The Pittsburgh Press (September 9, 1944)
Byrnes denies ‘keeping’ troops
Washington (UP) –
The Roosevelt administration is already on record as favoring dismissal of men from the Armed Forces “when military needs no longer require them” and has given “no consideration” to keeping men in the Army for economic reasons, according to War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes.
Asked to reply to charges of Republican presidential nominee Thomas E. Dewey that the administration planned to keep men in the Army because it feared unemployment, Mr. Byrnes recalled his own testimony before a Senate committee last June in which he told how the Army demobilization plan had been worked out after interviews with servicemen to find out their wishes.
Asked at that time whether the administration feared releasing men from the Army because there would be no jobs for them, Mr. Byrnes said:
There isn’t any fear – the administration is in favor of releasing men from the Army when military needs no longer require them, and has given no consideration to keeping men in the Army for any economic conditions.