America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

americavotes1944

Stassen watched in Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska (UP) –
With Wendell L. Willkie out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, LtCdr. Harold E. Stassen had an opportunity today to pick up 15 delegates to the GOP National Convention in the Nebraskan preferential primary.

Two full slates of delegates were entered on the Republican ticket, one pledged to vote for the former Governor of Minnesota on the first ballot only, and the other pledged to the favorite son, Governor Dwight Griswold.

Although Mr. Willkie was out of the race, his name was still on the ballot, which was printed before he announced his withdrawal. Because of that fact, he was expected to draw a sizable vote.

The Nebraska primary vote means nothing in delegating authority to the convention. The delegates, once elected, may vote any way they choose. When chosen by slate, however, it is understood generally that the delegates will vote for the winner of the primary on the first ballot at least.

americavotes1944

Illinois votes on MacArthur

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Gen. Douglas MacArthur was the only major presidential possibility whose name appeared on the ballot today in the Illinois presidential preference primary election.

Gen. MacArthur, whose name was entered without his consent, was opposed on the Republican ticket only by Riley A. Bender of Chicago, a political unknown and former boxer. There were no contestants on the Democratic ticket.

Preferences shown by the voters in the Illinois primary are merely advisory and not binding upon the delegates to the national conventions.

The principal Republican contests are for the nominations for U.S. Senator, Representative-at-Large and Secretary of State.

americavotes1944

Dewey to get New York’s 93

Albany, New York (UP) –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey was assured the unanimous support of New York’s 93 delegates to the Republican National Convention as the state committee met today to select eight delegates-at-large.

While no formal endorsement of Mr. Dewey as a candidate for the presidential nomination was expected at the meeting – probably at his own request – the leaders made it clear that the Governor would have the unanimous support of New York’s representatives.

americavotes1944

Bricker seeks Democrats’ aid

Spokane, Washington (UP) –
Ohio Governor John W. Bricker today keynoted his campaign to gain Western support for his aspirations as Republican presidential nominee with an appeal to “old-line Democrats” to join a “growing nationwide reaction against concentration of power and spread of bureaucracy.”

A Republican victory in this year’s elections would “aid attainment of the war and peace aims of the American people,” Mr. Bricker said.

Nothing could do more to give business, agriculture and labor the encouragement and spirit to produce to the limit for victory on the fighting fronts than a Republican victory at the polls.

Mr. Bricker will speak in Seattle tomorrow during his none-day Pacific Coast tour.

Steel output sets record in first quarter

Manpower shortages plague industry


Outlook held favorable for big 1944 crops

Near-record acreage believed possible

Ernie Pyle V Norman

Roving Reporter

By Ernie Pyle

With 5th Army beachhead forces, Italy – (by wireless)
One night I bunked in the dugout of Sgt. Bazzel Carter of Wailing Creek, Kentucky, which is just a short way from the famous coal town of Harlan. In fact, Sgt. Carter’s brother is a miner there.

Sgt. Carter is a tank commander. He has had two tanks shot out from under him, one by bombing, the other by shellfire, but he didn’t get a scratch either time.

He is the typical man of the hills who doesn’t say much until he gets to know you, and even then, he talks very quietly and humbly.

Gradually we got acquainted. Sgt. Carter told me about his folks at home and got out pictures of his father and mother and younger brother. He hoped his mother wasn’t worrying too much about him.

He told me how he had gone to the University of Kentucky half a semester and then restlessly quit and joined the Army before we were in the war. Now he feels that he didn’t do right, because his father had worked so hard to save the money for him to go. But when the war is over, he is determined to go on with his schooling.

I hit Sgt. Carter’s bailiwick at a propitious time – for me. He had just that day received a box from his mother and in it was a quart mason jar of good old American fried chicken.

We heated it on our little Coleman stove and ate it for breakfast. When the word got around that we’d had fried chicken for breakfast we were both the envy of the others and the butt of all “plutocrat” jokes for the day.

‘Old Nick’ reaches him

For once in my life I was able to reciprocate the sharing of this gift. It’s a long story, but it seems that a friend of mine from Indiana University, Stew Butler, manages or owns a candy factory in Chicago which makes a bar called “Old Nick.” The day before I left Washington last November to return overseas, Stew called up long-distance to say he was going to send me a box of his candy every week. Never one to refuse anything, I said try it if you want to, although I’ll probably never get any of them.

So, a couple of months went by and nothing happened and I forgot all about it, and then all of a sudden, all this pent-up candy came pouring in two and three big boxes at a time. Brother, do I have candy! So lately I have been taking it to the front with me a box at a time and passing it around.

I had a box along on this trip, so I gave it to Sgt. Carter and his tank friends, and you should have seen them go for it. We get hard candy and plenty of gumdrops and lifesavers, and sugar too, but very little chocolate.

WARNING: Having had experience with Americans’ generosity before, let me urge you, too, not to start sending me candy, because very shortly I may be changing location, and it would never reach me.

Sgt. Carter fares pretty well himself on packages from home. Three are sent him every week, one by his mother, one by his sister, and one by his cousin. He gets most of them, too. They don’t send fried chicken every time, but there is always something to eat.

Sgt. Carter’s dugout is just a bare one, with straw on the floor, a tiny electric light in the ceiling and a little shelf he has anchored into the dirt wall.

He said that after he got his dugout finished and moved in, he discovered a mole burrowing in the wall. So he killed it and skinned it, and the hide is still hanging on a nearby tree.

Luxury of pantslessness

The sergeant sleeps in his overalls, but the dugout was so snug and warm I decided on the luxury of taking off my pants. Even so, I was kept awake a long time by our own guns. Not by the noise, for it was rather muffled down there below ground, but the vibration of the earth was distracting.

When the big “Long Toms,” which were almost half a mile away, would go off in battery salvo, the earth on which we were lying four feet below the surface would tremble and jerk as though it were in an earthquake. But once asleep I never awakened, even though they said later that bombers were over during the night.

Sgt. Carter gets up at 6 every morning, and the first thing he does is slip out and start the engines of his tank, which is dug in about 20 feet from his dugout. This is a daily practice just to make sure everything is in readiness for a sudden mission.

After breakfast, he showed me all through his tank. It’s so spotless you could eat off the floor. He is very proud of it, and had me sit in the driver’s seat and start the engines to hear them sing. I was proud too, just because he wanted me to.

Maj. de Seversky: Air losses

By Maj. Alexander P. de Seversky

South American Way

Surinam is strange and glamorous!
By J. Warren Nystrom

OWI’ll tell the world –
Lucey: DeMille production has nothing on U.S. blow of propaganda

By Charles T. Lucey, Scripps-Howard staff writer

Strincevich to face Indians today

Butcher blanks tribe, 6–0, in short contest


Latin must register –
Griffith unworried by draft ruling

Memorial in music –
Network offers Lionel Barrymore tone poem

Brother composes tribute to John
By Si Steinhauser

Völkischer Beobachter (April 12, 1944)

‚Seit Herbst 1943 auf Arbeitsuche‘ –
Dank der Demokratie

Entlassene US-Soldaten warten vergeblich auf die Erfüllung der Versprechungen

Politisches Tauziehen um Süditalien –
Anglo-Amerikaner wollen die Scharte auswetzen

Eigener Bericht des „Völkischen Beobachters“

Der blamierte Admiral Nimitz –
U-Boot-Verluste im Pazifik

dnb. Tokio, 11. April –
Der Oberbefehlshaber der US-Flotte im Pazifik, Admiral Nimitz, betonte seinerzeit, daß das Unterseeboot im Pazifik eine der wichtigsten Waffen sein werde. Dennoch wurden seit Ausbruch des Großostasienkrieges bis Ende Februar 1944 bereits 172 U-Boote der USA versenkt und 62 weitere schwer beschädigt.

Inzwischen haben sich die Verhältnisse für die Amerikaner weiter verschlechtert. Allein in der Woche vom 31. März bis zum 5. April wurden weitere vier Unterseeboote versenkt.

U.S. Navy Department (April 12, 1944)

CINCPAC Press Release No. 349

For Immediate Release
April 12, 1944 

Liberators of the 11th Army Air Force bombed Matsuwa and Onekotan in the Kurile Islands on April 10 (West Longitude Date).

Moen and Dublon in the Truk Atoll were bombed by Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force on the same day. Fires were started at Dublon Town and a large explosion observed. Hits were obtained on the Moen airstrip. Six enemy planes were seen but only one attempted interception and it did no damage. A single Liberator from this force bombed Ponape Island.

Ponape was also bombed by 7th Army Air Force Mitchell bombers, which obtained hits on airfield runways.

Four objectives in the Marshalls 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. Anti-aircraft fire ranged from moderate to meager.

The pilot of a Hellcat fighter forced down near Majuro was rescued by one of our destroyers.


CINCPAC Press Release No. 350

For Immediate Release
April 12, 1944 

Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed Paramushiru and Shimushu in the Kurile Islands on April 11 (West Longitude Date). A Liberator bomber of the Eleventh Army Air Force bombed Matsuwa.

A search plane of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed a beached ship on Oroluk Atoll, another bombed Ulul Island, and a third dropped incendiary bombs on Ponape on the same day.

Mitchell bombers of the 7th Army Air Force with a Corsair fighter escort of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing also bombed and strafed Ponape, hitting buildings, a storage area, airstrips and small craft. Anti-aircraft fire was intense.

Mitchell bombers of the 7th Army Air Force, Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two, Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, and Navy Hellcat fighters bombed and strafed three enemy‑held atolls in the Marshalls. Gun positions and runways were hit.

All of our planes returned.

The Pittsburgh Press (April 12, 1944)

AIR BLITZ STRIKES AUSTRIA
Yanks hammer plane parts below Vienna

RAF rips rail center of Aachen, Germany
By Phil Ault, United Press staff writer

Blockbusters rip sub base in North Italy

Nazi communications also hammered
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer


King to retire when Rome falls

Crown Prince to rule as lieutenant general
By Eleanor Packard, United Press staff writer

Going on one-man warpath, Indian wins Medal of Honor


Boyington wins Medal of Honor

British check India invaders

Allied resistance stiffens at Imphal

americavotes1944

GOP in 2 states back Stassen and MacArthur

Nebraska and Illinois support servicemen
By the United Press

Write-ins for Dewey bring surprise

Washington (UP) –
The write-in vote of Nebraska Republicans for New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey for the GOP presidential nomination was viewed today by many Republican Congressmen as indicating greater-than-expected rank-and-file support for him.

Governor Dewey polled less than half as many votes in yesterday’s Nebraska primary as did LtCdr. Harold E. Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota now on naval duty in the South Pacific. But Governor Dewey had refused to permit his name to be entered, and hence all of the votes cast for him were of the write-in variety.

Presidential stock of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and LtCdr. Harold E. Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota, was boosted today by incomplete and unofficial returns from yesterday’s preferential primaries in Illinois and Nebraska.

Three of every four Republican votes cast in the Illinois election were for Gen. MacArthur, whose only opposition was Riley A. Bender, a former pugilist not seriously considered as a candidate.

Stassen ‘definitely’ in race

Nebraska Republicans made Cdr. Stassen their 2–1 favorite over Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, a write-in candidate.

The voting yesterday provided the second test for Cdr. Stassen and Gen. MacArthur. A week ago, Cdr. Stassen won four of Wisconsin’s GOP convention delegates and Gen. MacArthur three.

Cdr. Stassen is definitely in the presidential race “to the end,” pro-Stassen leader Senator Joseph H. Ball said last night.

Dewey men confident

Meanwhile, Senator John Thomas (R-ID) predicted that Governor Dewey would be nominated on the first ballot. Senator Thomas said his personal survey of Republican leaders show between 660 and 670 pledged to Governor Dewey. Only 530 votes are needed for nomination.

Reports that Dewey supporters had made overtures to Wendell Willkie, who has withdrawn from the race, to support the New York Governor appeared at least to be premature.

Rolland B. Marvin of Syracuse, leader of New York State forces supporting Mr. Willkie, met with the latter this morning – but they did not, he said, talk politics.

Mr. Marvin, who was reportedly in town to see Mr. Willkie about his possible support of Governor Dewey, issued a statement after their conference saying that by common agreement they discussed “old times and professional matters in which we happen to be commonly interested.” Mr. Willkie did not comment.

Barkley backs Roosevelt

Other news developments on the political front included:

  • Tammany leader Edward V. Laughlin called for a fourth term for Mr. Roosevelt at a meeting last night. Mr. Laughlin said:

We believe he must run regardless of his personal wishes because the people need him, the soldiers, sailors and Marines need him as Commander-in-Chief and a gravely troubled world needs his wisdom and experience in the planning of an enduring peace.

  • Senator Alben W. Barkley, Senate Majority Leader, in an address in New York City last night, hailed the administration’s record as the greatest in the nation’s history and challenged Republican critics to specify what portions of the New Deal program they would repeal or nullify. It was Senator Barkley’s most outspoken endorsement of the President since he broke temporarily with Mr. Roosevelt over the presidential tax veto message two months ago.

Wallace going to China

Meanwhile, it was disclosed in Washington that Vice President Henry A. Wallace will leave late this spring or early summer for an official mission to Chungking, China.

It has been reported that Mr. Wallace will go to Moscow and London, in addition to Chungking, leading to speculation that the Vice President might be out of the country during the Democratic National Convention in July. There have been reports that Mr. Roosevelt, should he accept the nomination for a fourth term, will drop Mr. Wallace as his running mate.

Mr. Wallace declined today to elaborate on his plans to visit Chungking, but said some speculation about it is “not true.”


MacArthur sweeps Illinois primary

Chicago, Illinois (UP) –
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, one of two Republicans running for the Republican nomination in the Illinois preferential presidential primary election yesterday, swept the state on the basis of fairly complete but unofficial returns today.

Republican leaders stressed the fact, however, that his opponent was politically-unknown Riley Bender of Chicago, a former boxer who campaigned with the slogan “Go on a bender with Bender.”

59 votes in convention

There are 59 Illinois votes in the Republican National Convention – 50 candidates to be named in yesterday’s primary and nine to be selected at large by state convention. But they were not pledged. The vote in the primary was advisory.

Gen. MacArthur polled 437,696 votes in 7,369 precincts out of 8,728. Mr. Bender received 30,380.

Organization wins

The Republican organization slate headed by Governor Dwight H. Green swept to victory in contests for state offices.

Governor Green polled 498,592 votes (in 7,513 precincts) to 81,738 for Oscar Carlstrom. Richard Lyons won the GOP nomination for U.S. Senator with 434,353 against 69,463 for Deneen Watson, in 7,499 precincts.

Rep. Stephen A. Day won the GOP nomination for Congressman-at-Large, polling 313,828 against 145,764 for Col. Edward Davis, in 6,306 precincts.

Democratic candidates were unopposed. There were scattered write-in votes for President Roosevelt.

Republicans happy

Republicans hailed the voting as significant because their totals topped the Democrat primary figures for the first time since 1932.

Democratic leaders said the figures indicated a Democratic triumph in November because of the size of totals rolled up by the unopposed Democratic candidates.


Nebraska favors Stassen, Dewey

Omaha, Nebraska (UP) –
LtCdr. Harold E. Stassen maintained a two-to-one Republican presidential primary lead over write-in candidate New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, while a close fight developed between Patrick J. Heaton, 40-year-old lawyer of Sidney, and George W. Olsen, 62, Plattsmouth war worker, for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Governor Dwight Griswold, seeking nomination to a third term, held a lead of approximately 8–1 over William R. Brooks on the Republican ticket.

Wendell Willkie, who withdrew from the presidential race a week ago, but whose name remained on the ballot, trailed Cdr. Stassen and Governor Dewey. President Roosevelt, the only entrant in the Democratic primary, received a token vote.

Figures listed

The returns from 1,345 of 2,013 precincts gave:

presidentvote1944

Willkie (R) 5,952
Roosevelt (D) 22,917

governorvote1944

Republican
Griswold 50,854
Brooks 8,457
Democratic
Heaton 14,349
Olsen 14,083