America at war! (1941–) – Part 5

2087

Ernie Pyle V Norman

Roving Reporter

By Ernie Pyle

In addition to today’s column, we will print several others which we have received from Ernie on Okinawa. We believe he would have wanted it this way.

OKINAWA (by Navy radio) – Now I’ve seen my first Jap soldiers in their native state – that is, before capture. But not for long, because the boys of my company captured them quicker than a wink.

It was mid-forenoon and we had just reached our new bivouac area after a march of an hour and a half. The boys threw off their packs, sat down on the ground, and took off their helmets to mop their perspiring foreheads.

We were in a small grassy spot at the foot of a hill. Most of these hillsides have caves with household stuff hidden in them. They are a rich field for souvenir hunters. And all Marines are souvenir hunters.

So immediately two of our boys, instead of resting, started up through the brush, looking for caves and souvenirs. They had gone about fifty yards when one of them yelled: “There’s a Jap soldier under this bush.”

We didn’t get too excited for most of us figured he meant a dead Jap. But three or four of the boys got up and went up the hill. A few moments later somebody yelled again: “Hey, here’s another one. They’re alive and they’ve got rifles.”

So, the boys went at them in earnest. The Japs were lying under two bushes. They had their hands up over their ears and were pretending to be asleep.

Too scared to move

The Marines surrounded the bushes and, with guns pointing, they ordered the Japs out. But the Japs were too scared to move. They just lay there, blinking.

The average Jap soldier would have come out shooting. But, thank goodness, these were of a different stripe. They were so petrified the Marines had to go into the bushes, lift them by the shoulders, and throw them out in the open,

My contribution to the capture consisted of standing to one side and looking as mean as I could.

One Jap was small, and about 30 years old. The other was just a kid of 16 or 17, but good-sized and well-built. The kid had the rank of superior private and the other was a corporal. They were real Japanese from Japan, not the Okinawan home guard.

They were both trembling all over. The kid’s face turned a sickly white. Their hands shook. The muscles in the corporal’s jaw were twitching. The kid was so paralyzed he couldn’t even understand sign language.

We don’t know why those two Japs didn’t fight. They had good rifles and potatomasher hand grenades. They could have stood behind their bushes and heaved grenades into our tightly packed group and got themselves two dozen casualties, easily.

The Marines took their arms. One Marine tried to direct the corporal in handbook Japanese, but the fellow couldn’t understand.

The scared kid just stood there, sweating like an ox. I guess he thought he was dead. Finally, we sent them back to the regiment.

The two Marines who flushed these Japs were Cpl. Jack Ossege of Silver Grove, Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati, and Pfc. Lawrence Bennett of Port Huron, Michigan.

His first blitz

Okinawa was the first blitz for Pvt. Bennett and this was the first Jap soldier he’d ever seen. He is 30 years old, married, and has a baby girl. Back home he was a freight dispatcher.

The Jap corporal had a metal photo holder like a cigarette case. In it were photos which we took to be of three Japanese movie stars. They were good-looking, and everybody had to have a look.

Cpl. Ossege had been through one Pacific blitz, but this was the first Jap he ever took alive. As an old hand at souvenir hunting, he made sure to get the Jap’s rifle.

That rifle was the envy of everybody. Later when we were sitting around, discussing the capture, the other boys tried to buy or trade him out of it. “Pop” Taylor, the black-whiskered corporal from Jackson, Michigan, offered Ossege $100 for the rifle.

The answer was no. Then Taylor offered four quarts of whiskey. The answer still was no. Then he offered eight quarts. Ossege weakened a little. He said, “Where would you get eight quarts of whiskey?” Pop said he had no idea. So, Ossege kept the rifle.

So, there you have my first two Japs. And I hope my future Japs will all be as tame as these two. But I doubt it.

2088

Stokes: No relaxing yet

By Thomas L. Stokes

…

2089

Lucey: In driver’s seat

By Charles T. Lucey

…

2090

The life of Harry Truman –
He marries, opens own store, loses shirt, gets political bee

Old Army pals shower couple with presents
By Frances Burns

…

2091

‘Home’ state gives Gloria trouble

…

2092

Gracie Allen Reporting

By Gracie Allen

Well, now I’ve heard everything.

There’s an ad in a Hollywood paper by a movie writer who wants to pay people $1 an hour to come to his house and make domestic noises. Solitude distracts him and he wants to hear “homey sounds” while he works.

“Homey sounds,” I guess that’s what I’m listening to right now. There’s that rumbling noise which tells me our daughter is trying out the new finish on the front room floor with her roller skates… a piercing scream from the bathroom means once again George has forgotten to remove our boy’s pet snapping turtle before climbing into the tub… and a crash of glass announces the official opening of the vacant-lot baseball season.

Nice “homey noises.” I’ll be glad to send my little “homey noise” makers over to the movie writer. And he can keep the $1-a-hour. He will need it to repair the damage.

2093

Cadets to be chosen by examinations

…

2094

Stock prices close firm in light trading

Many issues rise to new highs

…

2095

Führer HQ (April 22, 1945)

Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht

Im Süden der Ostfront sind unsere Gegenangriffe südlich des Semmering in gutem Fortschreiten. Die Bolschewisten versuchten südöstlich St. Pölten vergeblich nach Süden Boden zu gewinnen. Nordwestlich Mährisch-Ostrau vereitelten unsere Verbände in harten Kämpfen wiederholte Durchbruchsversuche des Gegners. Einige Einbrüche wurden abgeriegelt.

In der Doppelschlacht zwischen den Sudeten und dem Stettiner Haff stehen unsere Truppen weiter in schwerem Kampf. Nordwestlich Görlitz wurde die Frontlücke durch erfolgreiche Gegenangriffe geschlossen. Die Besatzung von Bautzen verteidigte sich hartnäckig gegen den mit starken Kräften angreifenden Feind. Nach Westen vorstoßend drangen die Sowjets in Bischofswerda und Königsbrück ein.

Südlich Cottbus ziehen die Bolschewisten weitere Kräfte zur Nahrung ihrer Angriffe gegen den Raum südlich Berlin nach und erreichten mit ihren- Angriffsspitzen die Linie Treuenbrietzen-Zossen südlich Königswusterhausen. In Cottbus und Fürstenwalde sind Straßenkämpfe im Gange.

Östlich und nördlich Berlin schob sich der Feind in schweren Kämpfen bis an die äußere Verteidigungslinie der Reichshauptstadt heran. In der Linie Lichtenberg-Niederschönhausen-Frohnau wird erbittert gekämpft.

An der Oderfront konnte der Gegner seine Brückenköpfe zwischen Greifenhagen und Stettin zunächst ausweiten, wurde aber durch unsere Gegenangriffe wieder zurückgeworfen.

Auf der Landzunge nordwestlich Pillau hielten unsere Truppen die Sperrlinie gegen erneute feindliche Angriffe. 21 Panzer wurden vernichtet.

Zwischen Ems und unterer Elbe setzte der Feind seine Angriffe mit starken Kräften fort. Nach mehrmaligem Besitzwechsel fiel Papenburg in die Hand des Gegners. Versuche der Kanadier, ihren Brückenkopf nördlich Friesoythe auszuweiten, brachen unter hohen Verlusten für den Feind zusammen. Auch südwestlich Delmenhorst blieben wiederholte Angriffe der Briten erfolglos. Gegenangriffe unserer Panzergrenadiere fassten die bis Harburg vorgestoßenen feindlichen Kräfte in der Flanke und fügten Ihnen hohe Verluste zu. Übersetzversuche über die Elbe bei Wittenberge und Tangermünde wurden zerschlagen.

Im Abschnitt Dessau-Bitterfeld hielten die wechselvollen Kämpfe an. Die mit mehreren Divisionen angreifenden Amerikaner konnten nur schrittweise Boden gewinnen. In Dessau und weiter südlich war das erbitterte Ringen um die Mulde-Übergänge in den Abendstunden noch im Gange. Bitterfeld ging nach hartem Kampf verloren.

Im Kampfraum nördlich Chemnitz führten wiederholte Angriffe und Aufklärungsvorstöße der Amerikaner zu örtlichen Einbrüchen. Die in das Elster- und Fichtelgebirge eingedrungenen feindlichen Kräfte wurden von unseren Sperrgruppen in der Linie Asch-Marktredwitz aufgefangen.

Zwischen Neumarkt in dem fränkischen Alb und dem Raum von Crailsheim scheiterten erneute Durchbruchsversuche der Amerikaner nach einigen Kilometern Bodengewinn am tapferen Widerstand unserer Truppen. Der Zusammenhang der Front blieb gewahrt.

Im Großraum Stuttgart nahmen die heftigen Kämpfe mit den zur Umfassung der Stadt angesetzten feindlichen Divisionen ihren Fortgang. Die von Göppingen und aus dem Raum nördlich Tübingen angreifenden amerikanischen Stoßgruppen konnten weiter Boden gewinnen. Auch im Schwarzwald und in der Rheinebene südwestlich Lahr dauern schwere Kämpfe mit den auf Rottweil und gegen den Kaiserstuhl vordringenden gaullistischen Verbänden an.

In Italien tobt die Materialschlacht weiter mit großer Heftigkeit. Auch gestern blieben den mit massierten Kräften anrennenden Angloamerikanern wesentliche Erfolge versagt.

Nordamerikanische Bomberverbände führten bei Tage einen Terrorangriff auf München. Außerdem wurden zahlreiche Orte im süddeutschen Raum mit Bomben belegt. In der Nacht griffen britische Kampfflugzeuge Orte in Norddeutschland an.

2096

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (April 22, 1945)

FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
221100B April

TO FOR ACTION
(1) AGWAR
(2) NAVY DEPARTMENT

TO (W) FOR INFORMATION (INFO)
(3) TAC HQ 12 ARMY GP
(4) MAIN 12 ARMY GP
(5) AIR STAFF MAIN
(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) UNITED KINGDOM BASE
(15) SACSEA
(16) CMHQ (Pass to RCAF & RCN)
(17) COM ZONE
(18) SHAEF REAR
(19) SHAEF MAIN
(20) HQ SIXTH ARMY GP
(21) WCIA OR OWI WASHINGTON FOR RELEASE TO COMBINED U.S. AND CANADIAN PRESS AND RADIO AT 0900 HOURS GMT

(REF NO.)
NONE

(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR

Communiqué No. 379

UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces reached the line of the Eem River northwest of Amersfoort.

East of the Ems River, Papenburg was entered. We enlarged our bridgehead over the Küsten Canal despite strenuous opposition.

Our forces closed in Nearer to Zeven and Rotenburg and repulsed a counterattack in the vicinity of Elsdorf. Mopping-up operations continue in the areas west of Lüneburg.

In the area west of Wittenberge our forces have gained up to seven miles in the Gartower Forest, capturing Prezelle.

Northeast of Braunschweig, we have pocketed the enemy force which counterattacked us 19 April. We have retaken Diesdorf and Abbendorf. In the Harz Mountains Pocket, we captured Blankenburg. All organized resistance in the pocket has ceased.

Enemy swimmers failed in an attempt to blow a bridge leading to our bridgehead across the Elbe River and some of the swimmers were captured.

Farther south our armored task forces entered Dessau. South of the city we cleared Bobbau-Steinfurth and Wolfen and entered Jessnitz and Greppin against stiff resistance. We are fighting in Bitterfeld.

Northeast of Leipzig our armor occupied Krostitz and our troops are mopping up along the Mulde River.

In Czechoslovakia, we cleared Asch, and advancing to the east reached a point five miles north of the town. In Germany, south of Asch, we entered Schirnding and cleared Arzberg.

Farther south we entered Fuchsmühl, Erbendorf and Pressath, and entered Riggau.

Mopping up in Nuremberg has been completed. More than 14,000 Allied prisoners were liberated when we cleared a concentration camp in the area.

In the Rothenburg area, our armor drove 18 miles southward to Bopfingen, Crailsheim, from which we withdrew two weeks ago, was captured and we made further gains southward.

A four-mile gap remained in the link around Stuttgart with approaching columns at Kirchheim and Unterensingen. A score of towns were taken in the area as we drove towards Stuttgart from all sides. Forward elements were at Esslingen.

South of Stuttgart, our units thrust 18 miles to Donaueschingen, on the headwaters of the Danube, ten miles north of the German-Swiss border. Tuttlingen and Mühlheim, farther east, were also taken.

In the Black Forest several more towns fell to our forces. In the Rhine Plain, Breisach was reached in a five-mile gain.

Between the Rhine and Nuremberg, more than 11,000 prisoners were taken in 24 hours.

Allied forces in the west captured 46,334 prisoners 20 April.

The rail center at Oldenberg was attacked by medium bombers.

Rail communications between Prague and Pilsen; motor transport between Nuremberg and Augsburg; enemy strongpoints east of Heilbronn, southeast of Stuttgart, and east of Strasbourg; and a number of airfields were attacked by fighter-bombers. Many enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground and a number were damaged. Fifty vehicles were destroyed in a depot in the Nuremberg-Augsburg area.

Railyards and facilities at München and Ingolstadt and an airfield at Landsberg, 30 miles west of München, were bombed by escorted heavy bombers. Light bombers hit a railyard at Attnang-Puchheim, 35 miles northeast of Salzburg.

Five enemy aircraft were shot down in the day’s operations. According to reports so far six of our heavy bombers and two fighters are missing.

Targets at Kiel were attacked last night by light bombers.

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 FA4655

AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/
2097

U.S. Navy Department (April 22, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 340

The XXIV Army Corps continued to attack the enemy’s fortified positions in the southern sector of Okinawa on April 22 (East Longitude Date) meeting bitter resistance in all areas of the fighting. Our troops were supported by heavy artillery, naval guns, and carrier and land‑based aircraft. No substantial changes had been made in the lines by 1700 on April 22. A total of 11,738 of the enemy have been killed and 27 taken prisoner in the Twenty Fourth Corps zone of action.

Elements of the Marine III Amphibious Corps occupied Taka Banare Island east of Okinawa on April 22 and landed on Sesoko Island west of Motobu Peninsula on the same date. Our troops on Sesoko were reported to be halfway across the island in the early afternoon.

During the night of April 21-22, a few enemy aircraft approached our forces around the Okinawa area and four were shot down by carrier planes and aircraft of the Tactical Air Force. On the afternoon of April 22, a substantial group of Japanese planes attacked our forces in and around Okinawa causing some damage and sinking one light unit of the fleet. Forty-nine enemy planes were shot down by our combat air patrols and anti-aircraft fire.

Carrier aircraft of the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked airfields and other installations in the Sakishima Group on April 21 and 22.

Army Mustangs of the VII Fighter Command attacked Suzuka airfield 32 miles southwest of Nagoya on April 22 inflicting the following damage on the enemy:

  • 9 aircraft shot out of the air
  • One probably shot down
  • 17 aircraft destroyed on the ground
  • 20 aircraft damaged on the ground
  • A 6,000-ton ship exploded in Ise Bay south of Nagoya
  • Two small oilers sunk
  • One small tanker sunk
  • One coastal cargo ship damaged

Carrier-based aircraft of the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked airfields and ground installations in the Amami Group of the Northern Ryukyus during April 18 to 20, inclusive, damaging or destroying numerous airfield structures. On April 21 and 22, carrier planes operating in the Northern Ryukyus shot down 16 enemy planes and burned 10 more on the ground.

A search plane of Fleet Air Wing One attacked a small cargo ship east of the Ryukyus on April 22 leaving it burning and dead in the water.

Runways and installations on Marcus Island were bombed by Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force on April 21. Helldiver bombers of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing attacked the airstrip on Yap in the Western Carolines on April 21.

During the twenty-four hours ending at 1800 on April 20, 60 Japanese were killed and 64 were captured on Iwo Island. A total of 23,049 of the enemy have been killed and 850 captured since February 19.

Communiqué No. 338, paragraph five, is corrected as follows: Delete “One LST 477” from the list of ships sunk.

2098

CINCPOA Press Release No. 86

For Immediate Release
April 22, 1945

Maj. Gen. Andrew D. Bruce, Commanding General, 77th Infantry Division, whose forces captured Ie Shims, has sent the following message to FADM C. W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, and to the Governor of Texas:

After a bitter fight from pillbox to pillbox, cave to cave, and house to house, the 77th Infantry Division placed the American flag on top of the heavily defended pinnacle on Ie Shima on April 21, 1945. A Texas flag was placed on the bloody ridge below the fortress by the Texans of the Division in honor of those gallant Texas men who gathered at Corregidor to remember San Jacinto Day on April 21, 1942, exactly three years ago.

FADM Nimitz is a native of Fredericksburg, Texas.

Maj. Gen. Bruce is a resident of Temple, Texas.

2099

The Pittsburgh Press (April 22, 1945)

Americans alerted for junction

Russian tanks rolling toward Elbe – 3 forces assail Nazis’ redoubt
…

2100

Capture of Berlin won’t end war

2 or 3 more months of fighting predicted
By Boyd Lewis, United Press staff writer
Saturday, April 21, 1945

PARIS, France – The fall of Berlin and a junction between the eastern and western Allies will not mean the end of the European war.

V-E Day – which may not come until autumn – will be reached only after many more men have been killed or wounded in crushing the last German resistance on the continent.

The speed with which Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s armies reached their present positions seems to have caused some misunderstanding. It is unfair to troops in the field to expect that the war is nearly over and that only a few weeks of minor operations still remain ahead.

Without denying Gen. Eisenhower’s statement that the German Army has been whipped, responsible quarters pointed out today that there are still major operations ahead.

Before all resistance is ended, the Allies must smash the tough northern and southern redoubt areas; Denmark and Norway must be liberated; substantial German forces in Italy must be crushed; Berlin must be hammered down and the last fanatic within it killed or captured; the biggest and toughest German army still in existence – that opposing the Russians – must be cut to pieces and prevented from getting into any redoubt; and finally the grand assault on the southern or Alpine main redoubt must be pushed to a conclusion.

In my opinion, all that will not be a matter of weeks. I believe it will take at the very least two to three months, and some fighting may well stretch into the late summer or autumn.

The job will be done, but lots of men are going to be killed or wounded doing it.

2101

Yanks push on yard by yard on Okinawa

Bitter battle rages on hill guarding airfield

GUAM (UP) – American infantrymen on Southern Okinawa were locked in a bitter struggle for Hill 178 guarding approaches to Yonabaru Airfield Saturday and made small gains along the entire line.

On Ie Island, the U.S. flag was raised on Iegusugu Peak.

Several times the infantrymen were thrown off the high ground around the strategic hill. But each time they came back and pressed their assault.

Third day of barrage

For the third day the thundering barrage thrown into the southern Okinawa sector by guns of Pacific Fleet battleships, cruisers and destroyers and massed Army and Marine artillery continued to support the advancing 7th, 27th and 96th Infantry Divisions.

Carrier aircraft made constant pinpoint attacks against the strong pillboxes, blockhouses and cave positions through which the tank-led infantrymen slowly pushed their way.

On the approaches to Hill 178, overlooking Shuri, a city of 60,000 population in the center of the line, U.S. and Jap forces were locked in the bitterest type of warfare, Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz said.

Gain not revealed

Adm. Nimitz gave no indication of the distance gained through Saturday. On the western coast, U.S. troops had pushed to within a mile and a half of Machinato Airfield, two miles above Naha.

On the east, they were last reported only 2½ miles from Yonabaru town. The Yonabaru airfield is less than a mile from the most advanced infantry forces in that sector.

The Jap fortifications were superior to those the Marines encountered on bloody Iwo Jima, front dispatches said. Many will be reduced only by hand-to-hand action.

Mopping up on Ie

Tenth Army troops on Ie Shima, three miles west of Okinawa’s Motobu Peninsula, raised the American flag on Iegusugu Peak Saturday morning after overcoming stiff resistance from enemy troops in caves, pillboxes and other fortifications. Mopping-up operations are now underway on Ie.

Marines of the III Amphibious Corps on Motobu eliminated the remaining Jap pockets and brought the entire area under U.S. control.

A few Jap aircraft attacked Yontan and Kadena airfields on Central Okinawa Friday night, causing minor damage. Carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet struck again at air installations in the Sakishima Islands southwest of Okinawa, shooting down one plane and strafing several others on the ground.

Ordered to keep fighting

The infantry on Okinawa was driving on “Skyline Ridge,” backbone of the Jap line, under orders to “keep advancing.”

Front dispatches said the immediate objective was Machinato Airfield.

“The 96th Division is in the thick of this vicious battle,” reported a United Press front correspondent. “Troops are driving up the face of ridges exposed to enemy fire in one of the most courageous attacks imaginable. Our mortars are virtually drilling holes in the hills to get at the dug-in Japs.”

Resistance was extremely well organized, but U.S. troops were slowly neutralizing the Jap positions.

In heart of defenses

“We are in the heart of the enemy’s position,” Maj. Gen. John R. Hodge, commander of the XXIV Army Corps, told United Press writer E. G. Valens.

A Tokyo broadcast said the fighting on Southern Okinawa was “gaining in intensity” and claimed that “fierce counterattacks” had been launched by the defenders.

2102

Bologna captured – Germans fleeing

U.S. tanks fan out onto Po Plain

…

2103

United Nations face acid test, Hull warns

Success predicted for peace sessions

…

2104

Plump Nazis forced to bury hundreds of dead prisoners

Yanks prod civilians as they balk at digging graves for captives at Gardelegen
By Robert Vermillion, United Press staff writer

…

2105

Foot of class for Jap spellers

OKINAWA (UP, April 21) – Four Jap soldiers learned the hard way here that Tokyo schools teach English that is pretty good, but not good enough.

Marine patrols stopped four men who produced the following note: “There men are Okinawans – not soldiers. Treat them good.”

It was signed, “Commanding Officer – Marign Regiment.”

The Martine patrol investigated. Beneath the flowering Okinawan kimonos were concealed Jap Army boots, puttees and khaki breeches.

The four bad spellers were put at the foot of the class.

2106

Love: They killed our pal Ernie, but we can help ‘his boys’

By Gilbert Love
Sunday, April 22, 1945

They killed Ernie Pyle – little inoffensive Ernie, who never harmed anyone in all his life.

He was our friend. We may never have seen him, but through his columns we knew him well. We suffered with him, were afraid with him, laughed and cried with him.

He took us to war with him, and because of this we knew how all our fine young men were living and dying. That was Ernie’s mission. It was his stern duty – the thing that forced him to go back to war, when he already had done more than his share, to meet his death on tiny Ie Island in the far Pacific.

What can we do?

What are we going to do about Ernie? We can’t go over there and take personal revenge on the Jap who took his life, although some of us felt a wild urge to do that when we heard the news of his death last Wednesday morning. We can’t do anything for Ernie himself.

But we can carry on his work.

The kind of people Ernie loved knew what to do when they heard of his death. Soldiers and workers began going to the Red Cross Blood Bank in the Wabash Building to give blood “for Ernie.” He couldn’t use it, of course, but his G.I.’s could.

Taking their cue from these special friends of Ernie’s, the Red Cross people designated this coming week at Ernie Pyle Week at the Blood Bank.

Anyone who wants to pay a small tribute to Ernie can walk into the Blood Bank any time between 9:45 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For evening or Saturdays an appointment should be made by calling GRant 1680.

The Week is a perfect memorial to Ernie, the kind he would have liked. No sad music and orations for him. If folks wanted to do something nice for him, he’d like to have them do it for “his boys.”

And the boys need it. Despite mounting casualties, and increased need for blood plasma to save lives, smaller and smaller numbers of donors have been visiting the Blood Bank. The news is good, and it’s assumed that the war is over.

400 pints daily quota

It isn’t over for the soldiers who are being mowed down by the cornered Nazis, or for the soldiers and sailors and marines who are facing their greatest battles against Japan.

The Blood Bank in the Wabash Building has a quota of 400 pints of blood a day. Not since March 1, when the Allies were still battling on the approaches to Germany, has the quota been met. Since that time the average has been 300 a day, and last week not even that figure was reached.

Wherever Ernie Pyle is now, he would be very happy to know a Pittsburgh district residents thought enough of him to bring their donations of life-giving blood up to par, if only for one week.

Frequent appeals

While he was on the Italian front, Ernie sent an appeal to the home folks to give blood for plasma. And here are a few significant paragraphs that he wrote on November 21, 1944:

This fall I came home from France on a ship that carried 1,000 of our wounded American soldiers. About a fourth of them were terribly wounded stretcher cases. The rest were up and about. These others could walk, though among the walking were many legs and arms missing, many eyes that could not see.

Well, there was one hospitalized soldier who was near death on this trip. He was wounded internally, and the Army doctors were trying desperately, to keep him alive until we got to America. They operated several times, and they kept pouring plasma and whole blood into him constantly, until they ran out of whole blood.

Didn’t want stampede

I happened to be in the head doctor’s cabin at noon one day when he was talking about this boy. He said he had his other doctors at that moment going around the ship typing blood specimens from several of the ship’s officers, and from unwounded Army and Navy officers aboard. They were doing it almost surreptitiously, for they didn’t want it to get out that they needed blood.

And why didn’t they want it to get out? Because if it had, there would have been a stampede to the hospital ward by the other wounded men, offering their blood to this dying comrade. Think of that – a stampede of men themselves badly wounded, wanting to give their blood.