Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 130, Decatur, Adams County, 2 June 1945 — Page 1

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RESISTANCE ON OKINAWA

dmiral Halsey nd Third Fleet Mln Action Return Indicates Pacific War May Enter New Phase Lam June 2.- (UP) —Admiral ham F. “B« n ” Halsey, who led L United States to its great Ljr victories against Japan, has Lrned to the Pacific war ahd has Lady commanded fleet unite in LRyukyus campaign, it was disked today. [Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz bounced that Halsey and his Li third fleet once more was Ling these waters at the threshL of the Japanese homeland. [Admiral Raymond A. Spruance L in command of the Fifth L during the Okinawa operations Low will have temporary headLters on Guam. LA delayed dispatch from United L war correspondent E. G. ValL aboard Halsey’s flagship off Lwa said Halsey formally took kr command of the fleet at midkt May 27 and had already been I action against the Japanese Lee his return. F'We can go anywhere now from L north to the south poles,” Haly told correspondents. His flagship bombarded Naha in Lthern Okinawa in the closing bases of the campaign there, Valk said. pieturn of Halsey, one of the most btorful officers in the navy and fctor over the Japanese in -the batbof the Coral Sea, indicated that te Pacific war might be about to Bera new (phase. [With the battle of Okinawa alkst won, the Third fleet, the k'd's mightiest array of carriers, ktleships, cruisers and destroyers, as believed ready to take over boffensive. Nimitz disclosed that Vice-Adm. lirrj- W. Hill has replaced Adm, ramond K. Turner as commander I the Fifth amphibious force and It Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckets 10th army has been brought ider his (Nimitz’) jurisdiction. ini Most Rationing oon After V-J Day Additional Meat To Civilians By J ply Washington, June 2—(UP) Food and rationing controls can Gifted quickly after the Japanese It is won—within a year if vicU comes that, soon, price chief teter Bowles said today. Bowles also said gasoline rationSWould end with the end of the M>fse war. fte price administrator told ■ a •sessional committee yesterday * expected civilians to get -more * winning in July as a result 'WwfUPA measures. r’les, in an interview, gave the * Press the latesit official the future of rationing conerr iiig to the possibility of food controls soon after V-J ■’ * *«id he meant all controls food except sugar. The sugar “•w is tight and generally exJ* 1 to «et tighter. W food controls mast be kept year—if they’re not, things will Bowlee declared. t «bttice of Sen. Robert F. Wag- ” • " Y., meanwhile, said the r was misunderstood when er « quoted h|m as saying und rationing controls must J 8 1" until mo. asserted Wagner told re»r 6stlmsrte — a uch as the htfir. was “P re «y strong.” K J e Whasized that he did an controls should continue ""toht time. °tS1 T THE RMGMETER reading » m 63 i}.M m “ - 68 r 70 Pjh, WEat HER ' and cooler toton’aht with scattered s ’ fld thunde ’’®torms tou ”day fair and rather

Discontinue All Home Canning Sugar Issue The Adams county war price and ration board today received a telegram to the effect that, effective at 12:01 a. m . today, it shall discontinue all home canning sugar issuance until further notice. This ac ion is ruled necessary .because eo many people have applied for canning sugar -in amount's which obviously cannot now be used for canning purposes. The board is notified not to distribute or accept any further applications except those postmarked prior to today; 'sugar ration currency shall tiot be issued for applications on hand or postmarked prior to June 2. All district and board quotas previously established are hereby withdrawn. Heart Os Osaka Burned Out In Superior! Raid Japs' Biggest War Production Center Blasted By Forts Guam, June 2 — (UP) —Tokyo said 200 American carrier planes bombed and strafed Japanese suicide-plane bases in southern Kyushu for two hours today. Ten formations of Grumman and Vought-Sikorsky bombers hit targets in Kagoshima, Miyazaki and Kumanoto prefectures on Kyushu, southernmost of the Japanese home islands, from 8 to 10 a. m., a Tokyo broadcast said. Some planes also strafed trains, the broadcast said. It said damage to Japanese installations was slight. Reconnaissance photographs and reports from participating airmen indicated that superfortresses burned out the heart of Osaka, Japan's biggest war production center, in yesterday’s 3,200-ton fire raid. . Dense smoke that swirled as high as six miles still covered a major portion of the target area. But photographs taken while fire bombs still were falling showed waterfront and dock areas wrapped in flames. St. Leon Goldfarb, a veteran of 26 missions, said he had never seen so many fires in a single raid. “The heart of Osaka seemed to be burning out,” he said. “Our bombardier had a difficult time in finding a place to drop his bombs because the city was so covered with smoke and fires.” Capt. George Bertagnoli of Phoenix, Ariz., said he didn’t think the Japanese could stand many more raids on the scale of the Osaka one. “I think we did a helluva good job,” he said. A Washington communique reported “excellent results.” Ten of the 450 participating superfortresses were lost, the communique said, most of them to anti-aircraft fire. Ist Lt. James M. Pearson of Manchester. Tenn., said Japanese fighters tried a new weapon against the B-29s —eight or nine feet of chain attached to two cylinders about the size of paint buckets, presumably filled with explosives. The Japanese pilot dropped the missile from a height of 700 feet above the B-29, but missed it by several hundred feet, Pearson said. Thirty-six superfortresses landed at Iwo because of gasoline shortages. They had used extra fuel to climb over heavy weather. Report Received On Tuesday Contingent The Adams county selective service board has been notified that eight members of Tuesday's contingent sent for pre-induction physical examinations have been accepted for the armed services and another one accepted for limited service. The eight accepted men are: John Philipp Eicher, Junior A. Huser, Frederick Wayne Gerber, Deane Dorwin McMillen, John Frederick Yoder, Esteban Ortiz Cantu, Marvel Laverne Johnson, John Otto Miller. Robert Lewis August was accepted for limited service.

U. S. S. Zellars Survives Jap Suicide Plane Attack

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THE DESTROYER U. S. S. Zellars is shown above docking at Los Angeles harbor with its surviving crew at the rail. The ship was hit off Okinawa by an 1,100-pound torpedo plus the plane which launched the attack. Forty men are dead, two missing and 29 wounded as a result of the terrific explosion, but the ship that all but went to the bottom is back for repairs, after which she’ll return to wreak her revenge.

Soviet Russia Stand On Voting Formula Interpretation Os Veto Less Liberal BULLETIN \ Washington, June 2.—(UP) — President Truman has been notified that the San Francisco conference definitely will not end on June 6 as scheduled, the White House said today. San Francisco, June 2. — (UP) — The Soviet union’s interpretation of the Yalta voting formula was reported today to ask for wider application of the big five veto in the new league than that proposed by the other great powers. The Soviet paper on the voting formula was presented at a big meeting late last night after the five power leaders agreed to meet daily until the United Nations conference log jam has been broken. The next session was called for 10 a. m. today. Only a summary of the Soviet paper on the voting formula was read at last night’s meeting. But authoritative sources said it was a “less liberal” interpretation of the veto —of when and where in the charter it will be applied”—than that given by the other powers. It was emphasized that there was no basic disagreement among the big five over the formula. There is, however, a tendency to interpret , it slightly differently on the deflthe big five over the formula, upy nition of a procedural question, on which only a majority of any seven of the 11 members of the security council is needed. Submission of the Soviet paper breaks a week's stalemate. A week ago today a committee of big five technical experts agreed upbn a paper interpreting the voting formula. It was drafted in answer to 22 questions presented by the little nations at this conference. The paper was referred to home governments for approval and the Soviet reply was the last to arrive , because of communications difficulties. The Russian interpretation will be compared carefully with one prepared by the technical experts and agreed to in principle by the other nations. There probably will be considerable give and take on both sides before a final version for submission to the conference is : ready. — <6— ———— 1c it -it ir ★★★ ★ Honorable Discharge *★★★****; T/SGt. ROBERT E. HAMMOND, ’ son of Mrs. Fred Hammond, 310 j Jefferson street. He was a radio gunner on a. B-26 bomber and saw service in the European theater of i war. He entered the army on May 25, 1942 and went overseas in Janu- 1 ary, 1944.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, June 2,1945.

Women Shoppers Line Up To Obtain Meat (Women were lined up in front of an up-town meat market today before the place opened for business at 8:30 o’clock, intent on purchasing some sort of meat for their Sunday dinners. Meat supplies are low in the city and chickens are scarce. Shopping becomes a task for the housewife who desires to have a meat course for the weekend or Sunday dinner. Reconversion Need Cited By Leaders Serious Problem If Japs Quit Suddenly Washington, June 2. — (UP) — Government and industry were faced today with the challenge of keeping war production at a high pitch while preparing to make jobs available for an estimated 15,000.000 jobless war workers in the event of a sudden collapse of Japan'. This problem has worried government heads throughout the latter part of the war. There was tremendous pressure last year to pass legislation to prepare for the reconversion period, and laws were (Turn To Page 3, Column 3)

Richard Colter; A Survivor Os U. S. S. Franklin, Arrives Home

Rescued after spending three hours in the water when he was catapulated into the sea from the flight deck of the USS Franklin, huge aircraft carrier, which was bombed by the Japs early on the morning of ~March 19, about 60 miles from the Japan coast, Richard Colter, AMM 3/c, one of the survivors is home with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Colter of 318 Winchester street, nervous from the hectic experience, but able to relate details of one of the sagas of American naval history. A member of the Franklin aviation crew ever since the great ship was commissioned in Norfolk, Va., on January. 30, 1944, Richard stated that he did not know how he got into the sea following the Jap attack. He was sleeping in his bunk, midway between the hangar and flight decks, when the first bomb was dropped. After sometime, he was able to make his way up a catwalk and got to the flight deck. About that time the cres- j cendo of explosions started and be- : fore he knew it, he was floating in i the sea. He wore a kapok life-eAv- i ing belt. ' He was able to swim and got away from the ship and about three hours later was picked up by the USS Marshall, a destroyer, that was in the combat area. He and other

Fort Wayne Shifted From Critical Area Shortage Os Labor Is Less Critical Washington, June 2 — (UP) — The war manpower commission today shifted nine long-time group 1 labor areas to group IT, effective immediately, because of production cutbacks resulting from the end of the war in Europe. This meant a transfer from an acute labor shortage classification to a category where the shortage is less critical. Included in the nine areas transferred from group I to group II were: Fort Wayne, Ind.; Lima, O.; and South Bend, Ind. Seven labor market areas were shifted from group II to group 111 —• reflecting a balanced labor situation. The most important was Detroit. WMC said Detroit was shifted as the result of sharp cutbacks in aircraft and tank production. Higher market classification was given a few areas, WMC said. Jamestown, N. Y. was raised from group 111 to group II; so were Pine Bluff, Ark., and Topeka, Kans.

yak -1 survivors, numbering around 950, were taken to Ulithu, aabout midway between Guam and Palu. Later Jhey were taken on a transport ship to Hawaii. From Hawaii he and other survivors were flown lit a Carnodo flying ship to San Francisco. By train, he came to Decatur and to use his own expression, “Did the old town look good to me.” Aviation MM. Colter has a 30-day leave at home.

NEAR COLLAPSE

Yanic Divisions Hammer At Diminishing Enemy Resistance On Island

Graduate Exercises Held Last Evening Catholic Exercises Held Friday Night The Rev. Dr. Henry A. Lucks, president of St. Joseph’s college, Rensselaer, speaking to the graduates of Decatur Catholic high school at the annual commencement exercises held in this city last evening, advised them that they should seek happiness in life, through the principles of “intellectual and moral integrity.” “In this upset time of world history it is difficult for the young man and woman to step into the world and find the happiness which he or she desires. You should seek this happiness by following those principles taught to you in your school years. It can be obtained by following a formula of intellectual and moral integrity,” the noted educator and college president advised the 21 graduates, two of whom were absent because of their early induction into the armed forces of their country. “Happiness means freedom 4 of soul and heart. You must learn to sift the good from the bad and follow those principles which will bring you eternal happiness. Certain authors and leaders try to confuse us with a line of thought that is not built on truth. Among them are George Bernard Shaw, Freud, Hiller and SRaliiu who attempt to destroy the truth and confuse those who follow their way of the speaker outlined. The Rev. Dr. Lucks prefaced his address to the graduates with remarks to the. Catholic school faculty and the Rev. Joseph J. Seimetz, pastor and the Rev. Robert Hoevel. assistant pastor of St. Mary’s church, for their untiring efforts in the program of education for youth of the parish. “St. Mary’s parish has one of the finest records in the state,” the speaker said. Band and vocal numbers weregiven during the program. -Miss Virginia Lee Kuhnle sang two vocal solos and the class sang, “Till we meet again.” The diplomas were awarded by Father Seimetz, following the commencement address. The fathers of Eugene Loshe and Felix Braun, now serving in the army, received their diplomas and were given an enthusiastic applause. The graduates were dressed in the conventional caps and gowns, the young women wearing white and the men graduates grey. Pictures of the two graduates in the army were placed beneath the flag on the stage. Scholarship Awards The following scholarship awards were made to members of the graduating class: Highest, average for four years: Lois Colchin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Colchin, average 92%. » Tom Terveer, son of Mrs. Bernard Terveer, average 91%. Virginia Lee Kuhnle. daughter of Mrs. William Kuhnle, Sr., a four year scholarship in music to St. Mary’s of the Woods College. Awarded on the basis of competitive examination. Rose Ellen Miller, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Miller, a scholarship to' Mftrion Indianapolis. The Catholic press association of America annually offers an award to that member of the school publication staff, whom the school recommends foR special ability in writing for the school paper. The honor key for this accomplishment was presented to Francis Faurote, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Henry Faurote. Eighth Grade Graduation The eighth grade graduation was held in connection with the high school ceremonies and diplomas were presented to the members by Father Seimetz. (Turn To Page 3, Column 6)

Russia Calls For Peace In Middle East French Confined To Barracks In Levant By British Troops London, June 2 —(UP) —British troops confined French soldiers and possibly civilians to barracks throughout troubled Levant today and British warships steamed in to Beyrouth harbor in a show of strength. A Damascus dispatch said British troops, ready for action at the slightest provocation, to|hk over all French-held points in Levant and surrounded French barracks to insure the troops would remain inside. “Frenchmen throughout the country will be confined to barracks until some decision has: been taken in London,” the dispatch said. It did not make clear whether the “Frenchmen” included civilians as well as troops. Other developments in the Levant situation included: 1. Vice Admiral William G. Tennant, British commander in the Levant and eastern Mediterranean, steamed into Beyrouth harbor with a number of British warships. 2. Russia backed up British and American demands for immediate and peaceful settlement of the French-Levant dispute. 3. Premier Abdel Hamid Karameh of Lebanon and President Shukri Al Kuwatly of Syria said no arrangement was possible with France and called for the immediate withdrawal of all Frenchmen. 4. A Beyrouth dispatch said Kuwatly has asked Gen. Sir Bernard C. T. Paget, British and Allied commander in the middle east, to list Gen. Oliva Roget, French general who ordered the shelling of Damascus, as a war criminal to be tried by an international court. 5. British troops halted a new outbreak of violence, including looting and arson, in Damascus on their arrival yesterday and no new incidents were reported there or elsewhere in Levant, last night. 6. More than 10,000 Lebanese marched through Beyrouth today and received assurances from President Bechara el Khoury that ' he would never “sign any treaty ! under duress or give up one millimeter of our rights.” o Quiet Is Restored At Fort Harrison Press Investigation Os Riot And Fire Indianapolis, June 2. — (UP) — Quiet was restored among 1,900 soldier-prisoners today a® military authorities pressed their investigation of a riot and fire which took the lives of two persons at the Fort Benjamin Harrison disciplinary compound. A military guard, Pvt. Elton Hendrix, Paducah, Ky., was killed by a riccocheting bullet from a tower guard’s gun. Submachine guns were fired in the air for nearly two hours Thursday night in an effort to quell the riot. Nine barracks, valued at SIOO,OOO, were destroyed by the Are, Maj. Gen. James L. Collins. Fifth service commandant said. He said tho fires, originating in two widely separated spots, apparently had been Bet by riot leaders. Collins, who released a formal statement 12 hours after the incident, cited as the immediate cause (Turn To Page 3, Column 3)

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Price Four Cents.

Dispatches Predict Campaign To Reach Mopping-up Stage Within Two Weeks Guam, June 2 — (UP) — The seventh division fought through diminishing Japanese resistance to within sight of the southern beaches of Okinawa today in a drive to split the decimated enemy garrison of 20,000. Two other American divisions also hammered deep wedges into the enemy’s last defenses on Okinawa. Vanguards were within six miles of the southern tip of the island. The collapse of all organized Japanese resistance appeared at hand. Dispatches predicted the campaign, now in its 63rd day, might reach the mopping-up stage within two weeks. Veteran Pacific infantrymen of the seventh division captured heights overlooking the south coast in advances of 400 to 1,000 yards across the southern Ozato Mura hills. The Japanese put up their stubhornest resistance of the whole front in the hills just inland from the east coast, but fell back under the seventh’s overwhelming pressure. Some 5,000 yards to the south, the Americans could see the Pacific ocean lapping the beaches. Vanguards were 4,500 yards south of the east coast port of Yonabaru. At the opposite end of the front, marines of the sixth division seized control of l.mm yards of the north hank of the Kokuba river southeast of Naha. Patrols crossed the river and rolled on to the south while main elements of the division battled stiff enemy resistance around KokuJta village, one mile southeast of Naha. The first marine division, holding down the sixth’s flank, captured the Scliichina hill masses overlooking the Naha-Yonabaru highway after a 2,000 yard advance. Other elements of the first marine division joined the 77th and 96th army divisions in mopping up the last enemy remnants in and around Shuri. former central anchor of the Japanese line. The capture of Shuri has been completed, a Pacific fleet communique reported. 0 Japanese Shipping Plight Desperate Air Forces, Subs Taking Heavy Toll Manila. June 2 —(UP) —Japan’s desperate shipping plight was disclosed today with announcements that Allied air forces have sunk over 2,000,000 tons in five months and that the submarine war in the southwest Pacific is nearly over. Gen. of the Army Douglas MacArthur announced in a communiI que that Allied planes in the southwest Pacific sank 2,117.482 ( tons of Japanese shipping from r January to the end of May. At the same time Rear Admiral James Fife, commander of submarines for the seventh fleet. 1 said in a statement: (Turn To Page 3, Column 4) 0 ' Boy Scout Camporee > Opens This Morning . “ 11 " T 1 The annual Adams county Boy Scout camporee opened at Shroyer • lake this morning, with 74 Scouts • from the three Decatur and two i Berne troops in attendance and > with 13 patrols repreeented. A court of honor will be held toi night and parents of the Scouts will attend a (basket dinner Sunday I noon. The public is invited to in- ’ spect the camporee, which will 1 close at 2:15 o’clock Sunday afternoon.