DEC.

2 1 , 1945
VOL. 4, NO. 27

By and for men in the service

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Washington Faces the Peace

A PICTURE STORY PAGES 2 THROUGH 7
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OfflCERS
Some agencies, notably the WPB, are folding up, but space doesn't stay
'sfPARAW,
One national headache is demobilization. The Army deals with it in the
empty for long. This WPB office is going to the Veterans Administration. Pentagon Building, which has its own Separation Center, discharging 60 a day.
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Demobilization is bringing more work to the Civil Service Commission. Vet- I The atomic bomb is another capital problem. Sen. McMahon (left), shown with
erans, like these waiting in line for interviews, get preference on federal jobs. I Sen. Vandenberg and scientist Dr. Condon, heads Atomic Energy Committee.

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Congress is also busy trying to decide who was responsible for Pearl Harbor. Labor and management tried to reach some common conclusions in a Washing-
Here Admiral J. O. Richardson, former commander of U. S. Fleet, testifies. ton conference called by the President. William Green of the AFL is speaking.

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Soviet Ambassador and Mrs. Gromyko greet Secretary of the Navy Forrestal Adm. Nimitz, Chief of Naval Operati •e, testifies in Congress against an
n» n rorontinQ held bv the Russian Embassy on October Revolution Day. Army-Navy merger. Gen. Eisenhowl ^ r m y Chief of Staff, was for it.
WMIIIiTOI hm the P «
I N WASHINGTON, D. C , spotlights illumined the
Capitol dome lor the first time since 1941, MPs
no longer barred the way to the White House,
military and political bigwigs paraded daily be-
atom had done more than destroy Hiroshima;
they had forced our political, military and indus-
trial leaders to re-examine almost everything
that was basic to our national and international
of abundance, with all the related issues of
wages, prices, production, consumption and
labor-management harmony; how to demobilize
speedily yet without stripping the national de-
fore half a dozen Congressional committees on existence. Should the United Nations Organiza- fense; whether to unify the Army, Navy and
the Hill, and moving vans were busy carting tion be revised? What about our relations with Air Forces in the light of Pearl Harbor and the
away the records of deactivated agencies. The the Soviet Union? Would we need to revamp our war; how to streamline the Federal Government.
national capital, like the nation itself, had begun armed forces to protect us? What did the po- All these, and more, were the problems of
the slow, uneven transition from war to peace. tential development of atomic energy as a con- peace that Washington had to face. YANK pho-
The end of hostilities had brought problems structive force mean to industry and society? tographers Sgt. Brown Roberts and Pfc. Harry
as acute as those that wartime Washington (and There were other, equally compelling ques- Wignall and reporter Sgt. John Haverstick tell
America) ever faced. The scientists who split the tions: how to reconvert to a peacetime economy you how the capital is shaping up to the job.
 i f f

T HE White House had a new coat of paint. It also had a new

tenant, Harry Truman of Missouri. More and more of the
advisers who visited him there had been strangers to the
White House, sometimes even to the capital, during the Roose-
velt Administration. Surveying the new Cabinet and "kitchen
cabinet," wags quipped that "Missouri loves company" and that
the only Missourian Mr. Truman had forgotten was Mark Twain.
There was no doubt that a large number of the men around
the President were old friends from his home state or his days
as a senator. Four (Byrnes, Vinson, Anderson, Schwellenbach)
of the seven new Cabinet members had served with Mr.
Truman in Congress. Although only one (Hannegan) was a
Missouri native, at least five other Presidential aides (Snyder,
Collet, Ross, Symington, Vaughan) also came from that state.
Only survivors of the 1932 FDR Cabinet were Wallace and Ickes.
Familiar agencies as well as faces were disappearing as the
President streamlined his Government by transferring their
functions to the old-line departments or abolishing them alto-
gether. The War and State Departments, for example, split up
the work of the Office of Strategic Services, the War Food Ad-
ministration was absorbed by Agriculture, State took over the
old Office of War Information, the War Production Board's few
•emaining controls were transferred to a new Civilian Produc-
tion Administration, and the Office of Censorship folded up.
CHESTER A. BOWLES (rfght), w h o m President Roosevelt a p p o i n t e d H A R O I D ICKES, Roosevelt's Secretary of
3S Price Administrator, is still holding d o w n his job under Truman. the Interior, is still there in his old depart-
Its w a r t i m e job is over but the O P A still fights possible inflation. ment, denying reports of his resignation.
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W ASHINGTON in peacetime, like Washington in war, still
seemed crowded to the suffocation point Despite dis-
mantling of some Government agencies, federal em-
ployment rolls would not drop to peacetime levels for perhaps
a year. Unusually warm autumn weather that caused the Jap-
anese cherry trees to bloom out of season also brought out
great crowds of strollers on the weekends; many of them were
iS'^^ Government girls, who now had Saturdays off (a mixed bless-
ing, since they no longer received overtime pay).
•-S'/S Now that gas and food rationing had ended, it was not so
tough to get a taxi or a table in a restaurant, but people still
queued up for everything else, from movies to nylons. Some
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0; new housing projects promised to relieve the situation before
long, but Washingtonians still were not laughing at the old
jokes about the long-standing shortage of apartments and
hotel rooms. It was still Washington, and it was still jammed.
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Housing is so t i g h t t h a t some p e o p l e get shoved to the Potomac River. M r s .
'^ R M i l l i a r d , w h o is w i f e of a G o v e r n m e n t w o r k e r , lives on a house b o a t .

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Most W a s h i n g t o n r e s t a u r a n t s w e r e staffed by w o m e n d u r i n g the w a r . N o w The end of gas r a t i o n i n g loroucih:
men are c o m i n g back b e h i n d the counters. Five m a r i n e s are e m p l o y e d here is n o r m a l traffic in f r o n t of N a . y
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Guy Ferguson, who's had a newsstand for 27 years at t i t h Street and Penn-
sylvania Avenue, has been se/ling more out-of-town newspapers than ever.

Every Saturday night Mrs. Evalyn Walsh Mclean, of Hope Diamond fame, gives
a party for amputee cases from Walter Reed Hospital at her Washington house.

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-«/cr;-d.d"r:v.ij:?; l E T ^ r r — ^.Ksrican cities, the national
model shows a nn»i«—' -*
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The geisha is nof a prosiitafeg
though GIs in Japan use the term
to cover female entertainers gen-
, * erally. She has a long tradition
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behind her stylized routine.
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By Sgt. KNOX BURGER
^ YANK StafF Correspondent
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T OKYO—They say geisha girls originated about-
a thousand years ago when the wives and
daughters of defeated feudal samurai were
called upon to entertain the victorious warrior
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chiefs. Being of noble birth, they were women of
grace and refinement, well-versed in singing, the
composition of verse and the art of how to be-
have with men.
Most of the first-rate geishas are lying low
out in the countryside today, but the few who
remain in the cities are in great demand as en-
tertainers for soldiers of another conquering
army. Some of the geishas' accomplishments,
/ which are basically the same now as they were
y a thousand years ago, are lost on Ame'rican GIs.
The geisha routine is a little like a night-club
'fe "s*
'^i^ fy- act, a little like the behavior of girls at a well-
Sw<^' i u "S&fr^- •-y jk mannered house-party and a little like an Orien-
tal travelogue with no English titles.
Tokyo's geisha houses have been lumped to-
gether with whorehouses by the Provost Marshal
in a campaign to control venereal disease. But
they still do business. Geisha houses in some
other cities aren't even off limits.
The history of geishas and their place in
Japanese society gives a little insight into the
character of the inhibited, caste-conscious people
of these islands. The Japs traditionally seek en-
tertainment outside their own houses, and as
f #3!.' ^^%. long as Jap wives and daughters get pushed
around by their husbands the geisha system will
probably continue to flourish.
Until a few centuries ago the samurai lived
off the rest of the population and only women
of the best families had the advantages of a
/^^^K>^ private finishing school, where, like some
wealthy American girls, they learned how to
* <;j;fi pour tea and allied accomplishments. Only, in
V- Japan tea pouring is a hell of a ritualistic busi-
ness, every move loaded with symbolism and
governed exactly by the way it was done in
ancient days.
During the Tokugawa Shogunate, which was
>^l in power roughly from 1600 to Perry's landing
in Japan, there was a concentrated isolationist
effort to keep the Japanese at home. The geishas
flowered primarily because the shoguns thought
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they'd be good in connection with the policy of up in business for h:i \V; asked our host about the natural inclina-
keeping people happy at home. However, inter- versation with and :or. jf men to make passes at geishas after they
nal wars grew more and more infrequent so the mother for expenses i :,;KI Ji unk a few pints of saki. He said that with
original source of geisha girls by conquest and ing. Geishas get only : :»•> : • ' ..(Kind- or third-rate geishas, if they know you
capture was eliminated. keepers and can't Iv.ir •• - sv .•'-•.liti.shinrr-t.- -. t rv well sometimes it becomes man and woman
During the Meiji, or post-Perry era, when which they are attache.i ;• ivvt^er. tao> i n instead of customer and entertainer. As the
Japan started to absorb Western culture and to fuse to live with the would-be bu\ er. if thi / jicishas smiled and poured saki and otherwise
copy Western business and industrial methods want. A top-notch, geisha \s iike a high-piici i made like highly interested dinner companions,
like mad, wealthy merchant classes started feel- movie star. Because of the influence of hi : uu! Jap host held hands with one or another of
ing their oats and looking around for high-class patrons she can afford to be temperamental. Jaj) them and talked what must have been J a p baby-
diversion. Prostitution was legalized, and girls men like to spark geishas. With marriage ar- talk. The girls played right along with him and
from poor families who were in debt (virtually ranged by their parents this geisha business is seemed to enjoy it.
all common farmers are debtors) were sold to virtually the only romance open to them. Pfc. Patrick Gleason of New York City, one of
white slavers or geisha brokers. This is still how our party, called the experience "colorful." "As
most 20th century geishas get into the business. I see it," said Gleason, "it's strictly a class propo-
Sold into a household at maybe 15, a girl is
trained by a professional geisha "mother" and
T HE geisha house is actually a place where
the girls live and receive training. They do
business at rioriya or restaurants and at even
sition, not national. Just the Japanese version of
a rich man's pleasure." Gleason, a former Broad-
lives in the house with practicing geishas, the more elaborate machiai. literally waiting way publicity man, pointed out the modern-day
emulating their graceful movements, watching rooms, which are carefully designed, always American parallel in the visiting butter-and-egg
them as they spend days in endless rehearsing. spotless. man from Detroit or Buffalo who comes to New
They rehearse dancing, singing, playing of the Before the war the geishas began wearing York and is introduced to a show girl, whom
samisen and how to be charming. In a few years their hair short like American girls. Also in the he may possibly set up in a suite at the Waldorf
the girl is ready to go to dinner parties, where gay thirties a new class of female entertainers on his future visits.
she will be charming night after night for some emerged in Japanese cities. These were wait- After eating and drinking we filed out into an
25 years. Geisha training was and still is rigid, resses and bar girls who hung around cafes and alley and walked four blocks with the girls to
byt the institution itself has deteriorated, with dime-dance joints. They drank with customers, the machiai, where we were again ushered to a
second- and third- and fourth-rate girls—the wore high heels and skirts. This was in line with big straw-matted room to watch the geishas
last being actual prostitutes or joro. general Westernization of the surface of Jap dance. Their dancing consists of graceful postur-
urban life in the period between World War I ing, coy bends of the head, and flat-footed move-
and World War II. The bar girls belonged to n o - ments around the room. It is formally mannered
I N the Meiji era the girls were chosen for the
first time on a basis of face and figure. These
had formerly been considerations secondary to
body and were in a sense the poor man's geisha.
Before the B-29s "burned most of them out
and hasn't changed much from the dancing done
by the geishas hundreds of years ago. Each dance
family background and brains. The social posi- there were geisha houses or rather rioriya and is an interpretation of some familiar classic
tion of the geisha is tricky. Before the war J a p machiai in each of Tokyo's districts. They all were poem, usually dealing with birds, animals and
newspapers had gossip columns on the geishas, said to have their own special characteristics. the beauties of nature. J a p customers are thor-
as esoteric as any keyhole column in a New York Some were cheap hangouts for students, some oughly familiar with each movement of the
tabloid. These columns usually ran right next were dens for politicians. The Shimbashi and dance and look on with a considerably more
to the stock market quotations; the geishas owe Sakasaka areas catered to wealthy merchants critical eye than GIs. The GIs regard the whole
their support to the wealthy people of Japan. and were most expensive. Nowadays a party of thing as something alien and slightly embarras-
Geishas don't associate with non-geishas. The four planks down maybe 3,000 yen for an eve- sing, like tolerant, old folks in the U. S. might
two aims of geishas are supposed to be marriage ning's entertainment. look on their first exhibition of jitterbugging.
or at least mistresshood to wealthy, handsome Yoshiwara, definitely not a geisha district, is
Japanese and securing their own freedom. Free-
dom can come about when a girl has worked out
the terms of the contract made by her parents
said to have been the largest red light section
in the world. It was, before bombing, a walled
city in the slums of Tokyo, consisting of thou-
T o most Americans, geishas have an unreal, doll-
like quality. They are so carefully costumed
and heavily made up that they are like animated
or when some man buys off her contract and sands of cubicles with girls peering out at cus- versions of the beautifully-gowned miniature
sets her up as his mistress or as a madam of her tomers and urging them to step inside. Yoshiwara mannequins that are sold in little glass cases as
own geisha house. In explaining the geishas, the was burned out during the war. In pre-Pearl souvenirs. They speak only a few words of
modern Japanese deny the geishas are slaves— Harbor days it was a must for tourists and English—usually "Hello," "Good-bye," and "Oh,
or rather they say that the system really isn't flashy J a p gadabouts. my aching baclt." Their actions are so carefully
as bad as it sounds, because the girls learn things To get into a good geisha house (GIs in gen- pretty that it is hard to believe you are in the
they would never have learned and they get to eral don't use the term in strict sense implied presence of real, live women.
wear terrific clothes. They have definitely better above) it is necessary to be taken by a Jap host. If a bona-fide geisha strays seriously from the
taste in color harmony than the average J a p - Because of the rarity of first-rate places and the path, she is dropped from the geisha guild, a sort
anese women. They spend hours in baths which high venereal-disease rate in cathouses, all of welfare organization which takes care of old,
they take together in huge ^ubs, and they patron- geisha houses are off limits until corrective hy- beat-up geishas and serves as a watered-down
ize hairdressers where they presumably discuss gienic measures can be taken by the authorities. union. Such ostracism is almost unheard of.
last night's customers and the reputations of GIs still manage to muscle in, but the parties When a case arises, the head of the guild for
whoever happens to be elsewhere at the time. have to be arr'anged well in advance. that district, usually a former geisha or some
If a mayti wants to "buy" a geisha and set her We were taken last week through the maze geisha mother or machiai executive, will go to
of streets in the unbombed sector of the Shim- bat for the girl if she thinks her side of the case
bashi district winding up in front of a lighted is justified. If the gal is kicked out, it reflects
doorway opening on a narrow alley. This was the on the guild and on the prestige of the whole
rioriya. We took off our shoes, put them in geisha system; also it outlaws the girl from all
cubbyholes in the foyer, then walked up the but the lowest stratum of society. A hell of a
broad, beautifully polished staircase. The stairs lot of face is lost all around.
opened on a hallway, the walls of which were During the war the geishas had it rough. In
sliding paper doors leading into fairly spacious line with the Japanese Win-the-War program of
rooms with straw mats on the floor. Sound of Spartan living, the Tojo Government made them
revelry from the room next to ours was loud. close down in March 1944, and a lot of girls had
The walls were plain and thin. to go to work in factories. Others headed for the
We sat on cushions around a low table, and countryside, where they hid out until things
in a little while the girls came in, kneeling and blew over. A few remained to give private enter-
bowing in the doorway and crawling over to our tainment to Government officials like Tojo, who,
sides on hands and knees. This lowly position is by the way, was no Spartan. He took personal
traditionally assumed by any J a p female enter- geishas to some of the southern islands when he
ing or leaving a room so she won't be put in flew down on inspection trips early in the war.
the embarrassing position of looking down on A few top-notch girls are drifting back now
the superior males. It is refinement of the old into the big cities. There are many houses of
business about nobody being allowed to look prostitution, which GIs call geisha houses, but
down on the Emperor, another manifestation of they are no more real geisha houses than a ham-
ironclad inferior-superior relationship in Japan. burger joint is the Ritz.
The girls don't usually eat with the customers, Experts on geishas say that the old system
but since the advent of the Americans they will remain but will undergo modifications now
have changed that because Americans feel un- that the Americans are here and now that Japan
easy when the girls just sit and don't eat. is groveling more or less blindly around the
Geishas like this innovation fine, because the bottom of her steep road back into the good
food served in the restaurants tastes better and graces of the rest of the world. What the modi-
is more plentiful than what they get elsewhere. fications will be nobody knows for sure. P r o b -
The girls gave us their names, poured us cup ably the girls will be taught English in addition
after tiny cup of warm saki and showed us how to other duties, and they will modernize certain
to use hashi (chopsticks). They laughed when aspects of their behavior. The method of pro-
we demonstrated our clumsiness with chopsticks. curement may come to be a little less sordid.
The customer is apparently always funny. They Geishas themselves, like party girls any place,
kept ladling out food. It consisted of hors seem perfectly receptive to change, but, like
d'oeuvres, jumbo shrimp served hot and fluffy, common people caught in the toils of every
and bowls of exotic Chinese slumgullion contain- other feudal institution in Japan, they don't seem
ing fish, meat, clams and vegetables. to know quite how to go about it.
 enlisted men met their deaths in line of duty,
and a fair proportion of Purple Hearts were won
as well as a number of field commissions and
Bronze Stars.
Typical of the questions that civilians had long
been asking and that the Survey set out to a n -
swer were the following: Is air power decisive in
whining a modem war? What did the bombings
do to German industry? What happened to the
Luftwajfe? What effect did t h e oir war have on
German morale?
Before answering the first of these questions
the Survey Report makes it extremely clear that
air power alone was not counted on to bring vic-
tory. Neither was it intended to be a subordinate
operation. The air attacks were conceived, says
the Report, as "part of a larger strategic plan—
one that contemplated that the decision would
come through the advance of ground armies rather
than through air power alone."
Specifically, the role of aviation was to estab-
lish air superiority prior to the invasion and to
use that superiority to weaken the enemy's "will
and capacity to resist." "Will," here, means m o -

Decisive ?
rale, and "capacity" means industrial power. It
is chiefly on these two counts, therefore, that the
performance of the Allied air forces is judged in
the Report.
Within this framework the agency found that
with headquarters in London, a forward head- "Allied air power was decisive in the war in
quartei's near Frankfurt and several regional Western Europe"—decisive, but not quite in the
headquarters to be strung out through Germany. way a casual follower of the war news might have
Franklin D'Olicr, president of the Prudential imagined.' The air war did not destroy German
Life Insurance Company, was chosen to head the industry, plant by plant, because Germany's r e -
project, with Henry C. Alexander, of J. P. Mor- cuperative power—its ability to get a bombed-
gan, as vice-chairman. It was the "first time in out factory back at work—was one of the sur-
military history," as Gen. H. H, Arnold of the prises of the war. Second, the terrific punishment
Army Air Forces pointed out. "that a major ser- inflicted on the German people from the air
A civilian agency, studying a t vice or phase of warfare has been subjected to shook their morale and induced a spirit of d e -
featism, but it was not enough to change that
first hand the effects of our tlie careful scrutiny of objective civilian analysis."
defeatism from passive discontent to open revolt.
The enlisted men, drawn from every branch of
strategic bombing on G e r m a n y , the service by spec number, were selected to fill Finally, the air war was decisive only when
jobs as interpreters, draftsmen, pliotographers, domination of t h e air over Germany had been
turns in a revealing report. tabulators and personnel clerks. A few were sta- attained: "Without it, attacks on the basic econ-
tioned in Washington, b u t most of them were omy of the enemy could not have been delivered
shipped off to London in the fall of 1944 for a in sufficient force and with sufficient freedom to
By Sgt. ROBERT BENDINER bring effective and lasting results." The Luftwajje
brief period of training and orientation in the
YANK Staff Writer work of the Survey. Quartered at Byshey Park, had to be crippled before t h e Allied air forces
which had been SHAEF Headquarters before D - could do an effective job. Each of these points re-
//
B
OMBS R I P HAMBURG," "REICH O I L PLANTS
BLASTED," "RAF POUNDS RUHR." Day after Day, they were drilled in their respective tasks ceives extended treatment in the Report—and
day, for at least two years, headlines like and found themselves at the very core "of the the facts appear to warrant the emphasis.
these studded the U. S. press until many people Allied command. One detail of 15 men was as-
signed for three weeks to the Central War Room, I o indispensable industry w a s permanently
began to wonder how long the bombarded Ger-
mans could continue to produce the sinews of war.
Then it developed that targets already "obliter-
near Downing Street, where much of the t o p -
echelon planning of the war was done. On more
N put out of commission by a single attack or
even by a few repeated attacks. Germany was
ated" were being obliterated all over again—re- than one occasion a GI would come across Win- well prepared, and a number of factors operated
peatedly—and doubts sprang up as to just how ston Churchill scurrying along a corridor—and to cushion the worst effects Of the air raids.
effective the air war really was. With only con- find himself too awed to respond to the Prime Plants, machinery, and manpower were so plen-
tradictory reports from dubious Swedish sales- Minister's V-sign greeting. tiful that throughout the war a great deal of Ger-
men and equally dubious Swiss observers to rely From Bushey Park the Survey workers—civil- man industry was on a single shift basis. Fewer
on, the public and even Air Force officials, d e - ians, officers and enlisted men—went across to German women were engaged than in the first
spite reconnaissance photos, remained ignorant of the continent in small teams, rarely numbering World War, consurhers' goods stocks were high
the full effects of the air war until our troops more than 15 and sometimes as few as six. Their and t h e average work-week was actually below
went in. assignment called for front-line duty, since the that prevailing in Britain. All of this meant that
Even then, t h e full tale would have been o b - objective was frequently to grab records before when the pounding really got heavy, the Ger-
scured by the loss of records and the destruction the retiring Nazis might have a chance to destroy mans had plenty of industrial power in reserve.
of certain types of evidence if t h e War Depart- them. In characteristically systematic fashion In addition to this potential power, the Ger-
ment had not provided an agency to travel with German factory officials h a d carefully recorded mans soon found, according to the Survey, that
the advancing forces and gather the vital infor- the results of each bombing—casualties, prop- Allied bombing was not quite so accurate as was
mation. The United States Strategic Bombing erty damage done, effects on morale and even the generally supposed on this side of t h e Atlantic.
Survey was the name given to this agency, which extent of destruction by each type of bomb. In training, our crews achieved great precision
has now transferred its operations to Japan, and This was precisely the
its first full report clears up questions that have information the Survey
waited a long time for answers. was after, and it was BOMB TONNAGES: Principal Target Systems
The Survey project had its inception in a letter hidden in the least likely
from President Roosevelt dated Sept. 7, 1944, in places—in barns, in caves, Land Transporiation Targets
which he suggested to the Secretary of War that in private houses, in a •
"it would be valuable in connection with t h e air hen house on one occa-
attacks on Japan and for postwar planning to sion, and several times in
obtain an impartial and expert study of the effects coffins. Skilled investiga-
of the aerial attack on Germany." Two months
later the Survey was established and embarked
on its first task, that of recruiting a n d training
tion had to be conducted,
and risks had to be taken.
Although t h e casualties
MHM^ IM M MtWiiVk
personnel for the big job ahead. The T/O called
for 300 civilians, 350 officers and 500 enlisted men,
were not heavy by com-
bat standards, two of the iPf^^^p^^; ^f^^r^i^f'i^^nr i • • #^
32.1°
 Y A N K The Army Weekly • DECEMBER 2 1 , 1945

under target range conditions, but, says the Re- drastically felt thioughout the enemy's armed the invasion to the end of the war, the air attack
port, "It was not possible to approach such stand- forces. Pilot training was dangerously curtailed on German transportation closely geared to
ards of accuracy under battle conditions. . . ." to save gasoline. The movement of Panzer divi- ground operations, was persistent and crushing.
Formation flying dictated bombing patterns which sions in the field was seriously hampered, and Freight car loading that totaled 900,000 cars in
did not always make for precision. Taking the when the Germans launched their desperate August 1944 dropped to a disastrous low of 214,000
air war as a whole, Survey studies show that counteroffensive in December 1944, they knew cars by March of 1945. "Thereafter," says the Re-
"only about 20 percent of the bombs aimed at that their oil reserves were insufficient. port, "the disorganization was so great that no
precision targets fell within the target area," that According to information obtained by the Sur- useful statistics were kept."
is, within a thousand feet of the objective. Great vey group, the Nazi leaders hoped to make u p And what about Germany's civilians—those
improvement was noted as the war neared its the shortage by capturing Allied stocks. They civilians who, we were told repeatedly, could
end. of course, and for the month of February failed in this objective, and as a result, many never stand up under such a pounding? Studies
1945 a peak accuracy of 70 percent was achieved. Panzer units were lost for lack of fuel. Similarly, conducted by the Survey show by how thin a
The speed and persistence with which the Ger- says the Report, "in February and March of 1945 thread their morale actually hung in the darken-
mans were able to get bombed plants back into the Germans massed 1,200 tanks on the Baranov ing days of 1944 and 1945:
operation were a disconcerting feature of the air bridgehead at the Vistula to check the Russians. "The people lost faith in the prospect of
war. They took such advantage of every pause in They were immobilized for lack of gasoline and victory, in their leaders and in the promises
the assault that in several major instances Allied overrun." and propaganda to which they were sub-
efforts were fruitless in the long run. Hardly less important a result of the success- jected. Most of all. they wanted the war to
Take, for example, the story of our attacks on ful raids on Germany's synthetic oil plants was end. They resorted increasingly to 'black
the ball-bearing industry. Half the output came the crippling of her nitrogen output. So seriously radio' listening, to circulation of rumor and
from plants in the vicinity of Schweinfurt, and was the supply of explosives lowered that by the fact in opposition to the regime; and there
in a series of raids extending over many months beginning of 1945 the Nazis were filling shells was some increase in active political dis-
Allied airmen dropped 12,000 tons of bombs over with a mixture of explosives and non-explosive sidence—m 1944 one German in every thou-
this vital area—one-half of one percent of the rock-salt extender. Units manning flak guns were sand was arrested for a political offense."
total tonnage delivered in the entire air war. told to fire only on planes that attacked the par- The Survey experts believe that if the German
Early results were highly encouraging: In Sep- ticular installations they were assigned to pro- people "had been at liberty to vote themselves
tember 1943 production was down to 35 percent tect—and not even then unless "they were sure out of the war, they would have done so well be-
of the pre-raid level. A month later came the of hitting the planes"! fore the final surrender." Obviously they were
famous raid in which German fighters and flak anything but free, however, and rather than take
the risks of revolt, as other tyrannized peoples
took a toll of 62 American planes, with 138 others
damaged. That heavy loss forced us to allow the
Germans a breather, which they used to great
D ISPERSAL of plants was the keynote to Ger-
many's defense of her aircraft production—
and it was a highly successful defense. Not until
have done, they continued to work for the Third
Reich up to the very end.
advantage. Factory structures had been badly February 1944 did the Allies go all out in their The ability of the Germans to survive devas-
damaged, but machines and machine tools were effort to blast the Luftwaffe in the making. In one tating air attacks—surprising to their own lead-
in relatively good shape. The Germans also had week 3,636 tons of bombs were dropped on aircraft ers as well as the outside world—rested only in
substantial stocks on hand, and energetic steps plants, and in that and succeeding weeks every part on the crushing power of a ruthless police
were taken to disperse the industry. By the known factory in the industry was hit. Neverthe- state. There were other factors. One was the fact
autumn of 1944 production was back to pre-raid less, the Luftwaffe received 39.807 new planes in that production never seemed to suffer for long,
levels, and the Survey finds that in the end, 1944 as compared with 15,596 for 1942, and more however severe the attack. The Survey obtained
"There is no evidence that the attacks on the planes were delivered in March, the month after figures to show that "while production received
ball-bearing industry had any measurable efl'ect the peak attacks, than in January, the month be- a moderate setback after a raid, it recovered sub-
on essential war production." fore. The explanation lay not only in dispersal stantially within a relatively few weeks. As a
but in the fact ,that the Germans had provided rule, the industrial plants were located around

M UCH more successful was the attack on oil.

This vital commodity, tight to begin with,
was naturally made a high-priority target as soon
considerable excess capacity for the airframe in-
dustry. Another factor was the surprising d u r -
ability of German machine tools, which fre-
the perimeter of German cities, and characteristi-
cally these were relatively undamaged."
Then, too, stockpiles of clothing and other civil-
as German air power had been appreciably r e - quently survived heavy bombing. ian commodities were available for bombed-out
duced. Here, too, the Nazis were resourceful, and What finally washed up the Luftwaffe was a civilians until the very last stages of disorgani-
at one point they employed 350,000 men for the change in tactics. Allied fighters, formerly con- zation. Despite the bombing, Germany—living off
repair, rebuilding and dispersal of bombed plants fined largely to protecting bombers, were shifted the fat of conquered Europe—at no time offered
and for new underground construction. Neverthe- in 1943 to the task of destroying German fighters. its people a diet inferior to that of the British.
less, Germany's synthetic oil production dropped They succeeded so thoroughly that the resulting German shelters were excellent, though insuffi-
from a high of 316,000 tons per month, when the loss of Nazi pilots, and the disorganization of cient in number, but fire-fighting equipment
attacks began, to 107,000 tons in June 1944 and squadrons, reduced the Luftwaffe to ineffective- proved inadequate. Incendiaries were found to
17,000 in September. The Survey staff located a ness by the spring of 1944. German air generals have been four to five times as destructive as high
desperate letter written in J u n e of that year to admitted to Survey officials that on D-Day "the explosives, and "fire storms occurred, the wide-
Adolf Hitler, in which Albert Speer, the Minister Luftwaffe had only 80 operational planes with spread fires generating a violent hurricane-like
of Armaments, advised his Fuehrer: "The enemy which to oppose the invasion," and that "at no draft, which fed other fires and made all attempts
has succeeded in increasing our losses of aviation time between D-Day and the break-through at at control hopeless." The Survey estimates that
gasoline up to 90 percent by June 22. Only St. Lo did reinforcements offset losses." casualties from air attack totaled roughly 305,000
through speedy recovery of damaged plants has Reinforcements did strengthen the Luftwaffe killed and 780,000 wounded, while 20 percent of
it been possible to regain partly some of the ter- later in the year, but never to any significant d e - Germany's houses were destroyed or damaged.
rible losses." gree, making the fate of Germany's increased
The cost to our air forces was high. According production of aircraft in 1944 a major mystery.
to the Report, our "air crews viewed the mission
to Leuna [largest of the synthetic oil plants] as
The Survey people don't know the answer, and
the German generals themselves offered all sorts
S UMMING up its findings, the Survey authorities
report that although air power might have
been more advantageously applied in this case or
the most dangerous and difficult assignment of of conflicting explanations. Hazarding a number that, its decisive bearing on the victory was un-
the air war." The plant was first put out of pro- of guesses on the subject, the Report suggests that deniable: "In the air, its victory was complete. At
duction on May 12, 1944. In 10 days it was func- much of 1944's production might have been "lost sea, its contribution, combined with naval power,
tioning again—at least in part. Attacked once in transit from factory to combat bases, destroyed brought an end to the enemy's greatest naval
more on May 28, it not only got going within a on the fields, or grounded because of a shortage threat—the U-boat; on land, it helped turn the
week, but by early July was producing at 75 per- of gas or pilots." Then, too, German production tide overwhelmingly in favor of Allied ground
cent of capacity. So it went throughout the sum- figures may have suffered from wishful thinking. forces. Its power and superiority made possible
mer and fall, each attack followed by repairs and The possibility that these mystery planes were the success of the invasion. It brought the econ-
restoration of production at a progressively lower "lost in transit" is a lively one, because, says the omy which sustained the enemy's armed forces
level. By the end of the year production was Report, "the attack on transportation was the de- to virtual collapse. . . ."
down to 15 percent and remained at that level to cisive blow that completely disorganized the Ger- That should be tribute enough to the air arm.
the end of the war. To attain the crippling of this man economy." In 1939 the German railway But the men who made this Survey are not
one plant, 22 full-scale attacks were required system was among the best in the world, and its foolish enough to believe that the next war can
over a period of a full year, involving 6,552 standards of maintenance, according to the Re- be won by applying the principles of the last one.
bomber sorties and 18,328 tons of bombs. port, "were higher than those general in the The little atom makes a world of difference, and
High as the cost was, it paid off many times United States." Highly organized and efficient, "the great lesson to be learned in the battered
over, and constitutes perhaps the best illustra- too, were the commercial highway networks and towns of England and the ruined cities of Ger-
tion of the decisive value of the strategic bomb- the inland waterways, which carried roughly a many is that the best way to win a war is to p r e -
ing campaign. The loss in oil production was quarter of the nation's freight. From the day of vent it from occurring." Which nobody can deny.

V-Weaponx launching
launcning Sites
>ites Aircraft
Hircrati Factories
ractories
O i l , Chemical & Rubber Targets N o v a l « W a t e r Transportation\ Targets ,| i „»•• „ii uw i . •
uw-ioi •u,9c>> JI = II I J Miscelloneoos
Miscelloneous Monofocfunng
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Indusfrial Areas Military Targets ^ ^ Airfields & Airdromes

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23,7"^ n.i" 9.3° 6.9"! 4.2' 2.0% 1.8% 2.6% 6.3°

 GIs stationed at Bahrein Island, an ATC base on the Persian
Gulf, don't stay there for long. The Army rotates them after
four months because of the fierce heat. Since it's cooler in
the Gulf, the favorite off-duty sport is swimming, but some
GIs are more adventurous. Inspired by local natives who dive
for pearls, they try to bring up a few themselves. Green-
horns aren't lucky, but even one pearl is worth pensistence.

— on between ,He peoH . e . H . n . , „ . , e . , „ . , ,,3

son (cen.e. lef,), the GIs are told tha
' their pearl,
Y A N K The Army Weekly • DECEMBER 2 1 , 1945

over we would be able to get him back to bed. None of us followed him this time. We didn't
"Ten!" yelled Finney. But when he whirled know what he might have hidden under his a r m -

THE DUEL By Cpl. GENE P. LEA

around he had a service .45 in his hand. He held
it there an instant, in the darkness, his eyes
blazing. We stared one second, then we all hit
the floor. There was a roar and a slug went
through the screen door at the end of the bar-
racks.
pits. We rolled under our bunks or behind our
foot lockers and watched him stalking down the
aisle.
"Five," said Finney. "Six." I stuck my head
out. He had one hand down at his side, finger
pointed, as if it were a pistol. I could feel the
"Missed again!" Finney sobbed. 20 men on the floor all holding their breaths.
F INNEY and the captain had been privates t o -
gether. Their feud started in basic, and more
than three years later Pfc. Robert Finney
had it more than ever on his mind.
Next day there was a line in the orderly room
of men trying to increase their insurance. No-
body wanted to say anything about Finney, b e -
"Ten!" yelled Finney. He whirled around.
"Bang!" He stood there stiffly for a moment,
staring, arm out stiff. Then a fiendish laugh rang
One Friday night we heard Finney mumbling cause we were afraid he'd get stuck in a hos- through the barracks.
in his sleep, something he hadn't done before. pital ward. He had plenty of points and was "Got 'im! I got the bastard!" screamed Finney.
He was quiet for a while and then he let out a about to go home. We had a hard time getting him back to bed.
loud, evil and reckless laugh. We couldn't under- But we slept uneasily every night after that. He kept laughing that blood-curdling way, and
stand exactly what he said, but now and then When he was out of the barracks we quietly r e - giggling to himself, and babbling about how he
we heard the word "captain!" moved and hid his .45 and all his ammunition. "got the chicken bastard!"
Curses fiew from Finney's lips, including a few It took 10 days for Finney to get worked up Next morning a strange thing happened. The
J a p ones he had recently learned. "I've waited a again. I was sleeping next to him, and I heard post ambulance drove up in front of Capt. Martin's
long time for this!" yelled Finney, speaking very him get up, stiffly, arm outstretched. In the quarters and they carried him out on a stretcher.
clearly now. dim light I could see his eyes fixed and glaring. They explained in the orderly room, "He died
He rose from his sack and marched slowly out I got up on one elbow. There was nothing in his some time in the night."
into the aisle. He held one arm stiffly in front of hands. Finney shipped out about three days later, and
him. Everybody in the barracks was awake by "Capt. Martin," said Finney, "choose your he's a civilian now. I write to him every once
now. weapons." He made his' little bow. "Ah," he said, in a while. In fact, I'm very careful to write him.
"Your weapons, captain?" asked Finney, bow- "pistols it is!" I don't want him to get sore at me.
ing stiffly from the waist. "Ah, pistols," he said.
"Pistols it is."
"Finney!" somebody yelled. "Wake up, Fin-
ney!"
He executed a mechanical about-face at the
end of the barracks, and started marching, back
up the middle. He was counting out loud. "Two,"
he chanted, "three, four."
Several of the boys got out of bed and began
to follow him in the semi-darkness. "Ten!" he
yelled and whirled around, his arm outstretched
as if holdin.i? a pistol. All the boys behind him in
the aisle hit the floor.
"Bang!" shouted Finney. He stood there a
moment, his eyes wide open and staring wildly.
"Dammit!" he moaned. "I missed." He began
to sob, his face in his hands. The boys got up off
.he floor and gathered around him and led him
back to his bunk.
"I'll get him next time," he said. He sobbed on
his bunk for a while, then slept quietly the rest
of the night.
Next week it happened again. Finney went
through the same business, paced the floor and
counted out the steps. We followed him down the
center again, just to make sure he didn't hurt
himself, and we figured as soon as the duel was

PAGE 14
 Y A N K The Army W e e k f / • DECEMBER 2 1 , 1945

Contributions for this page should

be addressed to the Post Exchange,
YANK, The Army Weekly, 205 East
42d Street, New York 17, N. Y,

Christmas on the Rock

M OTHER Nature was in a nasty mood when
Jack Frost reported in, "Lool^, Jack," she
said, •'! don't often complain when you goof off,
but this is really the limit. When I sent you out
to bring autumn to all the northlands, you over-
looked one plaee. And here it is almost Christ-
mas."
"Yeah? Where?" snapped Jack, a bright-eyed,
sharp-nosed gnome.
"Iwo Somcthing-or-other," said Ma Nature,
looking through some papers. "Here it is—Iwo
Jima. I know you missed it because South Wind
reported she heard some GIs griping about the
unseasonable heat."
"Dammit, Ma," snapped Jack, "you should
never of made Iwo Jima in the first place. If you
hadn't got so stewed at Jupiter's party and
heaved into the Pacific—"
"That'll be enough of that kind of talk, Jack." " H e y , waifominif—weren't w e supposed to see him off?"
said Mother Nature. "That happened 23,000 years —Pfc. C. E. Herzog, Camp Blanding, Ra.
ago. Besides, I would have been more careful if
I'd known it was going to be inhabited by any-
one but Japs. But now there are United States So Frost got all the first sergeants on Iwo to island. I'll see that every man on Iwo gets a
troops there, so we've got to do something, quick. hand out printed blanks (WD AGO Form 35- shaving kit, or shower clogs, or fruit cake, or
Get your autumn paints and grab the afternoon 1440, Christmas Wish Questionnaire), and when whatever he wants. I can fix anything—after all,
typhoon to Iwo." they were filled out Frost gathered them up and I'm Santa Claus!"
Three days later Jack Frost was back stand- took them to Santa Claus. A deepening frown appeared on Frost's little
ing in front of Mother Nature's desk. "Don't blame me for this, Santa, but Mother hatchet face. "These forms all seem to be the
"Well, my boy," she beamed, "how did .you do Nature says you will grant these requests from same," he said. "Every man on Iwo wants the
on Iwo? Did you paint the leaves all gold and Iwo." same thing—a piece of paper."
brown? " "The hell with her," beamed the kindly old "Paper!" beamed Santa jovially. "Why, that'll
"There aren't any leaves," he muttered. gentleman, a vicious twinkle appearing in his be simple." He leaned back and puffed on his
"Then get some, immediately, from the ware- eyes. "She's getting too damn big for her pipe. "I've never let a serviceman down yet.
house, and put them on all the trees." britches. I hate working under a woman. But I'll Frost, and I certainly won't start now. Nothing's
"There aren't any trees on Iwo," objected certainly grant those requests from Iwo all right. too good for them. We owe them an eternal debt
Jack. "You've been neglecting that place for a Anything for a serviceman. Nothing's 1:00 good of gratitude, and—" *~—
long time, you know." for those boys. Unfortunately I was kept out of "All they want." said Frost, "is out. A dis-
"Well, we'll have to do something for the boys the last 63 wars, on account of my essential oc- charge paper. Every single one of them—"
there," she said. "We'll have to make up for this cupation—" "What?" cried Santa, leaping to his feet. "Dis-
somehow. I've got it—it's getting close to Christ- "Yes, yes," snapped Frost, "I know.'' He be- charge? Jeez, who the hell do they think I am?
m.' s. We'll let every man on Iwo have whatever gan to open the Christmas blanks. After all, the point system — transportation is
he wants for Christmas this year. Tell Santa "What do the boys want?" beamed Santa. "If tough—must finish the job—you know. I'm only
Claus I said this has an absolutely No. 1 pri- it's promotions, b'gawd, they'll get them, if I Santa Claus. for cryssakes, I'm not Superman!"
ority!" have to bring a new T/O to every outfit on the / w o Jima —Pfc. ARTHUR ADLER

DEAR SANTA CLAUS: SEPARATION CENTER. EM

Santa, my name is GI Joe Look elsewhere for the big operators.
I've been a good boy as GIs go. The spinners of strategem.
For three long years, the sum of a hitch. The weavers of plans and tactics.
Look elsewhere for the lads with glitter in
I've filled an eager-beaver niche. their garments
I've swept my bunk and shined my boots And swagger in their walk.
And tossed highballs to second lieuts. Here strode those who did not blueprint
I've not goofed-off or been AWOL victory.
Or guzzled too much alcohol, They won victory:
The guy who lobbed grenades on Okinawa,
I've never ridden the sick book, see, The driver of the Red Ball Express,
Or tried to buck for a CDD. The rifleman who absorbed shrapnel
Though top kicks made my temper quicken beside the swift Volturno.
I've never labled them as chicken. Your future is erected upon firmer ground
Yes. .Santa, you can plainly see than dreams
Because tlie strong back.
I've been a first class Pfc! And the enlisted mind,
But now that all the wars are won Have saved your civilization.
And de-atotnized is tire Rising Sun, Washington, D. C. -Cpl. MARTIN S. DAY
Dear old man witli cheeks verniillion.
Make me, for Christmas, a merry civilian!
Before the fall of Yuletido snows UNIFORMS AND THE MAN
Get me out of these damn clothes' The khaki is solid, but infinite variation
Make Dunder and Blitzen prance and caper Will single out the soldier by his dress:
On the double with that Discharge Paper! Some tilt the cap in Saturday elation;
But if things should go Snafu Some wear it straight in Sunday soberness.
I'll tell you what I'm gonna do:
I'll re-enlist—(a home I've found!) The sergeant passes; every dazzling button
Santa, bring a Section Eight around! Asserts the ancient rectitude of rank.
Sheppard Field, Tex. —Sgt. SHELBY FRIEDMAN His graceless girth distinguishes the glutton
CHAIRBORNE By generous waist and meager, flabby
Corporal, T-5, sergeant, tech. shank.
Specialist first class, pain in neck.
Push a pencil—make the grade. A sullen hunch of shoulder shows the
Pull a trigger—underpaid. grouch,
Stateside, homeside. furlough, pass Forever bitter at his Army status.
Make your rating kissing brass. The poet under arms, with dreamy slouch.
Orders, records, requisitions Invokes a warlike, olive-drab afflatus.
Get you ratings and commissions.
Back from Asia. ETO, Neutral as looking glass, the khaki norm
TS. boys, but the T/O— Betrays the man within the uniform. " H a v e n ' t I seen you some place b e f o r e ? "
Camp Croft, S. C. -Pfc. JOSEPH PIRO Camp Shelby, Miss. —Cpl. EPHIM G. POGEL - P f c . H. McNaught, Camp Cooke, Calif.

PAGE 15
The guys who gave you your greetings are still on the
I
lob after five years, but most of them want out, too.
By Sgt. MARVIN SLEEPER 90 days of their discharge, as job insurance—
even if they intend looking elsewhere.
YANK Staff Writer
About 90 percent of the men reporting back

N ORWOOD, MASS.—When Michael Campiseno

turned 18, he was pulled out of his senior
class in Norwood High School and draft-
ed. Mike was sore. He swore that if he ever r e -
to the Norwood board do return to their old jobs.
The other 10 percent are looking around for
something better, or figure on taking advantage
of the free schooling setup under the GI Bill of
youngsters feel who are coining back these days."
Clark said the war took its heaviest physical
toll among the older men drafted from Norwood.
The fellows who were drafted when they were
turned, he'd throw his discharge papers on the -Rights. If a man intends going to school or tak- 30 or so return looking older, more sober. Even
desk of the board chairman and say: "Now, ya ing off after a new job, Clark sends him down- the men of the same age who were not drafted
sonuvabitch, I hope you're satisfied!" stairs to the offices of the Rehabilitation Com- from Norwood, says Clark, have aged during the
The other day, after three years' service, Mike mittee for the Norwood area. The committee, past four or five years. But young or old, every
walked up the flagstone steps of the Norwood which began planning two years ago, has worked man returning to Norwood has matured mentally
Town Hall where his draft board keeps house. out a pretty good deal for returning vets with —much more so than if he'd remained a civilian,
His discharge papers were tucked under one arm. health, employment or educational problems. Clark thinks.
He wore gray slacks, a white sport shirt and the It was just a little more than five years ago
old beat-up field jacket that had hardly been off
his back during the 18 months in France, Bel-
gium, Luxembourg and Germany, as a 4th Divi-
T HERE'S one executive from every large busi-
ness firm in Norwood, Foxboro and Sharon
(the three towns that comprise Local Board No.
that Massachusetts Local Board No. 119 opened
for business. Nobody in Norwood, Foxboro or
Sharon has any idea how the five members of
sion Combat Engineer. 119's territory) on the Rehabilitation Commit- the board were selected. But the choices for the
But ex-Cpl. Campiseno had completely for- tee's employment section. They know exactly voluntary jobs worked out pretty damn well—a
gotten about eating out the board chairman. As what jobs are available in every business and situation not true of all U. S. draft boards.
9 matter of fact, he'd forgotten what the chair- plant in their territory.
man—or anyone else on Massachusetts Local
Board No. 119—looked like. Mike was older and
more experienced, but he was no longer sore or
Leading educators from the surrounding
schools and colleges handle the schooling prob-
lems. If the veteran is interested in refresher
M AYBE it was because the five who were
chosen typified the 30,009 under the board's
jurisdiction. Men like Russel McKenzie, who
bitter—at least, not toward the men who had courses, apprentice training, collegiate or profes- runs McKenzie Motor Sales and Service Com-
pulled his number out of the fishbowl. sional study, he can get the necessary help. pany of Foxboro. In World War I he served
So Mike just walked into the austere, wood- All doctors in the towns comprise the Rehabili- overseas as an Army captain. McKenzie became
paneled executive chamber of the Town Hall -tation Committee's medical section. They are board chairman in 1942, when the original chair-
and stepped up to the oak conference table available for consultation and advise a veteran man, Clifford B. Sanborn, a district court judge,
where Orell E. Clark, the board's 53-year-old as to his rights in the treatment of any ailment. died after a prolonged illness.
chief clerk, handles the 20 or 30 veterans report^ Clark says that there have been very few dis- Then there is Ed Flaherty, who »une Nor-
ing back every day since the Army and Navy chargees who have returned with a problem that wood's largest haberdashery and serves as chair-
•discharge plans got going. couldn't be solved, but he points out quickly m a n of the local Board of Assessors., He was a
Mike, like the others, didn't spend much time that, so far, only 25 percent of the 2,103 men that chief petty officer in our 1917-18 Navy. Charles
with old man Clark. The chief clerk is a good, No. 119 sent to war have returned. (Seventy-five E. Houghton, a 62-year-old, hard-hitting attor-
understanding guy. He has a regular spiel for men, killed in action, will never return.) ney, served on Norwood's draft board in the last
all of them. The vets listen to what h e has to "We haven't had any extreme cases come in w a r ; Gardner C. Derry, another World War I vet,
say and shuffle out quietly. yet," he said. "Yes, there have been some who is general manager for the Gen . 1 Electric
Clark's kid, Philip, walked in a few weeks ago. marched in here nervous and a bit uncertain of Plant near Norwood; Henry Crosby, ^^ith a son
With 58 missions as a Fifteenth Air Force aerial their place in civilian life, but that's to be e x - in service, manages the Winslow Brothers and
gunner, he had earned out with 92 points. His pected of almost any man who has been away Smith Tannery in Norwood.
old man explained thp setup to his 21-year-old from civilian life for any length of time, whether The five m e n received telegrams requesting
son—just the way he explains to all the rest. or not he's been in combat." their services from Leverett Saltonstall, then
"It's a regular song I sing them," Clark says. It took Clark's kid a month to readjust himself. Governor of Massachusetts, on Oct. 9, 1940. "The
"It answers all their questions." He was nervous and fidgety, but now he's okay. way the telegram was worded," says Flaherty,
First he tells them about the extra bonus of "I don't see a helluva lot of him," Clark said. "it just couldn't be turned down. It was like b e -
$100 that every son of Massachusetts is entitled "He's out with the gang most of the time. In ing drafted." None of the board members is paid
to. (Vermont, New Hampshire and some other February he starts going to sheet-metal trade for his services, but the full-time chief clerk,
states have one, too.) Then he asks the veterans school — says he doesn't want to finish high Clark, gets a salary.
if they are going back to their old job. He tries school. Wants to learn something useful to On Oct. 14, 1940, the board met for the first
to talk them into applying for the job within make a living. That's the way most of the time, and by noon on Oct. 16 the first of 5,577

PAGE 16
 Y A N K The Army Weekly • DECEMBER 2 1 , 1945

men had registered with draft board No. 119. "We thought maybe you'd make us fight if we at all hours of the night from women demanding
Right from the start, the board men agreed stirred up enough trouble," the three boys ex- that So-and-So be inducted. One mysterious
to give everyone the squarest deal possible, and plained. Convinced that their scheme had failed, woman sent a whole series of letters reporting
the citizens of the three communities will tell they compromised by taking jobs at the Bendix that a certain young man was dodging the draft.
you that the board was a fair, smoothly operat- Aircraft Corporation's plant. She said he hadn't been hanging around his old
ing organization. Yet behind the closed doors of If they had been physically fit, defense jobs at haunts any more and wasn't even coming home
the board's meeting room, there was plenty of Bendix would not have exempted them. Unlike in daylight hours. But a check-up at the boy's
haggling, name-calling and sometimes almost many others, the Norwood board took the stand home disclosed that he had enlisted three months
fist-fights, before the members arrived at' unani- that very few men in industry were "essential," before and had merely neglected to notify his
mous votes that'determined all policy questions. especially if they were youngsters or older men draft board.
The first problem was by far the most impor- who had been working in a job for only six Incidents like that were just minor troubles for
tant that No. 119 ever handled during its five years. months or a year. No. 119 sat down with all the 119. Their only major gripe involved National
It was the question of drafting pre-Pearl Harbor executives of industries in the surrounding ter- Selective Service Headquarters. Boardsman
fathers. No. 119 made—and stuck to—a very un- ritory and explained to them that they could ex- Charley Houghton still gets almost apopletic
usual ruling that was not typical of most of the pect their workers to be drafted at any time a when he recalls the headaches Washington caused
nation's draft boards: Not one father in Nor- quota had to be filled. It was 119's contention the board.
wood, Sharon or Foxboro was drafted away from that the men who deserved to remain at home "Regulations were changed so damned fast we
his wife and pre-Pearl Harbor child. At first it w^ere those with responsibilities in the home— couldn't keep up with them," Houghton says. "We
was fairly easy to carry out this ruling, but, as like those with widowed mothers or invalid fath- would have our monthly quota just about filled
the manpower barrel emptied, there were times ers. They treated each potential soldier as a h u - and set to go when a change would come in and
when it looked bad for pre-Pearl Harbor fathers. man being and not as a folder in a filing cabinet. we'd have to eliminate three-quarters of the men
The board held long and tedious sessions, As chairman McKenzie said, "We realized that we were about to send off."
sometimes lasting until the early hours of the we were dealing with human lives, and our de- He remembers vividly one time in early 1944
morning, and somehow they always managed to cisions would steer the course of every man and when three major changes were received in three
find a false bottom to their manpower barrel. family we dealt with." successive days. The revisions eliminated all but
Only two pre-Pearl Harbor fatheis entered the • There was one man whose destiny was never eight of the 70 men No. 119 had planned to send
service from Norwood—both bv enlistment. influenced by draft board 119. Lawrence Fred that month.
Tilton, a powerful, broad-shouldered young man "That was about as much as we could stand,"
who stands 6 feet 7 inches, disappeared from Houghton declares. "We just went on strike and
Foxboro in July 1942. His parents did not hear sent only those eight men."
from him again until a couple of months ago. All kinds of Army, Navy and Selective Service
Tilton was only 14 years old, rather big for his brass descended on 119 from the capital to whip
age. Changing the Tilton to Filton and his age the draft board back into line. Eventually they
ft-om 14 to 18, he had enlisted in the Navy. A ended their strike and went to work again, but
powerful swimmer, he volunteered to train with Washington, the board members say, has prob-
the Navy's Underwater Demolition Units. ably never been the same since.
Tilton invaded Europe as a bosn's mate 2d
class two days before D-Day, a member of the
detail that secretly crossed the English Channel
on June 4. After placing markers in the Chan-
T HOSE hectic days are gone forever, and today
the draft board runs very smoothly. No. 119
sends about eight 18-year-olds each month. When
nel to guide the invasion fleet, he went ashore Clark addressed the Norwood High School senior
with the others and demolished two German class recently, he explained that most of them
guns and two pillboxes. On D-Day Tilton's ship would have to join up when they reached their
was blocked by five mines. He swam through eighteenth birthday. Calling for a show of hands,
heavy enemy fire and cut the mines loose. For he asked how many would have wanted to go if
this Tilton was awarded the Silver Star. Gen- the war was still on; the "aye" vote was unani-
eral De Gaulle gave him the Croix de Guerre. mous. Then he polled the class to see who wanted
When the Navy discovered Tilton's phony to enter the service now the war was over. Not
name and age, they changed his records, gave more than six of the 100 youngsters responded.
him an honorable dischargC'toecause of his ex- But the rest are not squawking very loudly; for
ploits and sent him home tp foxboro. the most part, they are resigned to their fate.
T HERE were other men in 119 whose patriotism
or generosity exceeded their love of home and
family. Like the story they tell about Alex
Like the rest of the returning veterans, Til-
ton reported to 119 when he got back to Nor-
Apart from inducting youngsters, and worrying
about rehabilitation of some of the returning
Smith and his neighbor, J i m Kelly. Alex's num- wood. Old man Clark shooed him out: veterans, 119's members don't have much to do
ber had come up. On Oct. 2, 1943, the eve of the "Sorry, son, you're not old enough to register. nowadays. They do worry, though, especially
day he was to report to his draft board for ship- Come back when you're 18." when they receive postcards like the one that Ed
ment to the Ft. Devens reception center, Alex's Another boy, who disappeared frofri Norwood Flaherty got in the mail the other day. "You put
wife took seriously ill. Frantic, he tried to figure about the same time as Tilton, had a somewhat me in the Army," it said. "Why can't you put me
out some way to keep from leaving in the morn- different war record. Registering at t h e ' draft in a job?"
ing. But his name was already on the quota, and board, he said his name was Harold J. Cooney Flaherty and the others try to straighten out
there was not much anyone could do about it. and he lived at 1401 Maple St. They gave him a men like that one and help get them started in
Jim Kelly kept vigil with Alex at Mrs. Smith's registration card and in due course mailed his as civilians again before they get too bitter. The
bedside most of the night. When he returned to questionnaire. It was promptly returned to the board members themselves, though, are a little
his house at 4 A.M., he couldn't sleep and tossed draft board—but not filled out. As a matter^ of tired of it all after five years and more. In their
in bed, worrying about Alex's problem. fact, the envelope had never been opened; a hearts they want out, just as do the soldiers
At 8 A.M. Alex pulled himself away from his notation by the postman read, "No such address." whom they inducted.
wife's bedside, threw his toothbrush and a set "Cooney" had pulled a fast one; all he wanted And like the soldiers, they have done a job.
of underwear into his overnight bag, and stepped was a registration card, as protection against be- Public Law 112, passed by Congress and signed
out of his front door on his way to the Army. ing picked up as a dodger. The FBI is still look- by the President, authorizes a medal or insignia
But that was about as far as he got. ing for him. for members of the nation's selective service
Kelly was at the bottom of the steps. Jim had That's the one real draft-dodging case on boards. No design has been chosen to date, but
thought of a solution: He was going to substitute Board 119's record. for the members of Massachusetts Local Board
for Alex. Together they went to the draft board But many an irate mother or wife with a man No. 119, the 'citizens of Norwood and their r e -
and explained the situation to Clark. The draft in the service was positive that the boy next door turning GIs can't think of anything more appro-
roster was revised. Jim Kelly went off to war was a draft dodger. Chairman McKenzie was priate than one of those ruptured ducks. For
and Alex Smith returned to his wife's bedside. deluged with anonymous letters and phone calls honorable service.
Most of the gien classified 4-F were probably
darpned glad of it, but at least three 21-year-oIds
in 119's domain didn't take that attitude. As pre- Back in August 1942, Norwood sent off one of its biggest draft groups on tlie train to Fort Devens.
scribed by Selective Service regulations, they
were given 1-A classification cards before their
physicals. When they came up for induction, one
was ruled out with a punctured eardrum, the
second had stomach ulcers, the third's feet were
flat as a duck's. Back at the draft board they
were handed new registration cards with 4-F
ratings.
But the three youths wanted to fight. Tearing
up their 4-F tickets and keeping only their ob-
solete 1-A cards, they traipsed around Boston,
18 miles from Norwood, bragging that though
they were 1-A and not working in an essential
war industry, their draft board still hadn't in-
ducted them. Eventually they were picked up
by the FBI, but instead of being inducted, as
they'd hoped, they were bawled out for causing
all the trouble of investigating to find out wheth-
er they were 4-F.
 I f mfflFWWT'n

Old Glory
Dear YANK:

YiyiK y^eue.^.t€e
When I landed in this area on Sep-
tember 15, I looked forward to .seeing
our Stars and Stripes waving all over
the place. After all, this isn't New Guinea
THE ARMY WEEKLY and we've got more buildings here, too.
Well, since then I've been hoping that
the picture would change any day now.
Hell, I want to see our symbol of liberty
flying everywhere. But—no dice, except
YANK It fublished wttkly by the enlisteil
Empty Bombers debtor-nations furnish transportation to that I do see the J a p kids waving the
mtn o( the U. 3. Army and is for sale only to and within their countries, lodgings and
Ihote in the armed services. Stories, features. "Red Ball" of J a p a n every so often along
pictures Bnit other material from YANK may be Dear YANK: perhaps mess for veterans and their the sides of the roads.
repraducad if they are not restrieted fay law or Every bomber landing here during the families who would like to visit these I'd suggest that our flag not only be
military regulation, provided proper credit is last few days has been stripped ot all countries. flown in abundance on all buildings but
liven, release dates are observed and specific passengers and is continuing to the U. S.
prior permission has been granted for each item This would b e doing something for t h e also a replica sewn on the right shoulder
ta b« reproduced. Entire contents Vol. 4. No. 27,- with only a five-man crew. veteran w h o would like to see again (un- of the snappy looking ODs we're to be
copyrighted. 1943. by Col. Franklin S. Fors- Bitter, stranded, B-17 and B-24 GI pas- der m o r e normal circumstances) the issued, and a decalcomania sticker for
berg. sengers a r e crowding the place. Only countries which he has seen under t h e each vehicle. Long may our flag be r e -
ATC planes can carry passengers out of stress of war. It would bring commerce membered for all that's fair and good.
MAIN EDITORIAL OFFICE here now. So far ATC can furnish only to these countries and stimulate trade.
209 EAST 42d STREET, NEW YORK 17. N. Y. Japan -T-S IRVING SATTEll
one C-54 a day. The discarding of the uniform and t h e
Our 493d Bomb Squadron, returning presence of his family would improve the
EDITORIAL STAFF home from India, had authorization for behavior of the GI, whose actions have Blackjacked
Nanailng Editor. Sit. Al HIne, Engr.; a flight echelon of 13 planes to carry 10 been clothed in the anonymity of t h e
men each plus a five-man crew back to soldier. Instead of being a bad ambassa- Dear YANK:
Art Director, S|t. Frank Brandt, Med.; As-
ilstant Manaiini Editor, Sit. Jonathan Kll- the States. Our planes were stripped of dor, h e will be a good one. There's an awful lot that EM have to
Iwiirn. SIg. Corps; Assistant Art Direetor. Cpl all personnel except the five-man crew, do to suit t h e whim of an officer under
Herb Roan. DEML; Pictures, Sit. John Hay,
along with B-I7s from the ETO. France -Capt. BERNARD ZEAVIN the pretext of military necessity, b u t
Inf.: Features, Sit. Ray Duncan, AAF: Over- when our salaries a r e attached to sup-
seas Editor, Sit. Debs Myers, FA; U. S. Editor. Hundreds of us stranded transients port a general's desire to show he has a
8|t. Allan B. Ecker, AAF; Sports. Sgt. Dan a r e bitterly wondering how come our
Poller. AAF; Navy Editor, Donald Nugent Recognition? well-supported NCO club, there should
Sp(X)3<; Associate Editars, Sgt. William good bombers must continue home empty be some w a y for us to say "No" without
McNeany, Inf.: Sgt. Max Novatk, TC. after carrying us two-thirds of the way Dear YANK:
being m a d e awfully sorry afterwards. I
home? I have had over four years' service, think NCO clubs a r e fine things when
WASHINGTON. Sgt. H. N. Ollphant. Engr.; 34 months of which were spent in Aus-
Sgt. John Haverstlek. CA. For days we've watched bombers land m e m b e r s h i p is voluntary, but our gener-
JAPAN. Sit. Robert MacMlllan. FA; S|t. and surprised GIs told to get off. Every tralia, and I have held a commission al's aide informed us at a meeting of all
Knu Burier. AAF; Sit. Goorge Burns, SIg. dawn the empty bombers take oflE for for most of that time. At the present NCOs that it w a s " t h e general's wish
Carps; Sit. Mike Debar, Inf.; Sgt. Dale Kra- home and another group of bewildered time I am being released from t h e that all NCOs belong . . . w e aren't forcing
mer. MP: Sgt. Bill LIndau, Inf.; Sit. Jack GIs swear they'll never join any mili- Army against my will because of t h e you, b u t . . . w e feel that if an NCO
Rule, DEML: CpL James Keeney. S i i . Corps; questionable reason that no suitable a s -
Robert Schwartz Y2c, USNR: Evan Wylle CSp tary organization again. doesn't want to belong to t h e NCO
(PR), USCGR. The base personnel a r e burning, too. signment exists for me. club he shouldn't b e an NCO." So now
PHILIPPINES. S|l. Jack Fields, DEML: Instead of closing u p and going home as Before entering the Army, I had been it appears that w e will pay our dues at
Sgt. Frank Beck. AAF: Sit. Joe Stefanalli. planned, they a r e stuck with hundreds out of high school for only three years, t h e pay table or else. NCOs w h o a r e b e -
Enir.: Sgt. Bill Young, Inf.; CpL Jim Glan- of stranded transients. and had no chance to get a real start ing discharged n e x t month will never-
ladis, CWS: Cpl. Channlni Hadloek, AAF: CpL in life, so now I have no suitable job
Ralph Izard. Enpr.; Cpl. Don MicheL AAF. Brazil -Sgt. OSCAR J. HARRIS to retiu-n to. theless have to pay their initiation fees
CENTRAL PACIFIC. 8|L Harry Tonllnson,
I feel that special provisions should and dues for that month for, as t h e offi-
DEML. cer p u t it. "You're getting $300, a r e n ' t
MARIANAS, Sit. James Gable, Armd.; Ver- Lin^d witjh Greenbacks be made for re-employment of officers you?" Men living off t h e post with their
non H. Roberts PhoM3<, USNR. with a view to the more responsible wives will have no benefits for t h e first
RYUKYUS. S|t. Herbert Hildabrand. DEML. D e a r YANK: service they have rendered and the couple of months at least, for "wives,
FRANCE. Sit. Geeri Meyers. AAF; S|t. It is disheartening to read such a higher living standards they must main-
William Fra»r. AAF; S|t. David Whittamb. "world owes me a living" sob story as tain. I realize that m a n y EM have girl friends, or what-have-you" a r e not
AAF: Sit. Scott Corbett, Inf.: 8|t. Sam Gil- delivered to "Mail Call" by Thomas J. gripes against ofiicers, b u t they must allowed. T h e question is, what recourse
bert, SIg. Corps.
Haley in a recent YANK. realize that many of them turned down have we without personal repercussion?
BRITAIN. Sit. Edmund Antrobus. Inf.; CpL
Stan Falblsy, AAF: Sgt. Gawge Bailey. Enir. Basically, this lad Haley's only gripe DCS, and every m a n had a chance to fori Logan, Colo. — ( N a m e Withheld)
ITALY, Sit. Norbert Hafman. Armd.; Sit. is that Uncle Sugar is not providing h i m go.
Charles James. S i | . Corps; Cpl. Ira Freoman. with enough spending mulla while send- I feel that recognition should b e
Cav. ing him — at Government expense — to given to t h e m a n w h o showed that h e End of YANK
INDIA-BURMA and CHINA. Sit. Jahn Blay. had the goods and m a d e t h e grade. If
Inf.: Sit. Jud Cook. DEML. one of t h e nation's best colleges. Does D e a r YANK:
ALASKA. Sgt. Tom Sbehan. FA, this joker w a n t his pockets lined with the Army is going to cast us adrift, the With t h e passing of YANK, a lot of us
AFRICA-MIDDLE EAST-PERSIAN GULF, greenbacks while h e revels in t h e col- least that can be done is to show their are going to feel like t h e slaves must
Sgt. Richard Paul, DEML. legiate life which h e might have missed appreciation for the years of responsi- have felt when A. Lincoln died. Life in
ICELAND, Cpl. Charles S. Otto Jr., AAF. completely if he had not been a veteran? ble service w e have rendered. the service will be lonesome without
H e is typical of m a n y younger m e n - C o p t . JAMES L. ROGERS YANK. Thanks for being with us.
who believe that they have been d e - Camp Cfoiborne, l a . Santa Ana, CalU - S g t . E. MAXWELL
Commanding ODIcer, Col. Franklin S. Fars- prived of a vast amount of t h e fruits of
barg. life. Sure, I know how they feel. But
Executive OAcer. Lt. CeL Jack W. Woaks.
Business Manager, Maj. Gerald J. Reek.
t h e r e a r e millions of veterans w h o have
OVERSEAS BUREAU OFFICERS. France,
been similarly deprived and it just isn't
MaJ. Harry R. Roberts: Capt. Jack Sllverstoln. conceivable that all of t h e m will receive
assistant: Philippines. Capt. Max Gilslrap; their just desserts.
Japan, MaJ. Lewis Glllensan; Centrat-Sottth Haley and thousands of other more
Pacific, MaJ. Henry E. Johnson; Marianas, Capt.
Knowlton Ames: Ryukyus. Capt. Merle P. Mill- appreciative m e n a r e fortimate to have
ham: Italy. Capt. Howard Canwell; Burma- t h e opportunity of getting at least a year
India. Capt. Harold A. Burroughs; Panama, of college education. It's "on t h e house"
Capt. Charles H. E. Stubblelleld: Afrlca-Mlddla and hence one of the few tangible b e n e -
East-Porslan Gulf, Mai. Frank Gladstone.
fits which can be derived from t h e G I
Bill of Rights. Haley should be happy to
be a speck in P e n n State's collegiate at-
mosphere and be willing to pay for his
chopped steak sandwich a n d coke at the
Corner in State College without slashing
at the hand which is feeding him an
education.
india - T - 4 WILLIAM ENGEL Jr.

Saluting the Japs

Dear YANK:
We a r e m e m b e r s of the l l t h Airborne
Division, which is one of the occupation
divisions on Honshu. We were t h e first
combat troops to land in J a p a n after
fighting the Nips through the Philippines.
We've all worked u p a lot of dislike for
the bastards after having them turn
cannibal a n d eating our dead on Leyte
and' w e came h e r e expecting to be able
This W e e k ' s Cover to at least look down on them or to
ignore them.
V H E tights are shining on the Capitol
However, an order has been issued r e -
' dome again, and- Washington is quiring us to r e t u r n t h e salutes of all
v^orking hard on the affairs of peace. Japanese. Since nearly all of them, both
YANK'S Sgt. Brown Roberts took this military and civilian, offer a halfway sort
picture facing west from South Capitol of salute, this order forces us to lower
Street. Other pictures of the Washing- ourselves to highball every damned Nip
ton scene by Sgt. Roberts and Pfc. Horry son that comes along.
Wignoll ore on pages 2 through 7 . Did w e whip t h e bastards only to turn
around and get on our knees to them?
PHOTO CREDITS: Cover—Sgt. Brown Rob-
arts. 2—Left, upper center. Pfc. Harry Wlgnatl4 Japan - P f c , WESLEY D. MOORE
ri|ht, bottom. I N P ; rest. Sit. Rob«-ts. 3—Sgt.
Roberts. 4—Left, bottam. Pfc. Wlinall; rest.
S|t. Roberts. S—Sgt. Roberts. <—Left, center.
Pfc. Wlinall: bottom. Acme; right, top. INP:
iend-Lease Travel
rest. S|t. Roberts. 7—Top and center, bottom. D e a r YANK:
Sit. Rabarts; rliht, center, INP; bottom. Acme: I would like to present a suggestion
raat, Pfe. Wiinall. 12 4 13—Cpl. Ban Perlman,
Na. African Oiv., ATC. I t 4 17—Harry E. for the liquidation of the indebtedness on
Surette. 20—RKO-Radie. 22—Top. left and Lend-Lease. This indebtedness, which is
•rliM. I N P ; center. SMU Athlalle Assoc.: bat- a sore spot in our international relations,
tam. left, Orepon AA: center. PA: riiht. INP.
23—Top. left. Acme; center, Notre Dame AA: is used by isolationists to sway emotions
right. Look Maiazine; canter, Evanstan Phato- and further their own ends. gotta get out in January—but I can w e a r the u n i f o r m till s p r i n g . "
irapliie Service: bottom, Acme. Here is the suggestion: Have t h e —Sgt. Tom Flannery
 -T^

YANK recommends
charge will necessarily be the deciding factor. But let's have a
An attempt to put together some of few less sergeants made sergeants simply because they're good
the basic suggestions EM have for guys, and let's put an end to the ridiculous sight of capable young
junior officers prancing around their CO like so many newly rich
the improvement of the U. S. Army. women around a reigning dowager, trying by this favor and that
attention to buck their way a grade higher. As to seniority, there
is no evidence that hardening of the arteries, even in colonels, is

T
HERE is a sharpening of ears and a stirring of activity in the
advertising business these days, and the reason is a strong an infallible index of brain power.
rumor that the U. S. Army is getting ready to spend three And let's do something about making officers as liable under
milhon dollars a year on advertising and publicity. Naturally, the military law for their errors and faults as GIs already are. Every
various advertising agencies are interested in securing the Army enlisted man knows that an officer can, and sometimes does, get
account. Fifteen percent, the usual advertising agency fee, of away with a hell of a lot without any more serious bother than
three ^lillion dollars comes to almost half a million bucks. a reprimand and a change of station. If an officer is unfit, don't
The purpose of the proposed advertising campaign, as we un- just ease him into a clerical job or hold up his next promotion a
derstand it, would be twofold^—it would help boom recruiting for month or two. Bust him, as you'd bust a corporal in the same
the peacetime Army we need by making service in that Army position. If the officer's good, he can climb up again. That seems
look attractive, and it w o u ^ keep the general, taxpaying public to be Army reasoning in the case of GI malfeasances; why not
informed as to the desirability of having an Army and as to what apply it to officers?
improvements were being made in training that Army.
YANK has been serving as the magazine of the.enlisted man
for some three and a half years now, and we feel that we know
pretty much about the Army. We are even willing to give the
L ET'S also do something about keeping distinctions of rank in
I their proper place. Rank, and the respect due to it, are neces-
sary for the organization of the Army. There must be men to give
Army—for free, without even a fifteen percent commission— orders and other men to obey them, but there is no need to dif-
some advice on how to make itself more appealing to recruits, ferentiate between officers and men off poist or off duty. This
how to keep the voting public happy about it and how to save a differentiation has been made in this war and it has had uni-
few millions of dollars in advertising. You see, this peacetime formly bad results. Let's get rid of it.
Army will, fortunately or unfortunately, have to be made up of As a first step here, let's abolish differences in unifoi-m (ex-
a great many more enlisted men than officers. Our idea is to make cept for insignia), in messing facilities, in equipment, in quarters.
it more attractive to these enlisted men—and, incidentally, a bet- Perhaps in this last instance there might be fewer men assigned
ter Army all around. to a room as rank increased, but there should be no difference in
The ideas we suggest are offered sincerely. They are a com- type or quality of housing.
posite of what the enlisted man has been thinking about all along, All ranks should have the same type of quarters for the same
a gathering of material which has been piling up in YANK'S mail reason that they should have the same type of food. And for the
bag and of observations made by YANK enlisted-men correspond- additional reason that there has been no single cause of GI ha-
ents in all theaters of the war and at home. tred for officers—and we use the word hatred advisedly—greater
than the hatred stirred by looking out of a match-box barracks

F IRST, let's have more promotion from the ranks. By this we

mean that every possible position requiring a commissioned
officer should be filled by a man who has had some service as a
or a dust-ridden tent to see your platoon commander breezing
off to a soft bed in officers' quarters or a quick one before dinner
at the chrome and plastic bar of a movie-type officers' club.
GI. Let every West Pointer, either just before entering or just There should be no social difference because of rank, because
after leaving the Academy, put in a year as a noncommissioned there are no social differences in the human beings involved—
soldier. Knock out political appointments of officers, and, in those except as individuals. You'll find many a bore, and even a boor or
cases where some officers have to be directly commissioned to do three, with stars on his collar, and there are some charming and
a certain job, make public their qualifications for the job and let amusing people with only one stripe or less on their sleeves.
them be paSsed upon by a board of officers who have had experi- There is no reason why the captain can't come to the movie early
ence in the ranks before granting their commissions. enough to get a good seat, and no reason why a GI can't cut in for
Such a system would give enlisted men an incentive to work a dance with the prettiest girl in town—she being willing, of
toward eventual officership and would attract a smarter type of course.
soldier to recruiting offices. It would also deal a blow to the "of- The most depressing spectacle of this war, and the most dis-
ficer-caste" type of thinking which is already in danger of per- gusting for some soldiers who had a slight pride in the fact that
meating our entire Army. Something like this "officer caste" came they were said to belong to a "democratic" Army, was the sign
into power in Germany and the German General Staff, and a "Off Limits to EM." The idea that the technical artificiality of
130-year cycle of wars—two of them world wars—was the result. rank, a label useful only to clarify the chain of command, could
YANK believes that a man should not be eligible for officership entitle one man to eat in a good hotel and banish another to a fiy-
because of an accident of birth or education or political connec- specked zinc counter has no part in any Army that represents the
tion. An officer should be given the opportunity to prove himself United States.
first in the ranks. Perhaps there should be no dividing line be- We on YANK believe the Army can benefit by studying these
tween commissioned and noncommissioned—just a promotion suggestions. We believe that improvement within the Army is
ladder going straight on up from private to general. just three million times as important as publicity outside the
For our second improvement, let's have all promotions—both Army. We believe that ours can be as fine an Army as its poten-
noncommissioned and commissioned—on a basis of competitive tials promise only by hard work from within on the part of every
examination without overdue attention to seniority. Between two GI and every officer, and by sharp observation from without by
equally qualified candidates, personal preference of the officer in every civilian.
 ". . . And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God,
and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men."
— T H E GOSPEL ACCORDING TO L U K E

•jP HIS is the promise that hangs on the tree

Next to the brightly colored ball, reflecting
Light with the tinsel, heartening children
To reach out their hands to grasp it—
"Peace, and good w i l l . "

" W h y can't I reach it?" the child asks.

" W h y do we never reach it?" the child grown older
Asks after the mud of France and Buna,
After the corpses that fertilized the Huertgen Forest
Or flaked off flesh to leave white bones on Iwo.

Why can't we reach it, if we grow as men?

^/mf
The tinsel ornaments that teased the child,
The child con reach with years, but Man
Grows older, wiser, more proficient in play and work,
To have his hopes elude him still.

The simplest thing we fought for was this peace.

And still our world wheels small among the stars,
A sphere in chaos, split by sound of guns.
Giving ofF vapor of decaying dead, confused
And irritable with argument and hate.

This peace we soldiers know as victory

Must be more than the end of some years' war,
Must be more than an iridescent trimming 1 w^
Packed up in paper when the tree is down '•'"---^'•.•mW
To be forgotten for another twelvemonth.

Peace to be kept must live, to live must have

Good will toward men to nourish every breath
And moment of its being. We, the men
W h o fought well, fell, suffered or stayed at homej
Must speak for all men everywhere.

Our hopes can't reconvert like planes or tanks, 0

Be scrapped like guns or uniforms. *--, ^ i
-Our hopes must live, our Christmas be
More than mere thanks for home or dreams of horn
But resolution for the future.

There are good Christmas words said on this day:

"Peace and good w i l l . " They have beenovords
Too long; they must be acts and feeling noW;
And full of meaning. They must be taken ofif tms tree
To make a battle cry for waging peace. " V
-Sgt. AL MINE

ri^^f-^ JAJ^ V<^

 %«*^^

-t. .p.
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1^ V^'v'-V-.,
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AL NEMETZ played a steady, near-perfect tackle in '*f
Army's powerful line. He could ride an opposing
line-backer out of the Stadium on Davis' end sweeps.

\h\

fullback
T O M DEAN of SMU w a s called the roughest defensive
tackle ever to play in the Southwest. Opponents v^eryinina
usually ran two plays at his side of line, then quit. . receipts
there ever >^°^ " ^ ^ ^ a l l ond ' ° " " *
b u t b l o w u p t h e tOOTD

;. -I. •! m" -**-,,

9
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i-'W-*'-' <*.:^.:;5#r
'"' '•*:'"'*"'^'»>,';-:.,: '^K't.-!~*V
'M VAUGHAN
Wi^^^i^M:
M A N C H A (left) intercepted so many passes JACK GREEN, Army's highly gifted g u a r d , could pul
JAKE LEICHT, Oregon back, w a s a surprise choice.
Coast coaches rated him even greater than St. M a r y ' s backing up A l a b a m a ' s line that he looked like a n end. out of the line or raise hell playing in it. He let
He joins teammate Harry Gilmer in some harmony. interference for Mr. Forked-Lightning Glenn Davis
publiciied Wedemeyer. Here Jake feeds ron Richard.
Yil's Mmm
WITH APOLOGIES TO ARMY
P ICKING any all-star team is sheer foolishness and should be
attempted only by qualified Section Eights. Proceeding on this
assumption, we turned the job of selecting YANK'S 1945 College All-
America football team over to 25 of the country's leading coaches.
These gentlemen are the only Section Eights we know. You can find
them any Saturday on the 50-yard line tightly encased in straitjackets.
If we had picked this All-America team we would have named the
Army first-string intact. We thought every guy in the Army lineup
played his position as though he invented it and that all of them com-
bined the best features of Nagurski and Grange. But after looking
over the coaches' All-America selections, which you see spread out
on these pages, we came to the conclusion that their team—even
without 11 Army men on it—was still a highly formidable outfit.
Although we let the coaches pick the team, we named the captain—
Mr. Jack Green, Army's great guard—on the theory that if he was
good enough to run the Army eleven he was obviously the man to
lead this collection of all-everythings.
Now, then, YANK'S 1945 All-America team:

PLAYER AND SCHOOL HEIGHT WEIGHT HOME TOWN

Richard Duden, Navy 6 ft. 203 New York City

Tom Dean, Southern Methodist 6 ft. 3 in. 255 Conroe, Tex.
Jack Green, Army (Captoin) 5 ft. 11 in. 190 Shelbyville, Ky.
Vaughan Mancha, Alabama 6 ft. 23B Birmingham, Ala.
John Mastrangelo, Notre Dame 6 ft. 200 Vandergrift, Pa.
Albert Nemetz, Army 6 ft. 191 Prince George, Va.
Max Morris, Northwestern 6 ft. 1 in. 195 West Frankfort, III.
Pete Pihos, Indiana 6 ft. 210 Chicago, III.
Jake Leicht, Oregon 5 ft. 10 in. 168 Stockton, Calif.
Glenn Davis, Army 5 ft. 9 in. 170 Claremont, Calif.
Felix Blanchord, Army 6 ft. 205 Bishopville, S. C.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS TO Y O U , TOO, A N D O N NEW YEARS KNOCK " D O N T FORGET, PULLING, Y O U WRITE ONE UP FOR ME TOMORROW."
' Cp). Irwin Touster
BEFORE ENTERING!" - S g t , Tom Flannery

"BOY, WAS HE EVER CHICKEN!" "SURPRISE!"

—Sgt. Frank Brandt and Pfc. Dan Hughes " f p l . Royden Robinson