Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 142, Decatur, Adams County, 16 June 1945 — Page 1

JLventh War Loan 11 /5 Days to Go

jgfxi 111. No. 142.

DAP OKINAWA DEFENSES NEAR COLLAPSE M. . .IT ' I’l . , ’

■irlwmd lour Kng Planned K President jUv/hirlwind Month Os ■Continent-Hopping |K n Truman Itinerary 1; hiilgton. June 16—(UP>— Truman takes to the next week for a whirl-. ini )iiili of continent-hopping t» will challenge the late Brest M Roosevelt’s travels and wind K Berlin by July 17. White House anounced ■ yesterday that the president io address the closing ses(>f the San Francisco confernext Saturday. It was also j» unP ed that the big three meet “in the vicinity of SKuiii Mr. Truman’s press constatements in the past ■ works it was certain that he be greeted by Soviet PrenH r josef Stalin and British 1K,,. Minister Winston Churchill in the vicinity of the German capital not later ■ July 17. between these jumps the is to visit Olympia. K|i, his native Missouri and the governors conference MMUn'kinac Island. Mich., during ■ first week in July. ■h.. president's schedule, mappmil for reporters by White press secretary Charles C. ■. left observers gasping. It anything the late PresiIK; Roosevelt ever attempted SMeii he was a champion world itinerary was tentative |Hause a lot depends on whether San Francisco conference ISshes its work as hoped by the ■of next week. The possibility !■: it would not do so developed ■i night when Russia unexpect|Hy rejected a committee deci- "■ ts give the proposed assem- ■ broader power to discuss affairs. Truman is to remain here for the triumphal from Europe Mon- ■)' of Ceil. Dwight D. EisenhowThe president will hold a for- ■> dinner for the supreme comat the White House Monnight. either Tuesday or Wednes- ■)' Mr. Truman planned to en■ne for Olympia, Wash., where ■ will be guest of Gov. Mon C. his former colleague senate. was scheduled to fly from ißympia to San Francisco next ■day for an afternoon reception »attended by the delegates ■ , ' le 50 nations participating in international security confere - A small state dinner for |H e president was being planned ■ secretary of state Edward '< ■dtinius, Jr,, for Friday night. Saturday the president was a reception given by ■for Roger Lapham’s United ■•tious conference committee on Francisco citizens. ■h the afternoon the president ■p to attend the closing session ■ lile conference and address the bet wen 5 and 5:30 p.m. ■d‘c war time (8 and 8:30 p.m. ■! f the conference ended on ■ '““ le Mr. Truman was to fly ■ K to Washington on Sunday, ■"* 24, and be at the White ■J,' l " ne 25 and 2fi - He has an ■ratment with Gov. Thomas ■ /n' 5 ' ° f eW Yorl{ On June ■ » 11 a ’ ■ ® >s to leave Washington June ■7 . a homecoming celebration tor him by citizens Kq , S hometown, Independence, H? w that afternoon and evenH/. n dune 28 he is to attend a a r celebration in Kansas lo miles away. Urn To Pag« 5, Column 4) I n° c ? AT thermometer ■ i? Erature reading B’0:OOa7 66 I- -:=== ™ I Parti WEA ™ER B»?7. cloudy with scattered ■ if, today and ton 'g h t and BCeoit e ast portian Sunda yBn™. 8l| oday and in north- ■ tonight

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Liberated ■y k i mßrbhßl Staff Sgt. William E. Kenney, sn of Mrs. Jessie M. Kenney, 109 ’ S. Second street, who was taken prisoner by the Germans in November 1914, has been liberated, the army disclosed today. Sgt. Kenney was a tail gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress and served with the Eighth Air Force in England since last June: He entered the service in November. 1942. When his plane was shot down over Germany last September, he was first reported missing in action and later his mother was notified that he was a prisoner of war.

War Fund Quota In County Unchanged Plan Annual Drive Here In October Adams county’s quota in the 1945 national war fund drive will be unchanged at $11,593.15, Herman H. Krueckeberg, secretary of the Decatur Community Fund, Inc., announced today. Mr. Krueckeberg attended a district meeting at Fort Wayne Friday evening, at which time quotas were announced to the leaders of the war fund drive from eight counties in this district. , Added to the war fund total in Decatur will be the funds for operation of the community fund. The budget committee of the local organization is expected to meet within the next few weeks to set up the local budget. The drive will be conducted in Decatur and Adams county during the month of October, Mr. Krueckeberg stated, as the national drive is to be concluded before November 1. The vital need for funds from the national war fund was stressed at last night’s meeting by Frank K. Zoll, of Anderson, executive secretary of the Indiana war fund committee, who was chairman of the meeting, and by Clarence W. Goris, of Gary, president of the state committee, (Turn To Page 5, Column .1) o Band Concert Here Next Monday Night Shift Concert Night For Next Week Only 'Next week’s band concert in the summer series by the Decatur high school band will be played Monday night instead of Tuesday, as in previous weeks. The concert will be played at 8 o’clock Monday evening on the court house ramp. A. M. Sellemeyer, director, announced that, the concept is changed to Monday only for next week. The band will meet .promptly at 7 o'clock Monday to practice for the concert. iThe complete program follows: “The Ringmaster,” march—-Eisen-berg. “El Capitan” march—Sousa “Neath the Palms,” serenade— Fillmore. ‘'Don’t Fence Me In”—Cole Porter. ‘tPandora,” overture— Eisenberg. “Emblem Os .Unity”—Richards. ‘lMexicana,” themes from Mexico —'Yoder. “Triumphal March” from Aida Verdi. “King iCotton,” “‘Star Spangled Banner.”

Tokyo Reports New Invasion Os Borneo Near Japanese Broadcast Says Strong Allied Fleet Nearing Port Manila, June 16.—(UP)—Tokyo reported today that a strong Allied fleet was nearing the great oil port of Balikpapan, on the east coast of Borneo, indicating another invasion of the island may be imminent. A Japanese broadcast said that , the fleet included an aircraft cari tier, three battleships, 16 destroyers and other warships. Any . “other” warships in a fleet of that makeup could very well be landing craft. Today’s communique from Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s headquarters , reported a heavy bomber attack on Balikpapan gun positions, and nearby airdromes at Manggar and Seppinggan. Balikpapan, with a pre-war population of 30,000, was one of Bor- . nao’s greatest oil producing centers. The combined production of its refineries and thoae of captured Tarkan island, 310 miles to the north, was 1,680,377 tons of crude oil in 1939. More than 400 miles to the northwest of Balikpapan, on the opposite coast of Borneo, Australian troops completed clearing the Brunei peninsula and Labuan island in the mouth of Brunei bay. Australian troops advancing north of Brunei town were within 16 miles of the oil refinery center of Tutong, on the road to the Seria, and Miri oil fields. Minesweepers continued clearing the thick minefields off Baram Point, near the oil fields. They drew some fire from beach defenses along the point, which is 70 miles down the coast from Brunei bay. Maj. Gen. George Frederick Wootten, commander of the ninth Australian division, announced the clearing of the Brunei peninsula and Labuan island in an order of the day in which he praised the “magnificent fighting qualities” of his troops. So far there has been no heavy fighting in north Borneo. Several hundred Japanese have been killed (Turn To Page 6, Column 8) 0 Local Man Named On College Committee Leo Kirsch Member Os Heidelberg Board Leo Kirsch, Decatur postmaster, newly elected lay trustee of Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, has been appointed a member of the board’s committee on finance and investments, whoso responsibility is the investing of the college's $1,000,000 endowment fund. Mr. Kirsch was elected to the college board last month. He was chosen by the delegates of the Evangelical and Reformed churches of the Michigan and Northern Indiana synod, and is the first lay member from this city to servo as a trustee of the church supported institution of learning. The college board is composed of ministers of the Evangelical and Reformed churches and an equal number of laymen from the synod. The Rev. Matthew Worthman, ' pastor of the Evhngelical and Reformed church in Bluffton and the Rev. Carl Koepke, pastor of the : Salem Reformed church in Fort. Wayne, are trustees of the college, representing the clergy. Heidelberg College was establishd in 1850 and has an enrollment of 273. It is a co-education-al institution. C. E. Josephson • is president of the college, which , is one of the smaller, but out- i standing institutions of learning ; in the middlewest. 1 Mr. Kirsch will have a meeting with the finance and investment i board members in the near future, the place of assembly either i being at Heidelberg or Cleveland, < Ohio. He is an elder of the Zion I Evangelical and Reformed church < iu this city.,

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, June 16, 1945.

Patton’s Going To Europe KhKUk v v • .S W yw?.. ■si - -ly GEN. GEORGE S. PATTON, colorful commander of the U. S. Third Army in the now victorious fight against the Germans, is shown witji Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson in Washington. Following this conference it was revealed that Patton was going back to Europe where his Army will be one of the three needed as occupation forces. Patton expressed a desire to “get at the Japs.”

Superforls Mine Wafers Off Japan Intensified Raids Feared By Japanese Guam, June 16. —(UP —Superfortresses mined waters off Niigata, IGO miles north of Tokyo, early today in perhaps their deepest penetration of Japan, an enemy broadcast reported. ' Niigata lies on the north coast of Honshu, the main Japanese home island, and is 1,650 miles from the nearest B-29 base on Saipan. A round trip flight to Niigata would be 3,300 miles. Radio Tokyo said the B-29s which flew across Honshu to Niigata were part of a formation of 10 engaged in raining operations. The remainder circled Sagami bay, on the south coast of Honshu 35 miles below Tokyo for a half hour, the broadcast said. Another Tokyo broadcast said the number of superfortresses based in the Marianas had increased to 800. This, coupled with increasing American air strength in the Okinawa area, pointed to intensified air raids on Japan proper, Tokyo conceded. Tokyo said the Japanese government was experimenting with “underground houses” for essential workers in industrial sections of Tokyo. In addition, 1,200 emergency dwellings wore being built to house workers near factories. Superfprtresses which hit Osaka, Japan’s biggest industrial center, yesterday were believed to have completed the destruction of one quarter to a third of the city. Nearly 15 of Osaka's 72 square miles had been burned out in previous raids. Additional destruction wrought by 3,000 tons of fire bombs yesterday well may have brought the total devastated area to 20 or more square miles. Definite assessment of damage awaited reconnaissance photographs.. Other American planes bombed and strafed Japanese airfields and other military targets in the Sakishima islands southwest of Okinawa Thursday. o — Hoosiers Urged To Boost Bond Buying Indianapolis, June 16 —(UP) — Hoosiers were urged today to increase the tempo of their bond buying to meet the state quota of $167,006,000 in individual sales during the seventh war loan. With only 12 buying days remaining, chairman Eugene C. Pulliam of the Indiana war finance committee disclosed that individual sales still lagged some $13,000,000 behind the treasury department’s progress chart for the drive to date.

No Change in Status Os Homestead Owners The announcement from Washington that the Decatur Homesteads project has been sold to a co-operative group of local owners, does not change she status of ownership of the 48 properties, as the sale plan was put into effect more than a year ago. At that time announcement was made that individuals could purchase their own home, liquidate the balance owed and obtain title to the property, with restrictions placed on the resale. The local housing development is managed by local persons, all of whom are property owners in the Homesteads addition. o „ Truck Drivers Defy President's Order 10,000 OFChicago Drivers On Strike c Chicago, June 16. —(UP—Ten thousand truck drivers went on strike today in defiance of an order from President Truman seizing control of Chicago's truck lines. As the strike spread, troops moved into Chicago to enforce the presidential order placing the lines under control of the office of defense transportation. About 1,006 troops from Camp Custer, Mich., encamped on the shores of Lake Michigan. Another 500 military police were waiting at Camp Skokie, just outside of Chicago. ODT said “wheels are beginning to turn again under protection of military police.” The agency said most of the private trucks were back in operation but few of the public lines were moving. “We have placed large signs on tile sides of each truck back in operation saying that the vehicle is now operating under protection of the U. S. government,” an ODT spokesman said. The ODT said troops would be used to enforce the seizure order if needed. The strike tied up movement of much freight vital to the war effort. The drivers involved haul freight to and from warehouses and terminals within the city. They walked out because of their dissatisfaction with a war labor board wage order. William Crawford, general counsel of the cartage exchange of Chicago, said all the big companies were affected by the drivers’ refusal to man the trucks. About 5,000 drivers stayed on the job. The police labor detail said about 6,000 of the strikers belonged to the independent Chicago truck drivers union. The others we-o members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (AFL). Leaders of the AFL union urged their men to return to work.

Trapped Japanese Begin Final Suicide Charges Against Yankee Forces

Polish Leaders Face Possible Death Sentence Underground Heads Facing Trials In Russian Courts London, June 16 —(UP) —Vicepremier Jan Jankowski of the Polish exile government and 15 other Polish underground leaders arrested by the Red army face possible death sentences, a Mos- I cow dispatch revealed today. The Soviet attorney general's office anonunced that the 16 Poles will be tried soon on charges of sabotage, terrorism of the Red army and the use of illegal radio transmitters — all capital crimes under Soviet military law. The announcement said the crimes allegedly were committed in western Poland sometime after January, when the Red army | broke the Germans’ Vistula line and smashed into eastern Germany. First word of the seriousness of the charges against the arrested Poles came as two Polish ) delegates from London left by plane for Moscow to attend a Polish national unity conference. The two delegates were Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, leader of the Polish peasant party and a former premier of the London exile cabinet, and- Jan Stanczyk, Polish socialist leader. They had delayed their depar- . ture because of the refusal of a third designated London delegate, Julian Zakowski, to accept (he invitation and the inability of Wincenty Witos, leader of the peasant party within Poland, to attend because of illness. Both problems were ironed out with undisclosed results in a lengthy telegfaphic exchange between the British foreign office and Moscow ending at 9 o’clock last night, an authoritative British source said. i A British foreign office comi mentator said the big three com- , (Turn To Page 5, Column 6) ’ o ; Naval Leaders Cite ; Conscription Need J Nimitz, Halsey Urge Peacetime Training f Washington, June 16.—(UP)--I Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz , said today that peacetime conscrip- , tion was “imperative” if the U. S. would avoid the risk of having its , coastal cities devastated like B°rt lin, Tokyo, Warsaw, and Amster- ( dam. i He said the airplane and rocket < had made continental United States “vulnerable to direct as- i , sault,” adding: , “I believe we have fought the last war in which our homeland > will be spared the violence of our enemies.” I Joining him in the plea for posti war compulsory military training . of American youth, Adm. Wijham • F. "Bull" Halsey declared that • “have-not” nations would always strive for a place among the ■ “haves.” “If we are to stick to our Amerii can determination that no enemy may set foot on our shores, then we must face the fact that in event of conflict we must carry war to the enemy’s territory —■ which, translated into business talk means invasion of the enemy’s territory or sphere," Halsey declared. Both naval leaders were invited to testify before the house postwar military policy committie but sent letters instead expressing their position.

Heads Ministers . •v."'- - ■■■■■ The Rev. William C. Feller, pastor of the Zion Evangelical 1 and Reformed church, was elected president of the Decatur ministerial association at the annual organization meeting Friday.

Rev. William Feller To Head Ministers Named President Os Local Association The Rev. William C. Feller, pastor of the Zion Evangelical and Reformed church, wag elected president of the Decatur ministerial association at the annual meeting of the organization Friday. The ißev. Feller succeeds the Rev. iCarey R. Moser, of the First Baptist church. Other officers of the association named yesterday are: the Rev. Francis IH. Willard, of the First Evangelical church, vice president, and the Rev. Glen Marshall, of the Church of God, secretary-treasurer. A report was presented on the community vacation Bible school, sponsored by the ministerial association. The school, which closed last week, had an enrollment of 310 hoys and girls and an average daily attendance of 2GI for the two weeks. The report also revealed large offerings received to pay the cost of the school and assessments were made on the cooperating churches to cover the entire co.-t of the school. Following the meeting, the ministers held a dinner in honor of the Rev. Charles V. Glenn, pastor of the Decatur Missionary church, who will leave soon to engage in missionary work in Ecuador, o Von Ribbentrop Is Under Questioning Underground Clues Sought From Nazi London. June 16— (UP) —Supreme headquarters investigator:' questioned former German foreign minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop today for clues to the Nazi underground—if any — and the extent to which Germany shared her “V" weapon secrets with Japan. Ribbentrop told his British captors originally that he was a “mission for Hitler,” but it later developed the mission was to tell Britain and Germany that the fuehrer always had hoped to avoid war with Britain. A dispatch from British army headquarters said Ribbentfop was on no other special mission when captured Thursday in Hamburg. Questioning of Ribbentrop was believed centering around four main topics on which may hinge future war plans of the United Nations: 1. Did the Germans detect a sizeable anti-war bloc in Japan. (Turn To Page 5, Column 4)

Raise the Flag! $150,000 Needed To Meet Quota

Price Four Cents.

American Officers On Okinawa Report Final Victory Near; Fear New Landings Guam, June 16.—(UP) —Sigis of American preparations for possible new landings in the Ryukus were reported by radio Tokyo today as Japanese defenses on southern Okinawa all but collapsed. American officers on Okinawa said final victory may come this week-end, certainly within a week. The trapped Japanese, herded into a shell-swept 10-square-mile pocket, began what may be their last disorganized Banzai charges. Tenth army forces had captured nearly half the southern plateau. Flame-throwing tanks paced the American advances and crushed diehard Japanese in foxholes beneath their treads. Radio Tokyo said American naval units already have extended * their patrols 110 miles northeast of Okinawa to Amami island, only 185 miles south of Japan propdr, in preparation for possible fresh operations against the "Japanese homeland.” The Japanese regard Amami. like Okinawa and the remainder of the Ryuku island chain, as part of their homeland. Tokyo said it also was “especially noteworthy” that the number ot fully-laden American cargo ships and landing craft in the Americanheld Kerama islands just west of Okinawa had increased suddenly. Light American surface craft have been using Nana harbor on tile southwest coast of Okinawa and I'nten harbor, farther north, even longer, Tokyo said. It esti- , mated rapidly-growing American air strength in the Okinawa area at 1.000 planes, including 400 on new land bases and the remainder on carriers. Everything seems to indicate, Tokyo said, that American bases . on Okinawa were being “steadily perfected for full-dress operations.” . Another Tokyo broadcast eaid defenses were growing with “atnaz- . Ing speed” on southern Kyushu, I closest part of Japan proper to i Okinawa. “Two and three-way r defenses” have been built at all > possible places. Tokyo said. I Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, ‘ commander of the American 10th. > army, told newsmen on Okinawa ; that the conquest of the island was f complete except for the final destruction of the last "few thous- - and” Japanese on the southern tip. > “I can’t see how this can last a f week longer as things look now,” , he said. “We are now down to a t cut and dried job of killing them off.” One of his divisional commanders said final victory may come within the next 21 hours. Buckner disclosed that the original American estimate of 60,000 to 80.000 Japanese on Okinawa had. been raised to 85.000 and indicated that his men already had killed nearly 80,000 of them. Twelve Japanese were killed for every American lost, he said. He said the Japanese may make • suicide Banzai charges as they fall ' back, might, surrender, or possibly ■ leap off the 100-foot southern cliffs |- into the sea in a final orgy of mass 3 suicide. 1 Field reports said disorganized r Banzai charges already had begun, s Marines of the first division on the western flank killed 29 of 50 attack1 Ing Japanese in one charge and 30 1 in another. Even larger numbersr were killed by the seventh division I on the eastern flank. » 0 Group Ordered For r Pre-Induction Exam i The Adams county selective service board announced today s that a contingent has been order- ’ ed to report next Thursday, June ‘ 21, to take pro-induction physical 1 examinations. Notices have been mailed to all men ordered for this 1 contingent. Those accepted for the armed forces will be returned home to await call to active duty. t