Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 August 1943 — Page 31

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SOMEWHERE IN SICILY (By Wireless). —Prob£0 it isn’t clear to you just how the army's setup

battlefront. So I'll try to picture it for you. Let's take the medical structure for a whole divi-

have been with recently. A division runs roughly 15,000 men. And almost 1000 of that number are medical men. To begin right at the front, three enlisted medical-aid men go along with every company. They give what first aid they can on the battlefield. Then litter-bearers carry the wounded back to a bat“talion aid station. Sometimes a wounded man is taken back right away. Other times he may be pinned down by fire so that the

aid men can't get to him, and he will have to lie .

out there for hours before ‘help comes. Right there in the beginning is the biggest obstacle, and the weakest feature of the army's medical setup. ‘Once a soldier is removed from the battlefield

his treatment is superb. ‘The battalion aid station -

§/his first of many stops as he is worked to the pear and finally to a hospital. An aid station is merely where the battalion surgeon and his assistant happen to be. ©

Station Often Under Fire

IT ISN'T a tent or anything like that—it’s just ine surgeon’s - medical chest and a few stretchers under a tree. Each station is staffed by two doctors and 36 enlisted men. They are very frequently under fire. t an aid station a wounded man gets what is ediately necessary, depending on the severity of his wounds. The ideal all along is to do as little actual surgical work as possible, but at each step merely to keep a man in good enough condition to stand the trip on back to the hospital, Where they have full facilities for any kind of work.

‘Hoosier Vagabond

sion, such as the 45th, which I °

By Ernie Pyle

"Hence, if a soldier's stomach is ripped open they|

do an’ emergency operation right at the front but leave further operating to be done at a hospital. They use morphine and blood plasma copiously at the forward stations to keep sinking men going. From' the battalion aid station the wounded are

taken by ambulance, . jeep, truck or any other means

back to a collecting station. This is a few tents run by five doctors and a hundred enlisted men, anywhere from g quarter of a mile to several miles behind the lines. ‘There is one collecting station for each regiment, making three" to a division. Here they have facilities for doing things the aid station can’t do. If the need is urgent they redress the wounds and give the mep more morphine, and they perform quite a lot of operations. Then the men are sent by ambulance on back to clearing station,

One Works, Other Rests

‘THE 45TH DIVISION has two clearing stations. Only one works at a time. While one works the other takes a few hours’ rest, then leapfrogs ahead of the other one, sets up its tents and begins taking

‘the patients. In emergencies both clearing stations

work at once, temporarily abandoning their rest-and-leapfrog routine. Then ‘back of the clearing stations the hospitals

begin. The first hospitals are usually 40 miles or more back of the fighting. The hospitals are separate

. things. They belong to no division, but take patients

from everywhere. } They get bigger as you go back, and in the case of Sicily patients are evacuated from the hospitals right onto hospital ships and taken back to still bigger hospitals in Africa. The main underlying motive of all front-line stations is to get patients evacuated quickly and keep the decks clear so they will alwagfs have room for any sudden catastrophic run of battle casualties. The station can knock down, move, and set up again in an incredibly short time. They are as proficient as' a circus. Once, during a rapid advance, my station moved three times in one day.

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

PROFILE OF THE WEEK: Mrs. Arcada Balz (Mrs. Frederick G.), housewife, former school teacher and Indiana's first and only feminine state senator. “Cady” Balz is one of the city’s most gctive club and givic workers. She’s chairman of the C. of C. home i : . safety division, president of the New Harmony memorial commission, a former president of the Indiana Federation of Clubs. That gives you an idea of her activities. Mrs. Balz is a very forthright individual, with decided views and a vigorous way. of expressing herself. She’s no middle-of-the-road-er. She has a charming sense of humor, and a nice smile in which she shows all her teeth. She has a nervous temperament, frequently twists her handkerchief or jingles her car keys. Unusually practical, she’s able to get around in a man’s world and do a most effective job, and still be & woman.

Husband Picks Her Hats

SHE CARRIES herself ‘well. About 5 feet 6, she weighs maybe 140, has reddish brown hair. She wears glasses, and has twinkling. eyes. She's a good speaker, has a well modulated voice and nice enunciation. Fussy about her clothing, she likes colorful accessdties. She wears attractive hats which, incidentally, are picked for her frequently by her husband without her help. You see, he’s in the millinery business, heads the Star Millinery Co. Born on a farm between Bloomington and Gosport, she moved to Kansas for a few years, then came to Indianapolis. She attended Manual high school, then Indianapolis Teachers’ college. She taught in the public schools several years before her marlage and substituted a couple of years afterward.

‘Antiques Her Hobby

MRS. BALZ’ principal hobby is antiques—furniture and glassware. She has her home attractively fur-

Italy’s Doom LONDON, Aug. 14—Reports reaching London indicate that a state of anarchy is imminent and inle throughout Italy. areas EE it and have resumed air attacks on porth Italian industrial cities, no longer hoping that they will take over Italy in peaceful fashion, with an orderly, or- ‘ ganized government, The German high command knows it, and is now eager to keep the Italian government from crumbling, since a state of anarchy’ would make it infinitely more expensive for them to maintain a strong defense line at the Po river. This curious reversal of posi-

tions has developed since the Badoglio government chose to

Mrs. Balz

Yipake a screen of itself behind which Italian leaders

could dicker for advantages without compromising Germany's situation. While it seemed possible that Badoglio could rally “the ‘country and sue for peace, the allies held their striking forces in leash, not wanting to increase his difficulties. by. bombing anti-Fascist and anti-Nazi

- og® New Position Develops 3 i the safe way out of the war and is gl to invite allied aid to expel the Ger2 from Italy nor able to keep the Italians fightt or the axis, a new position has developed. i lbs ‘means must be employed to weaken the ‘c grip on Ttaly. Allied interests will Obviously est be served by by assisting Italian political disinteatio glare, bY § increasing popular resentment

care much. for it.

" tomatoes,

nished with them. Before gas rationing, she and Mr. Balz used to take long vacation trips by auto each -summer, and she would visit all the antique shops en route. She loves bridge. and plays a good, steady game, hasn’t been- to a movie- since “Gone With the Wind,” used to. play a pretty fair game of golf. She doesn’t turn ‘the radio on for a week at a time. She does turn it on every time the president speaks but, being an ardent Republican, she doesn’t always like what he says. She has a nice flower garden in which she enJoys. fussing around. She has a small yard, with no room for a vegetable garden, but she has several tomato, : plants in wooden boxes which can be moved around to keep them in the sun. She finds time in a busy:life to do needlepoint for her friends.

She Dislikes Prunes

SHE CAN COOK well, when she has to, but doesn’t At present, she’s doing all her own housework except for help one day a week. She dislikes prunes and wouldn't think of eating even though she raises them. Mrs. Balz’ principal civic interest at present is the New Harmony memorial, She has just returned from her annual inspection of the memorial in which she spent- a week going over each of its buildings from attic to basement. She got a big wallop out of the legislature last winter, enjoyed thoroughly all the byplay and humor that make up a senate session, although retaining every bit of the dignity expected of the only feminine senator. The so-called salary grab bills infuriated her, but she felt she was too new in the legislature to carry on a one-woman campaign against them. When she first went into the senate, the 49 male members were a bit concerned over her attitude about smoking. They were relieved to find that although she doesn’t , smoke, she has no objections to others smoking.

By Victor Gordon Lennox

Nothing short of capitulation by the entire metropolitan state would be really valuable to the allies, it is now admitted. While Badoglio hesitated, and the allies paused in their air blitz, the Germans have been transferring divisions from other European regions and have also built up Luftwaffe concentrations in southern Italy, where there are a number of airfields clearly designed to combat allied landings. If the German decision is to fight rearguard actions to‘delay allied advance throughout the length of Italy, then the whole country must become a-:bat-tleground. ©

Anarchy Would Speed Fall

GERMAN CONCENTRATIONS in north Italy are at Milan, where there is one center for German troops and Luftwaffe squadrons, in Bologna and in Verona. Turin is algo vital to them as a railway junction of the

supply route from France by way of Mont Cenis.

But there are many other large, first class airfields in the 500 mile long Italian leg south of Bologna.

Those in Apulia—Italy’s heel—would be most useful

for supporting operations for the liberation of Greece. These airfields, and others near Rome, are now serving as bases for the principal Luftwaffe concentrations in southern Italy. Despite German possession of these airfields and bases, it would be a gigantic task for ‘the Nazis to carry out a policy of delaying allied. advance, especially if there were Italian disaffection. Their one hope would be to maintain communications, That is why the allies have resumed their heavy attacks by air on industrial centers in the north and on all Italian communication lines. Political anarchy as well as destruction of actual war bases and materiel will bring German defeat that much sooner.

Capyrigh, ma oy The Indianapolis Times and The go Daily News, Inc.

By Eleanor Roosevelt extend coverage to some 10 or 15 million additional

wage and salary earners, including employees of small 2708 20V sxpluded hy slate Jaws snd would be very

J, JEyeRiing tie downward spiral in buying 3

West

Poin

While Husbands Battle, Families Wait Patiently, | Try Hard Not to Worry -

(Last of a Series)

By JESS STEARN Times Special Writer

They also serve who stand and wait.—Milton.

When Gen. Henri-Honore Giraud visited West Point. last month there was a terrific commotion among’ the

ladies.

Practically every guest at the Thayer, the picturesque inn recently taken over by the Point, stirred about hope-. fully, and the same question trembled on every lip. Like other wives the country over, the women who have made the Thayer their home for the duration were anxious for tidings of their husbands—the generals who

make this war tick. So while mother stood

by, Elizabeth Bradley, 19,

daughter of Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley, the conqueror of Bizerte, plucked up her courage and in the best French that Vassar has to offer asked Gen. Giraud if her dad was in Sicily. The. Sicilian invasion had got under way only a few days before, while Gen. Giraud was en route, and the French commander in chief wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but, being a gallant gentleman, he tried his best to please. “To the best of my knowledge, Madamoiselle,” he replied graciously, “no, I think not.” Meanwhile, of course, as it subsequently developed, Gen. Bradley was in the thick of the fighting, directing the 2d corps of Gen. George S. Patton Jr.’s victorious 7th army. Nevertheless, Gen. Giraud’s visit, his reassuring words of North Africa, gave sweet comfort to many of the 50 “duration widows” of the Thayer, now so often known as the War Widows hotel. » » ”

A Wartime Haven

AS THEIR husbands went off to the wars the “widows” have turned up at the Thayer, with their children and their dogs. In fact, the canine element thrived so well the management found it necesary to enforce a ban on new entries. Until last March the Thayer, conveniently ‘situated on. the Post, was run by private ‘inter ests, catering chiefly to visiting relatives and girl friends of cadets. While the hotel still accommodates tff2se visitors as they turn up, it now functions principally as a wartime haven for the fami-

GEN. U. 3. GRANT 3D TO ADDRESS SGHOOL

Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant, III, director of the civilian protection division of the federal office of civilian defense, will be the feature speaker at the Indiana fire school program Tuesday at Manual Training high school. The school will begin 8 a. m. Tuesday under Prof. W. A. Knapp of Purdue, director of the Indiana fire school, and continue through Thursday. Governor Schricker will introduce Gen. Grant, great grandson of the civil war general, Wednesday night, : - Municipal and fire department officials from Indianapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati and other metropolitan communities will participate. Auntialy

lies of West Pointers - who are away running a war, In times of stress West Pointers traditionally draw on West Point for strength and sustenance. It is their second home, the place where they spent the happiest years of their lives, and they find a solace wherever they are— Africa, Sicily, China, the Solomons—in = the knowledge their families are safe at the Point. With a colonel husband in Iceland and a lieutenant son in North Africa, Mrs, Edward Sherburne came from Waco, Tex. joining other wives from every section of the country. “Our husbands,” she explained, “like to have us: some place which they can visualize, and nowhere can they picture us better than at West Point, the place they love. ® =» » : “OF COURSE,” she went on, “it’s different with us; we have a hard time visualizing’ them because we haven't the faintest clew to their surroundings.” While the women do their share of bandage-rolling for the Red Cross, they have few illusions

t at Wag

Mrs. James R. Davidson and daughter, Elizabeth (left), and Jane.

about their role in the war. They have given their men, and they are waiting. While time hangs heavy on their hands, most of the women, nevertheless, manage to keep occupied, taking care of their: children, doing their own laundry wherever. possible and preparing whatever meals they can with their limited kitchen facilities. The ties which knit their husbands now extend to the wives, and: they share one another's problems, great and small, wherever they can. ” ” 8

Eager for Mail

WHILE MANY preferred to take their breakfast in the privacy of their rooms, this was virtually impossible until the advent of Mrs. Kay Briggs, wife of a young colonel, and her electric refrigerator. Now the rest of the “widows” have found a frosty refuge for their fruit juices, milk and cream —having the run of Mrs. Briggs

cooler whenever they like. “It's so crowded,” the wife of

a general remarked, “that you can’t close the door any more.” Afternoons the wives of the generals and the colonels, seeking companionship, gather in the hotel lobby te exchange the news of the day, but at sharply 3 o’clock e conversation dies and sennces break off in flight. The mailman has arrived. A colonel’s wife describes what follows: “Everybody breezes up to the clerk’s desk, very nonchalantly, of course, to see if there’s anything for them. If they have a letter they hold it tight and turn away so. nobody will see; then they press it to their hearts and hurry off to their rooms without a word to read and reread the blessed words a hundred times. I know because I've done the same myself.” » ” » WHILE THE atmosphere at the Thayer is about as democratic as an Indian peace pipe, Mary Brad-

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Left to right: Betty Davidson, Mrs. Omar Bradley, Mrs. James R. Davidson, Mrs. Hobart Gay,

Elizabeth Bradley, Jane Davidson.

Elizabeth Bradley and Alzina Gay.

ley, the wife of the ranking general, has tacitly emerged as the “ranking” lady. And then there are, among others, -the wives of Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Keys, who is general Patton's deputy; General Gay, Patton’s chief of staff; Gen. Frederick Irving, former commandant at the Point, and General Holcombe. But for all her “rank,” Mrs. Bradley might just as well be the wife of a corporal in the state militia, for she assumes no greater privileges. She is a pleasant,/ plain-spoken woman from Missouri, who thinks nothing of sharing her husband's correspondence with the censor. In one of his letters the general expressed some concern for Molly, the Bradley dog. Without a thought to the censor, Mrs. Bradley reassured her husband in North Africa: “Molly is fine. She sleeps very comfortable in the bathtub. I put one blanket in the tub under her and another over her.” Later—too 'late—it occurred to her that she should have made it plain that Molly was a dog. “That censor,” she laughed, “must think we're horrible to.our children.”

Explains Name

BOTH BRADLEYS originated in Moberly, Mo., and the general’s' birthplace accounts for one of the minor mysteries of the war —the derivation of his given name. . “Omar,” Mrs, Bradley acknowl edges, “is an odd name for a man from Missouri, but there were loads of Bradley's in Missouri, and Omar’s mother decided she’d have to do something drastic. to distinguish him from the rest.” So Omar it was. Recently, after the Yank mopup in Tunisia, Mrs. Bradley re--ceived an urgent communication from the most distinguished of the Missouri Bradleys. It was an SOS call for a French vocabulary. Immediately she rushed off to Col. W. E. Morrison, the acads emy’s professor of modern languages. Rising to the emergency, the colonel dug up one of his own French texts, autographed it with a flourish and said, “beaming: “I'm glad to see your husband’s not trying to do French in 10 easy lessons.” While these few words were lightly spoken, they, nevertheless, reflect the story of West Point, for they never do things the easy way at West Point.

CHARGES COERCION FORCED RADIO DEAL

NEW YORK, Aug. 14 (U. P)— Claiming that he had been an “unwilling seller,” Donald Flamm sought today through a supreme court action to rescind the sale of radio station WMCA to Edward J. Noble, new owner of the Blue Networks, ‘Inc. - Flamm, who received $850,000 for the station in 1941, said he was “coerced by various threats on the part of the defendant and his agent into agreeing to the sale.” yA < 5