America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

8408

americavotes1944

Vice Presidency still studied

Democrats completing convention plans

Washington (UP) –
Democrats were completing final plans today for their forthcoming National Convention in Chicago July 19 with the question of who should be the candidate for the Vice Presidency reportedly still undecided.

It is generally believed that President Roosevelt will be offered, and will accept, the presidential nomination and that he consequently will have the determining voice in choosing a running mate.

There has been considerable objection within the party to the renaming of Vice President Henry A. Wallace, and the names of War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas are being prominently mentioned for the post.

Democratic National Chairman Robert E. Hannegan spent an hour with the President yesterday and was close-mouthed when he emerged. He wouldn’t even admit politics had been discussed.

It is presumed, however, that they discussed final plans for the convention.

8409

Roosevelt and de Gaulle conclude business talks

Atmosphere so harmonious officials hope U.S. will approve British-French agreements
By R. H. Shackford, United Press staff writer

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8410

Sick, tired and hungry –
Jap civilians on Saipan stream through U.S. lines

Vanguard of plain people forms procession which eventually will lead to Tokyo
By Richard W. Johnston, United Press staff writer

Aboard joint expeditionary force flagship, off Saipan –
Trapped Jap soldiers on Saipan still fought bitterly from the caves of Marpi Point today, but Jap civilians – sick, tired and hungry – streamed down a designated road into our lines, forming a procession which eventually will lead to Tokyo.

They were the vanguard of the Japanese people – plain people capable of recognizing defeat and not imbued with the Bushidō spirit of immolation. They were people who, though half-dead, still wanted to live.

The response to our invitation to surrender distributed by leaflets surprised military leaders, who feared many Jap civilians would either elect or be forced to remain with the enemy troops in the constantly diminishing area of the northern tip of the island.

Make hopeless counterattack

While civilians of all ages and sexes were moving down a specially designated road on which it was forbidden to fire, elsewhere the remnants of the Jap defenders attempted a hopeless, desperate counterattack not unlike those at Attu and Makin.

Hundreds of enemy soldiers died in an assault against U.S. Army lines and those penetrating safely were mopped up in cane fields and ditches along the western coast.

From a series of observation point, it is possible for our troops to see the Marpi Point airstrip. This airstrip has been the object of frantic night aerial activity for three days and it was believed the Japs are making desperate efforts to land at least one or two planes there to evacuate high-ranking officers.

Second attempt fails

Another Jap escape effort was foiled when barges launched from the northwest coast apparently in the hope of sneaking to Tinian under cover of darkness were discovered by our troops.

While our ships near Saipan were blacked out during an enemy air raid, the barges began to move out. Our artillery fire blew them out the water.

Army and Marine units thus far have buried 8,914 Jap soldiers and that by no means represents all that have been killed. Many Jap bodies are still inside caves and others are strewn over rocky cliffs and jungles where they have escaped the notice of burial parties.

Jap air attacks light

Although Jap raiders are overhead every night, taking advantage of the full moon, their efforts have come to naught so far. They are always in small force, thanks to the constant hammering of the Rota and Guam airfields by our carrier-borne planes.

Organization of the conquered section of the island is proceeding rapidly. Work details and Seabees equipped with giant bulldozers are leveling off the wreckage of Garapan – almost shelled to the ground – while other groups are widening and surfacing the primitive roads which apparently served the Japs as “military highways.”

The battle for Saipan is not yet over – but there is no longer any doubt in anybody’s mind, including the Jap soldiers and civilians, as to the outcome.

8411

Weather more of problem than enemy in invasion

If D-Day had been delayed two weeks, Allied fleet would have faced disaster
By Edward V. Roberts, United Press staff writer

Allied advanced command post, France – (July 7, delayed)
The weather is still more of a problem to the Allied navies in the invasion operations than enemy activities, a high naval sources indicated today.

He disclosed that if D-Day had been postponed two weeks, which would have been necessary if the June 6 plan had not functioned, Allied initial heavy landings would have been caught in a gale and almost certainly would have faced destruction.

The four-day gale came at a high-tide period and carried some craft so high on the beaches that refloating was a major problem, he said.

Some lost in storm

He revealed that a large number of Thames River barges, equipped with motors, were sent to the beaches for unloading tasks and a few of them were lost in the storm.

He said German naval units were no longer a threat in the invasion area, pointing out that the “Germans have only a few destroyers left. They have had a pretty shattering time.

After D-Day, he said, the Germans made no effort to send naval reinforcements to the Atlantic area, other than E-boats for harassing attacks.

Threat reduced

The torpedo boats have caused some trouble, he acknowledged, but Allied anti-E-boat activities have gradually reduced this threat. However, he stressed the threat was by no means gone, but pointed out that the situation was aided materially by the capture of Cherbourg.

Naval officials expect to have the Cherbourg Harbor, which the Nazis blasted, mined and booby-trapped, in service at an early date.

It was disclosed that repairs to the French port were going forward under the direction of Cdr. William A. Sullivan, naval salvage expert, who reconstructed the ports at Bizerte and Naples.

The project at Cherbourg is “almost 100% American,” the source said, with the British contributing only certain salvage gear.

8412

Pre-war garment –
Model wants girdle back (held as shooting evidence)

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8413

americavotes1944

Editorial: Dewey and the British

Our British allies are not at all disturbed by Governor Dewey’s nomination and possible election, William Philip Simms recently reported from London. The normal American reaction to that would be: Why should they? But remembering the astonishing British statement in the spring, craving a Roosevelt fourth term, London’s second-thought wisdom is welcome.

Nothing could be more disastrous to Anglo-American friendship than London interference in an American presidential election. At first, the Churchill government did think that only Roosevelt’s reelection could guarantee American war effort and post-war international cooperation. Though it had the good sense not to publicize that absurd myth, some British citizens and journals were less discreet.

Two things, apparently, cause intelligent Britons now to observe the possibility of Mr. Dewey’s election without worry – if not with pleasure. One is the Republican attitude: The Mackinac Declaration, the vote on the Connally Resolution, and the Dewey pledges. The other is fear – born of Woodrow Wilson’s experience – of what a hostile Congress might do to a Roosevelt treaty, compared with the chance that Mr. Dewey and a friendly Congress could accomplish more.

Doubtless also the Dewey and Chicago platform praise of the present Chiefs of Staff, and emphasis on political noninterference with military conduct of the war, have clarified some muddy thinking abroad as well as here at home.

Since the blundering British cracks of some months ago, and the London government’s effective efforts to prevent repetition by any responsible spokesman, there probably has been little danger of even the appearance of English meddling in American politics. But more than meddling is involved; there is also the matter of British confidence in us,

The British have a right – as any ally – to absolute assurance that America is determined to do its full share in winning the war and winning the peace. Any doubts of that, however unfounded, could have a cruel effect on those who have fought so long and suffered so much. So for their sake, as well as outs, we are happy they understand that our basic policy is neither Democratic nor Republican but American; that no change in administration will change this policy.

8414

Editorial: Communiqué language

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8415

Editorial: Ssh-h-h – it’s radar

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8416

americavotes1944

Background of news –
Senate seats for ex-Presidents?

By Bertram Benedict

Herbert Hoover, our only living ex-President, was listened to with considerable respect by the 1944 Republican National Convention. The reemergence of Mr. Hoover has reawakened proposals that former Presidents be given seats without votes in the Senate, where theirs would be the voice of experience.

Rep. Canfield (R-NJ) has introduced the bill to make former Presidents voteless members of the Senate. They would receive the same remuneration as elected members. Mr. Canfield points out:

President rate high in their ability to voice with force and accuracy the views and aspirations of a great number of their fellow-citizens. Congress is itself the nation’s sounding board of public opinion.

A precedent exists in Congress for voteless members. The House has four such – a delegate each from the Territories of Hawaii and Alaska, a resident commissioner each from the possession Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth of the Philippines. The two delegates are elected for two years, the commissioner from Puerto Rico for four years; the commissioner from the Philippines is appointed by the President of the Commonwealth. The four traditionally speak only on subjects affecting their constituencies.

Example of John Quincy Adams

Only two former Presidents of the United States have been elected to Congress. One was John Quincy Adams, who was elected to the House for nine terms beginning two years after his retirement from the Presidency and lasting until his death.

The second Adams as a member of the House fulfilled the purpose for which seats in the Senate are now sought for all ex-Presidents. Disdaining partisanship, he spoke out fearlessly on almost all topics of the day. A former Secretary of State, he became chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House.

Prof. W. E. Ford has written of him as a member of the House:

At the time of his election, no member has sat in the House who possessed such varied experience and appropriate qualities. He was familiar with the inside political history of 40 years abroad and at home… As a debater, he was listened to with respect and, when aroused, with nearly as great fear, for his integrity was unquestioned his information vast and ready… His Congressional service [was] quite the most important part of his career.

Johnson member of Senate

Andrew Johnson, leaving the White House on March 4, 1869, came close to being elected to the U.S. Senate by the Tennessee Legislature in that year. In 1872, he was defeated for election to the House, but in 1874 was sent to the Senate. He served during the brief special session of 1875, in the course of which he denounced President Grant for aspiring to a third successive term. Johnson died before the Senate met for regular session in December 1875.

Grant left the Presidency a poor man, and for a time subsisted on income from a trust fund set up for him by friends. That may have been one reason why he tried for a third term. When his trust income dwindled, he joined a brokerage firm; its failure in 1884 threw him into personal bankruptcy, and ultimately Congress had to revive for him the rank of general, with salary. His memoirs brought in large sums only after his death.

Some of our recent Presidents (Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Hoover) could fall back upon private means after leaving the White House. Others, like Coolidge, found remunerative pursuits open to them. Taft became Chief Justice. In Great Britain, a retiring Prime Minister almost always remains in Parliament.

8417

Poll: Third in U.S. fail to save waste paper

Some not convinced of need for drive
By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion

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8418

Six Yanks given British medals

Brigadier of 29th Division decorated with DSO

U.S. 1st Army HQ, France (UP) – (July 7)
Over the hill where the guns were rumbling in battle, the sergeant was “otherwise occupied” and unable to be present when Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery pinned high British decorations on the chests of six Americans ranging from sergeant to major general.

But he arrived out of breath at the last minute and a special ceremony was staged in his honor before a battery of news cameras. The sergeant was Asa C. Ricks of Pharr, Texas, and he received the Military Medal of gallantry on D-Day, when he took command of his company after all officers had been killed or wounded, and defended a bridge.

Brigadier gets medal

Gen. Montgomery had already pinned the Military Medal on Sgt. Philip Streczyk of New Brunswick, New Jersey, who received the Distinguished Service Order the other day from Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower for this single-handed capture of a German machine-gun nest, an officer and 21 men on June 6.

Others and their decorations were: Maj. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor (101st Airborne Division) of Arlington, Virginia, DSO for “fearless leadership” in the river crossing which outflanked Carentan.

A brigadier general of the 29th Infantry Division, DSO for personally leading a division in assault near Vierville.

A colonel, DSO for leading the assault at Vierville-sur-Mer inland beyond the beach under heavy fire.

Others unable to appear

Another colonel, DSO for total disregard of his own safety and calmness in the face of heavy enemy fire near Fréville.

Capt. Sam H. Ball Jr., of Texarkana, Texas, for leadership of a combat engineer battalion which cleared underwater obstacles near Vierville with heavy casualties, DSO.

These also received decorations but were unable to appear for the ceremony: Sgt. Leonard G. Lomell of Point Pleasant, New Jersey (who captured a machine-gun nest on D-Day, Military Medal), Infantry Capt. Richard J. O’Malley (Military Cross for assault on Montebourg) and Sgt. Norman Day (Distinguished Service Medal for great courage in getting vehicles ashore).

8419

McGaffin: ‘Busy day’ on Saipan Island includes mop up of caves

Major tells how Yanks persuaded Japs in one cavern to surrender
By William McGaffin

With U.S. forces on Saipan, Mariana Islands – (delayed)
Today we visited the boys of Maj. James A. Donovan Jr.’s Command. The major himself ushered us into his command post, in a hollow under a spreading tree. “It’s been a busy day,” he said with a grin.

The young major, only 27 years of age, who hails from Winnetka, Illinois, and is second in command of this battalion, was very happy about the gains his boys had made yesterday – 1,400 yards – although one company had suffered 38 casualties from a sudden burst of enemy fire as they were digging in for the night. Since D-Day, this particular company has lost all but one of its original officers.

Clean out caves

Maj. Donovan explained that his men had come on a network of caves 50 yards away from us and that they were engaged in cleaning them out.

A couple of Jap soldiers rushed out at that moment in an attempt to put up some resistance. They were killed.

Then, as we watched, our boys approached the lip of the cave cautiously and, although their knowledge of Japanese is limited, managed to persuade the multitude inside to come out.

Civilians emerge

A long file of more than 150 began to emerge, some of them men in home guard uniform, but mainly Jap civilians – old men, young women carrying babies on their backs, and some old women too feeble to walk who were carried on litters by our medical corpsmen. Apparently, they had been in the cave ever since invasion day.

The sound of other caves being flushed out was also discernible. This time it was the lethal sound of dynamite and flamethrowers, for these caves were full of Jap soldiers who wouldn’t budge. It was dangerous business. Those cave-dwellers were well armed.

Maj. Donovan told how one of his lieutenants had shot a Jap sniper shortly before we arrived, right in the command post area, and 20 minutes later got it himself when he approached one of the surrounding caves.

Steele: Japan strives to wean China from Allies

But Chungking knows how enemy operates
By A. T. Steele

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8420

Pegler: Pearl Harbor trial

By Westbrook Pegler

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8421

Maj. de Seversky: Robot’s future

By Maj. Alexander P. de Seversky

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8422

Hubbub over speech irks Argentina’s ‘strong man’

War Minister Peron explains that U.S. State Department summary mutilated his talk
By Allen Heron

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americavotes1944

‘Pappy’ O’Daniel told to explain

Washington (UP) –
The War Production Board today asked Senator W. Lee “Pass the Biscuits, Pappy” O’Daniel, anti-New Deal Texas Democrat, to explain how and where he obtained newsprint for his revived W. Lee O’Daniel News, now being issued as an anti-fourth-term organ.

Arthur R. Treanor, director of the WPB’s Printing and Publishing Division, write the Texan asking him to state whether he had complied with WPB newsprint regulations and to send the WPB “a copy of a typical issue” of the paper.

Earlier this week, Mr. O’Daniel disclosed that he had acquired enough newsprint “for at least 150,000 copies” and said he had stored it “in my own warehouse under lock and key and day and night guards before I started publication on the glorious Fourth of July.”

8423

americavotes1944

Stokes: ‘Farmer’ Dewey welcomed home by friendly neighbors

Celebration rubs off presidential glitter in nonpartisan way; he greets ‘em by name
By Thomas L. Stokes, Scripps-Howard staff writer

Pawling, New York –
Over the weekend, Governor Thomas E. Dewey was going through the transformation seemingly essential to a presidential candidate at his 486-acre farm here, well-equipped with the usual things, including cows and ducks and corn and hay.

It’s the American way – and nonpartisan.

The result, as usual, was to rub off the glitter and glit of the crusading District Attorney tracking down crime in the big city, the smooth efficiency of the Governor of New York, even the glamor of the Republican presidential candidate. It made him, for the time, the owner of a farm, concerned most of all with getting in the hay.

Lowell Thomas, the radio announcer and also one of the New York “farmers” in this community, in his welcome home talk here yesterday kidded the Governor about staying away so long, gadding off to big cities like Chicago, and all the time there’s that hay standing, and it looks like rain.

Mr. Thomas boasted about how he had finished tossing his own hay and, nice neighbor that he is, had gone over and pitched a bit at the Dewey place. To which the Governor retorted that if that had happened, it was the first work Lowell Thomas had done in 21 years.

Friendly and neighborly

The two of them kidded the hokum, and yet there was something friendly and American and neighborly about the reception given by several hundred of his townsfolk and farmfolk who gathered in the little park back of the butcher house here on the main stem. Under its sheltering trees were some men, more women, and lots of children who looked with natural envy at the two slicked-up Dewey boys – Tom, 11, and John, 7.

Lowell Thomas emphasized the nonpartisan nature of the welcome home, how Democrats, too, were included, and, once he had opened the subject, a couple of Democrats made themselves known – both drunk. They carried on an undertone of comment from the sidelines. Their champion, Squire Roosevelt, also lives in Dutchess County.

Dewey calls ‘em by name

Mayor Bert Green, who presided at the welcome-home ceremonies, told about how Neighbor Dewey and his beautiful wife had gone off to Chicago and came back with something really handsome for a Pawling citizen, but he said they in Pawling liked to think of the Governor as the farmer who keeps his buildings and fields in good order.

The Governor fell in with the mood and paid tribute to the folks here who had been so nice to him, the druggist, the butcher, the baker, the doctor – he called their names and they nodded, smiling.

This neighborly spirit, the Governor said, was what distinguished America, what made it great. It’s what we are fighting for, he said.

And one of the nicest things was when one speaker referred to Mrs. Dewey, and son John, at her side, turned and smiled up at her.

8424

Army men under 32 eligible for paratroops

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8425

Vandercook: AEF fears job depression

Returns from invasion area
By Si Steinhauser

Just back from Normandy where he covered the invasion for NBC, John W. Vandercook says:

Our American fighting men are more interested in whether they’ll have a job when they come home than whether they’ll get to vote at the fall election. They have a definite fear of unemployment and another depression.

British soldiers have been greatly liberalized through their contacts with Yanks. They’re going home to change England. The New Deal position is now a British Conservative Party policy while the Labor and Liberal parties are thinking of something further to the left.

Our Americans boys want to come home to the same country they left, just the good old USA with all of the privileges that go with being a real American, including the right to say who’ll be boss in the nation’s capital.

Vandercook said the medical men of the Army are real heroes.

They serve day and night under constant fire, and in Normandy, the Nazis have deliberately fired on them. Because of their loyalty to the wounded, our casualties have a better-than-average chance of medical care within 10 minutes after they are hit and are likely to be in the hands of skilled surgeons within a half hour at the most. Because of fine air cooperation, these wounded can be taken from France to England or America in a matter of hours.

No army has ever had more or better equipment than ours in Italy and France and there have never been armies with such complete confidence. But that does not minimize the morale of our enemy. The German Army’s morale is higher than that of the civilians they left behind. Anti-war spirit in Germany has no leader, so we are still in for a fight.

Our greatest mistake here at home is to minimize the weight and importance of the Italian campaign. It is now facing its decisive test.

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8426

American praises Chinese endurance

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8427

Train wreck’s cause hidden

Death toll may go beyond 19

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Acute emergency in steel cited

Labor shortage held threat to output

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