The Pittsburgh Press (September 21, 1944)
Political talk laid to chaplain
Galesburg, Illinois (UP) –
Richard J. Lyons, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, said today he had received a letter from a Coast Guardsman in New Guinea which charges that thousands of servicemen were forced to “remain in their seats” and listen to a political speech.
The letter was from Richard Smothers, former Marion, Illinois, businessman, Mr. Lyons said.
The letter said:
After a group of several thousand men had gathered for a show, they announced that we had to keep our seats, that they had acquired some wonderful speakers, including high-ranking officers who were carrying a message to all the war zones on the face of the earth.
As it is time for we servicemen to send for our ballots, I don’t believe I ever heard a more enthusiastic New Deal speech. The principal speaker was the President’s chaplain. He emphasized what a wonderful job our President, our Commander-in-Chief, I believe, is the way he put it, was doing.
The letter did not disclose the name of the chaplain.