The Pittsburgh Press (February 11, 1944)
Editorial: Mr. Hearst goes too far!
Publication of the shocking story of Japanese atrocities against American and Filipino prisoners of war naturally caused untold anguish and concern in the homes of every American listed as captured or missing in the Pacific area. Their cup of grief and worry is already running over.
But as if their burden were not great enough, certain newspaper strategists are trying to convince the American people that our national leaders are not trying to help them – this in the face of Secretary Hull’s disclosure that more than 80 protests have been made to the Japanese government on behalf of the captives and that a long struggle has been waged through every diplomatic source to relieve their plight. This in the face of the speeding up of the Pacific War, the capture of Kwajalein Atoll, the shelling of Paramushiru, the efforts of our fleet to lure the Japanese Navy into battle and all the other evidence of more vigorous and successful prosecution of the Pacific War.
William Randolph Hearst writes:
One would naturally expect that the administration and Congress would immediately formulate a plan to get our men out of the clutches of Japan.
But at this writing, Congress and the administration remain as inactive before this heartbreaking question as if it had never arisen.
Nothing could be more false, and we are certain that most people will realize this. But there may be some who, in their anguish, in their hoping against hope, in their prayers that something, somehow, may happen to save their loved ones, will be influenced by the widespread publication of such charges to believe that they are being ignored.
There are only two ways to relieve the plight of the American prisoners of Japan. One is by diplomacy, the other by force. The State Department, the Red Cross and other agencies of mercy have done everything within their power to get Japan to observe the rules of the Geneva Covenant governing the treatment of war prisoners, but in vain. The Army and Navy and Marines are applying force – but the struggle is terrific and the obstacles enormous.
Can it be said that America remains “inactive” when our soldiers and Marines and fliers and sailors are daily shedding their blood to defeat Japan and rescue their captured comrades?
But Mr. Hearst does say it. He continues:
What is being done by the rulers of our government to prevent a repetition of these ghastly outrages?
The answer is: NOTHING.
This amounts to a charge of treason against the President and the other responsible leaders of the war. It is a deliberate, definite statement that they are not making an effort to save and protect American soldiers and sailors captured by the enemy. If true, it would mean that our war is a phony war; that our leadership is faithless; that the captives in the Pacific have been betrayed.
This is not true; and even the bitterest critics of our national leadership will generally admit it.
To try to convince the American people of such things; to publish them for the men in our Armed Forces to read; to proclaim them to the tortured and sorrowing families of the men in captivity, is an unpardonable assault on national unity, on the faith of our people in their military leaders and on the integrity and patriotism of our American commanders.