline, hard work, lack of sympathy and being plunged into a large group of strangers are hard to take for the individual who is naturally shy and unable to make new friends easily. Everything is new to him. The sergeant yells at him. Nothing he does seems right. He is bawled out right and left by the noncoms and he is teased by the other men.
They try their hardest
After a while, he may begin to feel completely discouraged and defeated. He is sure he can never make good in this strange new life. It is too hard. Most men get through this stage all right. Gradually they catch on to all the things expected of them and begin to feel at home. They make friends. But a few remain dispirited. It really is too hard for them. They are not fitted to be soldiers.
It is not their fault. Usually, this type of man tries his utmost. But his best is not quite good enough for the stern demands made on him. So, the Army decides he would be much more good to the war effort in a civilian job in a war plant where men are badly needed, too.
NEXT: The man who cracks up in combat.
Bucs return to camp –
Handley makes keen bid for regular berth
By Dick Fortune
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Yankees still pack weighty batting punch
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Easter ‘over there’ –
Radio to attend soldiers’ sunrise services
Gen. Pershing at Arlington
By Si Steinhauser
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Spot promotions to be granted overseas
Eligible men must meet OCS standards
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Cheap coal-making process reported by tech professor
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War veteran, 17, awaits ruling
May be discharged after Italy, Sicily
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Völkischer Beobachter (April 4, 1944)
54 US-Flugzeuge über den Alpengauen abgeschossen –
Hervorragender Abwehrerfolg zwischen Dnjepr und Tschaussy
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Schweizer Presse über Schaffhausener Luftgangster –
‚Empörender Gegensatz zu Völkerrechtsparolen‘
Von unserem Berichterstatter in der Schweiz
b—r. Bern, 3. April –
Die beiden großen Basler Zeitungen, die auch in der übrigen Schweiz stark verbreitet sind, nehmen in besonders scharfer Weise zu dem amerikanischen Bombenangriff auf die benachbarte Stadt Schaffhausen Stellung. Die Nationalzeitung, der man sonst gewiß keinen Mangel an Gewogenheit für die Anglo-Amerikaner vorwerfen kann, findet dabei wohl das deutlichste Wort in der schweizerischen Presse überhaupt, wenn sie klar von einem „Kriegsverbrechen“ spricht, das die amerikanische Luftwaffe begangen habe.
Das Blatt sagt dazu im Einzelnen:
Schaffhausen ist offensichtlich mit Willen angegriffen worden, denn alles deutet darauf hin, daß die Flieger einfach irgendeine Stadt am Wege schnell „mitnehmen“ wollten und dabei als Amerikaner gar nicht wußten, daß es Schaffhausen war.
Dabei ist der Verlauf unserer Nordgrenze außerordentlich deutlich, wird sie doch vom Rhein gebildet, der obendrein bei Schaffhausen noch durch den Rheinfall erkennbar ist. Dem schlechten Wetter Schuld zu geben, ist daher ein Argument, das in der Schweiz die Empörung verstärken, nicht mildern wird. Aus einer Höhe von 5.000 Meter, wie die amtliche Darstellung feststellt, trifft man bei schlechtem Wetter nicht derart zielsicher, wie das bei Schaffhausen der Fall gewesen ist. Es ist durchaus möglich, daß sich infolge von schweren Verlusten die Qualität des Personals der amerikanischen Luftwaffe verschlechtert hat und dieses ungenügend über die geographischen Verhältnisse Europas ausgebildet wird. Ein Argument der Entschuldigung kann es für uns nicht sein. Wir müssen vielmehr mit allem Nachdruck verlangen, daß die amerikanische Luftwaffe in Europa genügend geschult sei, ein in Bezug auf die territorialen Verhältnisse, sei es mit Bezug auf das, was Respektierung der Neutralität und Integrität eines anderen Landes heißt.
Museum, Pfarrhaus, Kirche…
Die Montagmorgenblätter veröffentlichen zahlreiche Aufnahmen aus Schaffhausen, die ein Bild des Grauens und der Verwüstung zeigen. Man sieht Großbrände wüten, man sieht die ausgebrannten Ruinen im Zentrum der Stadt und die von Trümmern aller Art übersäten Straßen. Sehr schweren Schaden Kat das Museum Allerheiligen, eines der schönsten und reichhaltigsten der Schweiz, erlitten. Die Glanzstücke seiner Sammlung, die kostbaren Stimmer-Bilder, sind völlig zerstört. Die Sammlung der alten Meister, darunter Bilder von Lucas Cranach, ist schwer beschädigt und kaum mehr zu erkennen.
In der Neuen Berner Zeitung schreibt Nationalrat Dr. Feldmann unter anderem:
Die Rücksichtslosigkeit, mit der hier vorgegangen wurde, ist wirklich nicht mehr zu überbieten. Sie steht in empörendem Gegensatz zu den Parolen von der Respektierung des Völkerrechts, welche die amerikanische Kriegspropaganda kennzeichnen. Schaden läßt sich vergüten und ersetzen, aber kein diplomatischer Notenwechsel ruft die durch amerikanische Bomben getöteten Menschen wieder ins Leben zurück. Was am 1. April 1944 an der Nordgrenze unseres Landes geschah, gehört zum Schmerzlichsten, was die Schweiz in diesem Krieg bisher erfahren mußte.
dnb. Stockholm, 3. April –
Wie Reuters meldet, begab sich der Schweizer Gesandte am Samstagabend in das Staatsdepartement, um mündlich wegen der Bombardierung Schaffhausens durch amerikanische Flugzeuge Protest einzulegen.
Heuchlerisches Gerede der US-Presse
dnb. Genf, 3. April –
Nachdem sich die US-Presse bisher zu dem Überfall der Luftgangster auf Schaffhausen ausgeschwiegen hat, wagt sich jetzt die New York Times mit einem Artikel hervor, der darauf abzielt, den Piratenakt zu bemänteln beziehungsweise zu entschuldigen. Mit geradezu widerlicher Heuchelei spricht das US-Blatt von einem „tragischen Irrtum,“ durch den die friedliche und freundliche Schweizerische Stadt betroffen wurde.
Wenn das Judenblatt weiter erklärt, das Bombardement zeige, daß „die amerikanischen Präzisionsbombardierungen nicht immer so präzis“ seien, wie angenommen wurde, dann ist das ein zaghafter Vorwurf gegen die US-Luftbanditen, der die ganze Heuchelei der jüdischen Soldschreiber Roosevelts kennzeichnet.
Gleich der nächste Satz versucht die Banditen zu entschuldigen, und zwar bemüht sich die New York Times, den Neutralen klarzumachen, daß sie in allen Kriegen in der Nähe der Schlachtfront unter den „Zufällen,“ denen unschuldige Zuschauer ausgesetzt sein können, zu leiden hätten. Auch der leise Vorwurf, daß ein absichtliches Bombardement, „besonders am hellen Tage, niemals zu einer Angelegenheit eines wähl- und ziellosen Abwerfens gemacht werden sollte,“ gehört zu der Taktik der Heuchler, die sich durch die Versicherung, die US-Flieger seien „bekümmert und traurig,“ vor dem gemeinen Verbrechen vor der Welt freisprechen zu können glauben.
Die Schweiz wird vergeblich darauf warten, daß das Versprechen der New York Times, die Verantwortlichkeiten müßten irgendwo liegen und prompt festgestellt werden, eingelöst wird, denn mit den wenigen Worten eines verlogenen Bedauerns dürfte für die Neuyorker Juden der Fall Schaffhausen ein für allemal abgeschlossen sein.
U.S. Navy Department (April 4, 1944)
Communiqué No. 516
Pacific and Far East.
U.S. submarines have reported sinking fourteen vessels as a result of operations against the enemy in these waters, as follows:
- 2 medium tankers.
- 11 medium cargo vessels.
- 1 small cargo vessel.
These actions have not been announced in any previous Navy Department communiqué.
CINCPAC Press Release No. 339
For Immediate Release
April 4, 1944
Dublon and Eten in the Truk Atoll were bombed at night on April 2 (West Longitude Date) by Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force. Three enemy fighters attempted interception, but none of our planes was damaged. On the same day, 7th Army Air Force Mitchells bombed and strafed the airfields at Ponape, one airstrip was strafed by a search plane of Fleet Air Wing Two, and a single 7th Army Air Force Liberator bombed one of the runways.
In the Marshalls, three enemy positions were bombed and strafed by Mitchell bombers of the 7th Army Air Force, Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, and Navy Hellcat fighters. Runways were bombed and at one objective a small ship and a dock were set on fire.
All of our planes returned from all of these operations.
U.S. State Department (April 4, 1944)
740.0011 European War 1939/33815: Telegram
The Minister in Switzerland to the Secretary of State
Bern, April 4, 1944 — 7 p.m.
[Received April 5 — 9:30 a.m.]
2086
Swiss press, 3rd, carried UP item datelined London, 2nd, saying American Headquarters issues following communiqué in part on Saturday’s air operations:
On account of extraordinary navigation difficulties and bad weather some bombs fell by mistake on Swiss territory.
This announcement has had unfavorable reception. Terrestrial weather conditions Schaffhausen area were reported exceptionally clear with excellent visibility. If conditions in higher atmosphere were bad details thereof are essential if statement in communiqué to carry any conviction and not to be regarded as inept attempt at evasion.
Bern Bund 4th exclaims “Stick to the Truth, Please!” and says Swiss public learns with greatest astonishment of announcement from official American headquarters England. Everyone in Switzerland believes bombs fell on Swiss territory because American flyers made mistake. But attempt headquarters to minimize severe misfortune and distortion facts must be energetically rejected. Weather over Schaffhausen enabled good visibility which even bombers themselves admitted, who certainly hit their objectives (station and industrial plants). Rhine Falls and Lake Constance offer exceptional possibilities especially by day so that unquestionably expert flyers should have easily recognized exact location.
It is painfully disturbing if American headquarters now talk about bad weather and instance of violation neutrality thereby not easier but more difficult because there arisen question of meniality. Also American press has played up ‘bad weather’ theme; bad weather from Swiss standpoint is important piece of wrong orientation of world public against which we raise protest.”
Gazette de Lausanne dismisses London communiqué with words “The excuse of ‘bad weather’ is worthless.”
HARRISON
The Pittsburgh Press (April 4, 1944)
JAPS HURLED BACK IN INDIA
Enemy halted 10 miles from British base
Vital highway cut, Tokyo claims
By the United Press
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