America at war! (1941–) – Part 4

2794

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (October 15, 1944)

FROM
(A) SHAEF FORWARD

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
151100A October

TO FOR ACTION
(1) AGWAR (Pass to WND)

TO (W) FOR INFORMATION (INFO)
(2) FIRST US ARMY GP
(3) ADV HQ 12 ARMY GP
(4) FWD ECH (MAIN) 12 ARMY GP
(5) AEAF
(6) ANCXF
(7) EXFOR MAIN
(8) EXFOR REAR
(9) DEFENSOR, OTTAWA
(10) CANADIAN C/S, OTTAWA
(11) WAR OFFICE
(12) ADMIRALTY
(13) AIR MINISTRY
(14) ETOUSA
(15) SACSEA
(16) CMHQ (Pass to RCAF & RCN)
(17) COM Z APO 871
(18) SHAEF MAIN

(REF NO.)
NONE

(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR

Communiqué No. 189

North of the Sint-Leenarts Canal, Allied troops have made some progress southwards from the Biervliet area. The bridgehead over the canal has been slightly extended. Fighters and fighter bombers renewed their attacks on gun emplacements and strong points in the Breskens area. In the neck of the South Beveland Peninsula, the enemy continues to counterattack fiercely. In the Dutch salient, a local enemy counterattack, southeast of ‘s-Hertogenbosch was repulsed. North of the salient, medium bombers struck at rail targets at Utrecht and Amersfoort. Allied troops, south of Overloon, have advanced some 1500 yards through difficult wooded country in the face of stiff opposition. In support of our troops in this sector, light bombers cut the railway line leading to a bridge at Venlo and destroyed the western end of the Meuse River bridge at Roermond.

Our troops are advancing slowly in house-to-house fighting in the northeast section of Aachen. Fighter bombers continued the air attack on Aachen and also struck at rail communications in this sector. Enemy aircraft were sent up and our fighters shot down 18 of them for the loss of eight. North of the city, in the region of Bardenberg, the Germans, reinforced by armor, have increased their pressure, but several counterattacks have been dispersed by our planes and artillery. Just south of Kohlscheid and Würselen, our forces are moving forward slowly against stubborn resistance from both mobile and dug-in tanks.

In the Hürtgen Forest, near Germeter, we are making slow progress against stiff opposition to regain ground lost earlier in a strong enemy counterattack. Two miles southwest of Germeter, slight advances have been made and pillboxes are being mopped-up. Medium and light bombers hit Langerwehe, on the Aachen–Düren road. The bridges at Mayen, west of Koblenz, and at Euskirchen were also attacked. One medium bomber is missing from these operations. Fighter-bombers struck at rail communications at a number of points in western Germany.

East of Nancy, our patrols have penetrated the Forêt de Parroy and three-quarters of the forest has now been cleared of enemy. Our forces have made further progress against heavy resistance in the Moselotte River bend southeast of Épinal and have advanced over rugged terrain, to the vicinity of Cornimont. Pressure has been maintained near Le Thillot. Elsewhere, in the Vosges foothills, activity was limited chiefly to artillery exchanges and vigorous patrolling.

COORDINATED WITH: G-2, G-3 to C/S

THIS MESSAGE MAY BE SENT IN CLEAR BY ANY MEANS
/s/

Precedence
“OP” - AGWAR
“P” - Others

ORIGINATING DIVISION
PRD, Communique Section

NAME AND RANK TYPED. TEL. NO.
D. R. JORDAN, Lt Col FA Ext. 9

AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/
2795

U.S. Navy Department (October 15, 1944)

CINCPAC Communiqué No. 153

During the night of October 12‑13 (West Longitude Date), strong counterattacks were delivered against task forces of the Pacific Fleet operating in the area of Formosa by aircraft of the Japanese Imperial Air Force. During these attacks on one of our task groups, 13 enemy aircraft were shot out of the air by our own fighters and seven by anti-aircraft fire.

Beginning at dawn on October 13, carrier aircraft of the Third Fleet continued their destructive attacks against enemy forces and defense installations on Formosa Island and Luzon. Little air opposition was encountered over the targets. Preliminary reports indicate 11 enemy aircraft were shot down and 30 were destroyed on the ground.

In the mid‑afternoon of October 13, our forces were attacked by numerous single and twin‑engine enemy aircraft. A combat air patrol of one of our task groups shot down 28 of these aircraft and two were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire. Complete reports are not yet at hand regarding known attacks on other units of our force, but it is known that many additional enemy aircraft have been shot down. Our plane losses so far have been light.

This fight is continuing. Further details will be released as they become available.

CINCPAC Communiqué No. 154

Troops of the 1st Marine Division on Peleliu Island sealed off several ire caves occupied by the enemy during October 13 (West Longitude Date). Angaur, the few remaining Japanese were kept under continual pressure.

Navy search planes of Fleet Air Wing One bombed and strafed two small coastal vessels and five barges off the coast of Iwo Jima on October 13. Other search planes damaged a small cargo ship and shot down an enemy torpedo bomber in the same area.

On October 12, 11th Air Force Liberators attacked nine small cargo vessels near Matsuwa Island in the Kurils. The Liberators suffered slight damage from anti-aircraft fire, but all returned safely.

Mitchell bombers of 11th Air Force on October 12 bombed buildings and installations on Shumushu and Paramushiru Islands. A single Navy search plane of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed Paramushiru Island on October 12. Two enemy aircraft made unsuccessful attempts to intercept, and anti-aircraft fire was light. The 11th Air Force attacked Paramushiru again on October 13. Installations on the Eastern Coast were hit by Mitchell bombers. Moderate anti-aircraft fire was encountered. Other Mitchells strafed a two‑thousand-ton cargo ship and seven small cargo ships at Suribachi Bay. Liberators started several fires in the north, while other Liberators scored direct hits on docking facilities on the southern tip of the island. All planes returned safely.

Pagan Island was strafed and bombed by 7th Air Force Thunderbolts on October 13. A Navy search plane of Fleet Air Wing One bombed the airfield and supply dumps at Rota Island on October 13.

Nauru Island was bombed by a single Catalina search plane of Fleet Air Wing One on the night of October 12. The airfield and other aviation installations at Nauru were also hit by Mitchells of the 7th Air Force on October 13. Anti-aircraft fire was meager. Seventh Air Force Liberators met moderate anti-aircraft fire in bombing the airfield at Marcus Island on October 13. Other Liberators in a night raid dropped explosives on Wake Island.

Neutralization of enemy‑held positions in the Marshall Islands by air attacks was continued on October 13 and 14, by the 4th Marine Air Wing.

CINCPAC Press Release No. 584

For Immediate Release
October 15, 1944

The U.S. naval forces which have been operating in the sea approaches to Formosa are units of the Third Fleet, commanded by Adm. F. Halsey Jr. (USN), with VAdm. W. A. Lee Jr. (USN) as second in command.

In command of the entire Fast Carrier Task Force is VAdm. M. A. Mitscher (USN). Carrier units included are under the command of VAdm. J. S. McCain (USN), RAdm. Frederick C. Sherman (USN), RAdm. R. E. Davison (USN), RAdm. G. F. Bogan (USN) and RAdm. H. B. Sallada (USN).

2796

The Pittsburgh Press (October 15, 1944)

TERRIFIED CIVILIANS FLEE AACHEN
Yanks dig out diehard Nazis from ruins

Germans shift men from north flank

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2797

Record B-29 raid hits Formosa

Tokyo reports island also hit by continuing carrier-plane attacks

…

2798

americavotes1944

Dewey makes major speech here Friday

Candidate to appear at Hunt Armory
By Kermit McFarland

Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican candidate for President, will deliver a major campaign speech in Pittsburgh next Friday.

Mr. Dewey will speak in Hunt Armory, East Liberty.

Arrangements for the Governor’s Pittsburgh visit were completed last night. Details have not been announced, but Mr. Dewey is expected to arrive here in the afternoon before his speech.

The Republican candidate’s appearance here tops a schedule of three major political rallies now lined up by the rival political parties here.

Truman to speak Nov. 2

U.S. Senator Harry S. Truman, the Democratic candidate for Vice President, will speak in Syria Mosque Thursday, Nov. 2, Democratic headquarters announced.

Congressman Clare Boothe Luce, one of the speakers at last June’s Republican National Convention in Chicago, will address a Republican rally in Syria Mosque tomorrow night.

This will be Mr. Dewey’s second Pittsburgh appearance since he became the presidential nominee, and his fourth since he became a national political figure.

He was here in July for a series of conferences with local political, business, labor, agricultural and war veteran groups, but made no speech.

Spoke here for Willkie

He addressed a dinner here in June 1941 when he was national chairman of the USO campaign for funds. And he spoke in Hunt Armory Oct. 17, 1940, on behalf of the late Wendell Willkie’s candidacy for President.

Mr. Dewey’s Friday address will begin at 9:30 p.m., but the rally probably will open at 8:30 p.m. Governor Edward Martin will undoubtedly appear on the program. The presidential candidate’s address will be broadcast over a nationwide network.

Details of the Truman rally here Nov. 2 are also lacking. Like the Dewey meeting, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate’s appearance here has been in the making for several weeks. The influence of County Commissioner John J. Kane, the original Truman proponent, and of Democratic State Chairman David L. Lawrence, virtually assured a Pittsburgh speaking date for the Missouri Senator.

Date moved forward

Mr. Dewey, who opened his campaign in Philadelphia, practically had assured Governor Martin and local Republicans that he would come here near the end of the campaign. Until yesterday, Oct. 30 had been listed as the tentative cure.

Republican National Chairman Herbert Brownell was here Wednesday, and the Dewey speech is a direct result of that visit.

When Mr. Dewey spoke in Hunt Armory, the largest hall in the city, in 1940, he was heard by an audience of 8,000. His main theme in that speech, a theme repeated in recent campaign addresses, was a charge that the Roosevelt administration had failed to begin soon enough the job of preparedness.

Clare Luce speaks tomorrow

Mrs. Luce, Congressman from Connecticut and wife of the publisher of Time, LIFE and Fortune magazines, will begin her address tomorrow right at 9:30. The speech will be broadcast over a statewide radio network.

Republican Headquarters announced that the doors at Syria Mosque will be open at 6:30 p.m. Prior to Mrs. Luce’s appearance, the program will be made up of music, community singing and an hour’s vaudeville show, featuring a patriotic tableau.

Republican County Chairman James F. Malone said a feature stunt of the rally will be an “old-fashioned political parade” through the aisles of the hall, led by an orchestra and the North Catholic High School Band.

Speakers will include Governor Martin, Republican State Chairman M. Harvey Taylor of Harrisburg, Mr. Malone, Mrs. Edna R. Correll of Philadelphia (Republican State Vice Chairman) and Mrs. Worthington Scranton (Pennsylvania member of the Republican National Committee). Candidates for statewide offices and Rev. James R. Cox of Old St. Patrick’s Church will be introduced.

Dewey revises speaking plans

Albany, New York (UP) – (Oct. 14)
Governor Thomas E. Dewey, in addition to scheduling a major speech at Pittsburgh Oct. 20, revised his campaign itinerary tonight to include: St. Louis Monday, The Herald-Tribune Forum in New York Wednesday, Minneapolis Oct. 24, Chicago Oct. 25, Buffalo Oct. 31, Boston Nov. 1, New York City Nov. 4, and a speech from a radio studio Nov. 6 Election Eve.

It was indicated the Governor may sandwich a speech in between the Chicago and Buffalo appearances and if he decided to do so, it probably would be at Detroit or Cleveland.

The Governor spent most of the day at the Executive Mansion working on his St. Louis speech with his close adviser, Elliott Bell. He took occasion to issue a proclamation designating Oct. 27 as Navy Day.

The Governor declined to comment on President Roosevelt’s declination to appear at the Herald-Tribune Forum and he had also “no comment” regarding charges by Assistant Secretary of State Adolf A. Berle that the GOP candidate had been “surprisingly dishonest” in some of his campaign speeches.

2799

americavotes1944

Lewis ‘prescription’ fails –
Hard coal miners don’t swallow GOP

Union rank-and-file still behind Roosevelt
By Robert Taylor, Pittsburgh Press staff writer

Robert Taylor, an experienced Pennsylvania political writer, is touring the state to get a line on election sentiment.

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – (Oct. 14)
John L. Lewis’ bitter opposition to the federal administration and New Deal labor policies hasn’t altered the political opinions of the rank-and-file of miners in Pennsylvania’s hard coalmining region.

The miner is still for President Roosevelt. He’ll back up Mr. Lewis on union policy. He feels that Mr. Lewis has been kicked around by the Roosevelt administration while he was fighting for the miners, but he isn’t following the UMWA boss in politics.

Not personally popular

As President of the Mine Workers, he’s okay – as something else, that’s another matter,” is the way miners summarize it.

Mr. Lewis isn’t personally popular in the hard coal section. In the past 20 years there have been three rump movements aimed at forming a separate anthracite workers’ union, to break away from what the hard coal miner believes is union domination by soft coal men.

The UMWA boss came out on top in all three fights, but there was violence and bloodshed in some. Three years ago, one of the three hard coal UMWA districts lost its autonomy in a revolt by district officers against the Lewis administration.

Haven’t profited by war

The hard coal miner’s devotion to Mr. Lewis, accordingly, is purely on an economic basis. The same reasoning applies to his political sentiments – the New Deal record of pro-labor legislation in the nation and the state counts with the miner. So, he supports Mr. Lewis in union matters; Mr. Roosevelt politically.

This might indicate that the five hard coal counties which, in 1940, produced a majority of almost 50,000 for the President, will repeat again in the fourth term campaign, but the majorities are not expected to be as large.

The hard coal section is the state’s only major industrial area which has continued under depression conditions during the war. Few war industries moved in; the coal industry has been going down for years, and thousands have moved out of the area in the past few years to take war jobs elsewhere.

Population losses have been sharp – local residents don’t like to estimate how sharp. Added to effects of the military draft, they have stripped the hard coal counties of thousands of their younger workers. The losses show up in the registration figures – particularly in the Democratic column.

Luzerne County typical

Luzerne County has almost 40,000 miners – nearly half the total in the anthracite region. In 1940, it had 126,580 registered Republicans and 94,884 Democrats and produced a majority of 21,892 for Mr. Roosevelt. This year, the registration is: 121,247 Republicans; 61,955 Democrats – a loss of 38,000 voters, only 5,000 of them Republicans.

Lackawanna County produced a majority of 16,412 for Mr. Roosevelt four years ago, when the registration stood 80,448 Democrats and 71,031 Republicans. This year’s registration, not yet totaled, will run about 74,700 Democrats and 63,500 Republicans – a loss of more than 13,000.

Schuylkill County has been near the break-even point in recent elections. In 1940, it gave Mr. Roosevelt a 5,234 majority in more than 92,000 votes. Last year’s registration was 61,441 Republicans, 35,172 Democrats.

GOP organization strong

Carbon and Northumberland counties produced majorities of 2,159 and 3,401 for the Democratic candidate in 1940. Both have Republican registration majorities and both went Republican in the 1942 governorship election.

Throughout the hard coal district, the Republican organization is well knit, well financed and backed by state and, in most district’s local patronage. The Democratic organization, built on a WPA base in 1936, is hampered now by lack of patronage and money.

Labor, however, is working together in the anthracite region for Mr. Roosevelt. The CIO Political Action Committee is campaigning among 80 CIO locals in the silk, textile, clothing and other minor industries of the region. AFL and Railway Brotherhood groups are cooperating, and some rank-and-file miners help.

GOP rallies well attended

Both Governor John W. Bricker, GOP vice-presidential nominee, and Vice President Henry A. Wallace drew large crowds in Wilkes-Barre. UMWA District officials – miners refer to them as the Lewis “payroll” – attend all rallies for Governor Thomas E. Dewey.

Despite the drop in total registration of voters, attributable to the population loss, the registration of new voters was heavy in the hard coal section, indicating unusual interest in the election and a heavy vote.

2800

All in the family –
Fairless weds in West Virginia

Son is best man for steel executive

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Eggs spatter Frankie Sinatra; bobbysoxers mob his attacker

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2801

Waffles and rum, yum! Yum!
Scientists back junior’s food judgment, say children can’t be wrong all the time

Animals, babies support theory
By Joe R. Mills, North American Newspaper Alliance

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2802

Soldier friend is absolved in heiress’ death

Other servicemen face questioning

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Society matron acquitted of slaying farm youth

Jury out over six hours in death case; parents of victim bitter over verdict

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2803

Earthquake bomb new Allied weapon

12,000 pounder is streamlined job

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2804

americavotes1944

Drive for Presidency becoming most bitter since 1928 campaign

Both parties question opponents’ honesty; White House replies to Dewey charges

Washington (UP) – (Oct. 14)
The 1944 presidential campaign appeared tonight to be living up to advance predictions that it would be the roughest, toughest, and – the word seems to be “dirtiest” – since 1928, when Herbert Hoover defeated Alfred E. Smith.

This year, campaigners for both major parties have made blockbuster attacks on their opponents’ honesty, and the most frequently employed verbal weapon, translated into barroom English, has been: “You’re a liar.”

The White House issued a bill of particulars today designed to show that Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential candidate, has played fast and loose with the facts in quoting administration spokesmen to their own disadvantage.

Replies to Dewey

At the same time, Assistant Secretary of State Adolf A. Berle Jr., whom Dewey quoted a week ago tonight in charging the administration with Communist intentions, asserted in a letter to President Roosevelt that the Republican candidate had been “surprisingly dishonest.”

For his part, Mr. Dewey scheduled a broadcast from St. Louis Monday night on the subject of “The Urgent Need for Honesty and Competence in Our National Government.”

The White House bill of particulars, which it called a list of “facts,” inferentially accused Mr. Dewey of quoting administration officials out of context to support charges voiced in his campaign speeches.

Others quoted

Mr. Dewey had quoted Gen. George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff; Gen. H. H. Arnold, chief of the Army Air Forces; Senator Harry S. Truman (D-MO), the Democratic nominee for Vice President; Senator Alben W. Barkley (D-KY) and Mr. Roosevelt himself to back up charges that war caught this country unprepared and that the administration was to blame.

The White House list introduced additional “quotes” from the same sources and occasions, presumably to show that Mr. Dewey had misinterpreted or misemphasized out-of-context statements to make them appear to support his contentions.

The White House statement was presented without comment, but it served to indicate the increasing bitterness being engendered in this campaign, as did another of today’s developments – a refusal by Mr. Roosevelt to share a speaking platform with Mr. Dewey.

Dewey to speak

White House Press Secretary Stephen T. Early disclosed the President had rejected an invitation from Mrs. Ogden Reid, vice president of The New York Tribune, Inc., to speak at the Herald-Tribune Forum next Wednesday. Mr. Dewey will make a major foreign policy address at the final forum session.

Meanwhile, Democratic National Chairman Robert E. Hannegan and Republican National Chairman Herbert Brownell Jr. were casting mild aspersions on each other’s honor. Mr. Hannegan said the opposition was starting a whispering campaign about the President’s health. Mr. Brownell said there was no truth in the charge.

2805

americavotes1944

And he’s a Republican, too –
Hershey assails Dewey on demobilization charge

Draft director says his quoted statement was ‘hypothetical’ and ‘personal opinion’

Washington (UP) – (Oct. 14)
**Selective Service Director Lewis B. Hershey said today that a remark attributed to him by Governor Thomas E. Dewey, and interpreted by the Republican candidate for President as indicating a “defeatist” attitude

Mr. Hershey, who is a major general in the Army, said in a letter to President Roosevelt that he made the remark at a press conference in Denver in reply to a hypothetical question and that it was “given as my personal opinion in a field over which I have no responsibility.”

The Hershey letter was the third document released by the White House today in an effort to refute charges against the administration by the GOP candidate. The others were a letter to Mr. Roosevelt from Assistant Secretary of State Adolf A. Berle Jr. – accusing Governor Dewey of playing “fast and loose” with the public – and a White House list of “facts” dealing with specific Dewey charges.

Charge recalled

Governor Dewey had quoted Gen. Hershey as saying it would be cheaper to keep men in the Armed Forces after they were no longer needed militarily than it would be to create an agency to find jobs for them. The Republican candidate cited Gen. Hershey’s remark as indicative of the administration’s intent toward war veterans.

Gen. Hershey’s letter, in which he revealed that he has always been and still is a Republican, said that the circumstances in which he made the remark were such that it was clear he was voicing a personal opinion about a matter which “was a responsibility of the director of Selective Service.”

“It was clearly indicated at the time,” Gen. Hershey said, “that my personal opinion was not popular and probably would not be given consideration.”

Decries partisanship

Subsequently, he said, the War Department announced its point-system plan for partially reducing the size of the Army after victory in Europe, depending upon military necessity and shipping space, and based on “polls of Army personnel.”

Gen. Hershey emphasized that “partisanship ha had no place in Selective Service.”

2806

americavotes1944

Wallace pays $1, joins the NCPAC

Indianapolis, Indiana (UP) – (Oct. 14)
Vice President Henry A. Wallace joined the National Citizens Political Action Committee today, receiving a membership card from Mrs. Ruth Bennett, wife of an Auto Workers Union member to whom he paid $1.

Later, while waving the card during a speech, Mr. Wallace said:

I have just become this day a member of the Political Action Committee. This is a certificate in the great order of the common man.

The Vice President referred to “the boys in the Union League Club who have to pay $1,000 to their party,” and added:

This [the membership fee] comes a lot cheaper. And the reason it’s cheaper to become a Democrat is that there’s so many of them.

2807

americavotes1944

Bricker raps court policy of Roosevelt

U.S. ‘taken for ride,’ Ohioan declares

San Francisco, California (UP) –
Ohio Governor John W. Bricker – lawyer – said tonight the United States was being “taken for a ride” by President Roosevelt’s court-packing which thrust “bedlam and confusion” upon every court in the land.

The fresh young blood Mr. Roosevelt promised the Supreme Court in 1937, he said, turned out to be nothing but “New Deal plasma.”

The sole reason for the present court situation, the Ohioan said, was the smashing of the constitutional barrier to remaking the U.S. government “similar to state socialism.”

Court appointees cited

The Republican vice-presidential candidate hammered out one of the harshest and most detailed criticisms of the American court system yet addressed to the nation.

The former Ohio Attorney General pointed out that Mr. Roosevelt appointed 165 of the 275 judges on the Supreme Court, Circuit Court of Appeals, and the District Courts. Only two of the appointees were Republicans, he said, while a “large number” were “active New Dealers,” some of whom had previously been “repudiated at the polls.” These appointees, he charged, “inevitably clothes their decisions with their personal philosophies” and “turned the courts into conclaves of “New Deal theology.”

New Deal plasma

The President failed in his 1937 effort to attain “court-packing by legislation.” Governor Bricker asserted but “succeeded in the spirit of the attempt.”

He said:

Clearly, Mr. Roosevelt has successfully “packed” our federal judiciary from top to bottom. The fresh young blood he promised to put into the aging veins of the Supreme Court in his crusading days of 1937 has proved to be the plasma of the New Deal.

American voices ‘stifled’

The President’s court-packing, Governor Bricker summarized, has:

  • Disfranchised judicially and stifled the voices of the 22 million Americans who voted Republican in 1940.
  • Discolored the Supreme Court rulings with New Deal ideologies.
  • Brought Supreme Court approval of usurpation of legislative powers by the executive.
  • Created bedlam and confusion in the adjudication of litigation in every court in the land.

He said:

A vote for the Republican ticket is a vote to restore America to a government of delegated authority. It is a vote against one-man government.

2808

americavotes1944

Probe decision Wednesday –
Battle of Statler civilians known

Senator says none is Roosevelt friend

Washington (UP) – (Oct. 14)
Civilian participants in the now-historic “Battle of the Statler” probably will be identified by a Senate investigating committee next week, but Chairman Theodore F. Green (D-RI) said tonight that no one will be found to be a personal friend of President Roosevelt.

Almost immediately after the Sept. 23 clash, in which two naval officers engaged in fisticuffs with guests at an AFL Teamsters Union dinner a few minutes after President Roosevelt made his first 1944 campaign speech, the report got out that one of the Teamster participants was a friend of the President.

Denies black eye rumor

All Senator Green would say at a news conference today was that “a man was struck, his identity is known and he is not a personal friend of the President.”

Names of the two naval officers involved – Lt. Randolph Dickins Jr. and LtCdr. James H. Suddeth – have been made public, but the identity of civilians involved has not.

Senator green also scotched another report – that Committee Counsel Robert T. Murphy had a black eye when he returned to the capital from New York last night after interviewing members and officers of the Teamsters Union.

The chairman said that “Mr. Murphy had a very successful trip;” that Daniel Tobin, head of the union, “was very cooperative,” and that Mr. Murphy brought back a handful of affidavits.

Green belittles incident

Senator Green shied away, however, from questions about the number of affidavits or their content. The committee will meet Wednesday, he said, to get a full story from investigators, and members will decide then whether to hold a formal investigation.

Senator Green added that consideration of the Statler battle was not first in importance on the committee’s agenda. The only reason the affair had achieved wide public interest, he said, was because reporters on Capitol Hill “had nothing else to write about” while Congress was in recess.

The only detailed story of the battle is that told by Lt. Dickins, who said it started when some Teamsters demanded to know whether the officers were going to vote for their Commander-in-Chief and they replied, “None of your business.”

Lt. Dickins said he knocked down four or five out of six Teamsters involved, and added that one of his opponents told him afterward he had floored a friend of the President.

2809

americavotes1944

Aid to labor boomerangs against GOP Congressman

Endorsed by national union leaders, he finds local groups – who vote – oppose him
By Daniel M. Kidney, Scripps-Howard staff writer

Evansville, Indiana – (Oct. 14)
Rep. Charles M. La Follette, who gained national prominence by following “labor” rather than the Republican leadership in Congress, returned here to find he drew a blank.

Although endorsed by national labor leaders and the high command of the Political Action Committee, he learned that local union leaders are more interested in places on the Democratic ticket than Mr. La Follette’s record in Congress.

And it turned out that his Democratic opponent, Charles J. Eichel, as Vanderburgh County chairman, was a boss with sufficient power to give the labor-politicians what they wanted.

Mr. Eichel tells the story quite frankly. It was verified by union leaders themselves. The union leaders asked for all the Vanderburgh County seats in the Indiana Legislature. Mr. Eichel was glad to oblige.

Union men are nominees

Consequently, the Democratic Legislature ticket shapes up like this:

  • STATE SENATOR: Charles F. Lietz (Typographical Union, AFL)
  • STATE REPRESENTATIVES: Walter Hayden and Charles E. Wright (Electrical Workers, CIO) and Leo A. Meagher (Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen).

In return, the local PAC has not endorsed Mr. La Follette for reelection. And Mr. Eichel says with assurance they will not do so.

A visit to their headquarters confirmed this. John Sternaman, head of the Vanderburgh County CIO Council, said the local PAC will not take a stand. He was wearing an Eichel button.

So, Mr. La Follette will have to be content with endorsements from AFL President William Green, CIO President Philip Murray, A. F. Whitney (president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen) and Indiana State PAC leaders, none of whom vote in this district.

Roosevelt is issue, too

Mr. Eichel explains that Republicans shouldn’t have PAC support (in addition to the local deal) because they are against President Roosevelt.

He declared:

Labor wants to keep President Roosevelt in because they know he will protect them in the courts.

Mr. Eichel calls himself a “labor attorney.” He represents some unions here. When he saw a case-hardened reported wince at such remarks, he added: “You know, appointments and things like that.”

Money problem solved

It takes money to run a campaign – even with union support. Mr. Eichel, an old hand at such matters as fundraising, has solved that problem.

Just two doors away from his spacious Democratic County Headquarters is “The Young Democrats Club.” An electric sign above the door says “Playland.”

An afternoon visit there failed to unearth any “young Democrats.” Instead, one of the biggest bingo games was going on. Middle-age women were packed by the dozens at long tables. A fat fellow sat on a perch calling out the numbers. It’s bingo that brings in the dough.

‘Price’ of votes increases

The police have no interest. The legal explanation is that gambling is OK in “clubs.”

Mr. Eichel contends that Republicans are rich, anyway. He says they have about $100,000 to spend in the Vanderburgh County campaign. He estimates the Democratic kitty at $40,000 and admits they want all they can get. He explains why:

You see we will have to pay more for votes this time. We used to buy them for $2 or $3, but this time it will take at least $5.

2810

americavotes1944

Rep. Luce: Dewey policies like G.I. Joe’s

Roosevelt assailed on foreign program

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2811

americavotes1944

Roosevelt-Hillman ‘break’ forecast

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Governor Green scores New Deal on labor

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2812

Kirkpatrick: Gestapo’s hangouts in Paris reveal Nazis’ medieval barbarism

Tortures used to extract information overshadow atrocities like village burning
By Helen Kirkpatrick

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2813

First U.S. general captured by Nazis

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