Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 30 January 1945 — Page 9

sling snow! le was 75.

AZYy— m ht be it

man and ts. We ervative, y want a alls, ceil It =an be 3, 4 ¥ or any ydlord ‘is nth, with that the ment for neet you. or Room p.m.

—- Ee

Just Before Dawn-

* (Ernje Pyles first columns from the Pacific war

| WITH THE 18ST DIVISION, Belgium, Jan, 26 'Delayed) —~They attacked at 4 a. m, when the oe was most intense and the Germans drugged ep and the “bitterness of a long winter night. ] i . J. F. R. Seitz, Winnetka, Ill, planned for surprise rather than power, so ho artillery preceded the jumpofl. The first wave of his 26th .infantry regiment glided silently into German outpost positions and leaped into enemy foxholes— one of the rare instances of bayonet fighting in a planned attack. A battalion slipped quietly along the ridge to a crossroads behind the German lines, Attacking, the —-battalionfired only when -necessary, The foe surrehidered—or died. So perfectly did the plan work that a German

; | bfficer, thinking that only patrols had attacked, sent if flve men to retake a house.

Fturprised to walk into hundreds of -foes and -snug

| imprisonment.

The 18th, under W201. George Smith, Denver, moved

i fust before dawn, The company on the right flank | lore the morning apart, with every gun banging lf Lway-—shooting at nothing much. The Germans in front of two other companies, they admitted later

the prisoner cage, were greatly interested in the iring and said to each other: “Our comrades over “there are catching hell.”

High Ground Seized

i THAT WAS when the two companies hit them vith savage fury, catching them “looking out the Bindow.” The German, like every other soldier, oesn't fight too hard when hit where he is not xpecting it. As a result of the silent attack the ool veterans of the 1st division moved steadily outhward. They went fast enough to make mortar re ineffective. The battalion at the crossroads stood fi determined Jerry attempts to get help up the oad to his fellows trapped there. During the morning one battalion, the 26th, went through ‘that at the crdSsroads and seized high ound to the southwest, a move Jerry had to fquidate if his pocketed troops were to be saved. And here is where the keen eye and alert military d of Capt. Larue Ritter, Muncy, Pa. averted isaster,

nside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

WE'RE “IN BAD” with some of our friends over i the federal building. It's all the result of a little ote in this. column recently quoting an income tax= | yer who was grumbling about all the heat in the flding. The next day, we hear, the heat ‘was } down to about 60, or s0. And then came a letter from Mildred Sherer, of the district attorney's office: “Well, I thought you were our friend, and didn’t begrudge us a chunk of coal now and then. Being on _.the refrigerator (north) side of the building, we have a different story. And this is what we think about the situation:” The rest of the letter was trimmed a out, just like the censors do it. ® | Gosh, Mildred, we're sorry. Tell ‘em to turn the heat on again. ... in elevator in the Board of Trade building picked Ip & near capacity load as it was going down the er day. When it stopped at the second floor a nale passenger, evidently thinking it was the hain floor, stepped off. As he did so he collided th a woman about to get on the elevator, Noticing is mistake, the man stepped back. “Oh,” apoloized the operator, “I thought you were just getting ff to let this lady on.” Indignantly, the feminine assenger retorted: “Humph! I don't think I'm s big a8 all that.” , , . Nancy Galuppo, 34 N. Irvingbn, writes: “Put me down as a member of the saw the robin‘club. It happened this a. m. at :05 in our back yard.” Okay, Nancy, you're in. The tharter membership rolls now are full. So that’s the “first robin”

‘alse Alarm

JOHN CBNNOLLY, safety engineer at Allison, gularly arises at 5:40 a. m. in order to get to e plant by 7. Yesterday, Mrs. Connolly awoke Ind got up to look at the baby, which has been ill. Vhile she was up she looked at the clock, then

orld of Science

SEVENTY PHYSICIANS were killed in action in orld war II during 1944 while another 113 died in ilitary service. This brings the known total of merican physicians killed in action in the war to ate to 101 while the number who died in military service now stats at 225. The Journal of the American Medical association, which compiles these figures, points out that it is based on casualty lists released hy the army and navy to date and adds the opinion that the list probably is not complete. I have- commented on several occasions in the past upon the phenomenal record which the ar and navy medical departments are making in this war to keep alive : the wourided and to prevent deaths om «isease. As I pointed out, this was due in largé to the speed of rendering medical aid to the ounded, to the fact that battalion aid stations, obile ‘surgical units, etc., carry on as close to the ne of actual battle as possible. Needed operations are often performed within Ange of enemy artillery, sometimes within range of Aipers,

brave Lives for Others Some of the medical men who thus risked their lives to bring medical aid to the wounded have

They were :slightly.

front are expected to start in the near future.) *

Jerry threw a heavy counter-attack at the bat~ talion on‘the crossroads, preceding it with ‘intense artillery fire, which left a number of American casualties in the snow. At the same time he tried infiltration—which almost succeeded. He had marshaled a full battalion in a small wooded area.

From this wood path he ran across a narrow open

space and ducked behind a hill, Artillery Comes in Handy

CAPT. RITTER, watching evefything, noticed a German run across that narrow opening, then’ another two, three. Instantly, we realized that Jerry| « was attempting to infiltrate a large body of troops behind the forward 26th battalion, It was a daring plan that meant success, or destruction. @pt. Ritter wasted no time calling f&r artillery, tons and- tons And a German battalion virtually was

of ft. annihilated,

“Which shows you needed artillery after all”| regimental artillery

observed Maj. ‘Hugh Brown,

officer. “Of course,” agreed Col.

soldiering ever since.

a real soldier.”

The 26th drove off three counter-attacks before dusk. During the night both regiments repulsed patrols from within the pocket and from the southYesterday the 18th worked steadily through the woods, flinking machine-gun nests, picking off snipers and taking prisoners, while the 26th held firm on the east: Last night the job was done and 400 prisoners were being herded back to the cages. So ended a brilliantly executed maneuver, which cleared a densely wooded, well defended area; yielded a. flock of prisoners an kicked the Germans off a long sector of high ground northeast of St. Vith. And the 1st division considered their losses very light

east.

in comparison with the opposition encountered,

I drove back to headquarters for the evening “Isn't much to tell,” he said. “The 1st division cleaned out the woods here—pointing to the map—and took some

briefing. The spokesman was apologetic.

prisoners.”

(Copyright, 1945, by The Indianapolis Times and The Chicago Dally News, Inc.)

hastily awakened John and told him:

late.” John jumped up and looked at the clock, and sure enough—it was past his usual hour to arise.

He hastily shaved, dressed, then stepped out on the It wasn't there. He glanced involuntarily at his wrist watch. One Startled, he hurried in Sure enough, it had stopped early in the evening. Muttering under his breath John undressed and went back to bed.

porch to get the morning paper.

o'clock in the morning. and looked at the alarm clock.

. A “rabid reader” living in Franklin, Ind., writes to tell us why she is rabid:

Franklin bus station Wednesday night. see what I've been smoking.”

Around the Town

NOTE TO LARRY COFFER, 2118 N. DeQuincy: You're right.

Bengal Lancer,” “British Agent” and Bagdad” were incorrect. Capt. adapted these stories for the movies.

North Side Lumber & Hardware Co.” if you can do it, comments Mr. Churchman.

We've been scooped by the Indiana Telephone News. The magazine reports the case of Boyd Gill, of the United Press, which happens to be right here in The Times building. Boyd put in a call for a correspondent at Logansport. - A childish voice answered. Is this he?” “No, he’s not here,” the child The “Oh, about 5 o'clock. Mother told him he'd BETTER be home

“Indianapolis calling Mr. John Doe. asked the operator. responded. “How soon do you expect him?” childish response was quick and decisive:

by five."

By David Dietz

among the various theraters of war of the physicians

killed in action in 1944: Pacific area 17, European are 10, France 12, Italy 5,

North Africa 6, Atlantic area 3, Anzio beach head 3, Normandy 2 and Bougainville, Marshall Islands, Isle of Capri, Guam Tarawa, Coral Sea, Savo Island and

Sicily 1 each. One died of injuries en route from Tunisia to Sicly. In three cases the scene of death was not given.

20 Die in Plane Crashes OF THE 113 physicians who died in military serv-

ice during 1944, airplane accidents were the cause of |

20 deaths, diseases of the heart or arteries—coronary occlusion, - etc.—Weére responsible for. 21, while automobiles accidents accounted for eight.

The others were distributed among a large number of diseases and accidental causes that included drowning, parachute accidents, ete. There were five

suicides.

Regarding the medical profession as a whole, the records of the American Medical association show that 3415 physicians died in the United States and its possessions during 1944. The average age at death

was 65.3 years. This age figure is in sharp contrast with the group

killed im action. Of this group 26 were between the ages of 25 and 29, while only three were over 40 years

of age.

By Jack Bell

_ The Indianapolis Times

SECOND, SECTION .

Seitz, a veteran who| iy. was at Pearl Harbor on~Dec. 7, 1941, and has been And it proves we weren't wrong in making Ritter a company commander. That lad started as a private and now is a skipper,

“The alarm clock didn’t ring and I'm afraid you're going to be

“Everybody in Franklin is more than slightly incensed at the goon who threw two (I counted) whole packages of Lucky Strikes all over the sidewalk in front of the He should

Those stories in Indianapolis newspaperswlast week crediting Capt. Achmed Abdullah with authorship of such stories as “Lives of a “Thief of Abdullah merely . + +» Michael Churchman sends us a clipping from the classified advertising column of the North Side Topics. It read: “Come in and see us on our new china cabinet. A good trick

Heart disease, says the Journal, continues to be This

- By REP. FOREST HARNESS

Written for the Scripps-Howard Newspapers

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 —With other members of the house: committee on military affairs, I spent a month with the men and

ing war on Germany. I saw and talked with them in British . Isles, Belgium, France, Italy and North Africa. 1 saw Gen. Eisenhower and the officers of supreme headquarters allied expeditionary force. We saw bomber and fighter groups: in England, France and Italy grimly whittling away the

tion to the enemy. . ” » WE VISITED with infantry, are tillery and armored elements of our great combat teams right up in the lines where they are slug- | ging it out with the Nazi armies. Then behind all this, we saw— at least in outline—the amazing activities of the army service forces, stretching from our own shores right to the combat units. The service forces mounted these gigantic operations, transported them, and are now moving mountains of supplies which keep these operations rolling. Thirty days’ travel through an ,organization so complex, so diver= sified and so widely spread is time enough to form only the most general impressions. . m8 “WE HAVE been fortunate in the scope’ and thoroughness of the reporting which has so far come out of this war, No little of it, such as that by Ernie Pyle, has been epic. Still, I came home with the conviction that even the finest reporting cannot convey to us the awfulness and immensity of the war. We all knew that for more than two years before the invasion of the continent last June we were piling up troops, supplies and equipment in the British Isles. Even _so, I was not prepared for what we found there, » s »

THAT BASE, providentially provided by Britain's bulldog tenacity, is still an armed camp bulging with American troops. It is a vast supply dump, from waterfront clear to the remote interior, of everything fighting

buttons to trucks, armored vehicles and huge tanks. The invasion, the conquest of Normandy, the break-through, and the subsequent envelopment of central and northern France will, I believe, stand out prominently among the most brilliant achievements in all military history. The advance to the west wall shows up as a supreme achievement in planning and logistics. . » ”

GEN. PATTON and other officers told me that our eastward thrust toward Germany stopped

sistance, but because our speeding combat teams had to wait for their supply lines to catch up. Speaking entirely my own opinions, I believe the invasion, the liberation of France and Belgium and the general assault on Germany have proceeded ahead of schedule. If this further disappoints those of us at home who three or four months ago had been encouraged to expect a German collapse in 1944, it should be remembered that errors in the timetable were

My impressions, gained from discussion with many officers, are that these men all hoped more fervently than we here at home that the German collapse would come last fall. I think they did everything humanly possible with the means at their command to force that break.

women of our, armies wag-

luftwaffe and carrying destruc-

armies use from shoe laces and ’

not because of organized Nazi re- .

political, rather than military.

Rep. Forest Harness

LT. GEN. MARK CLARK and

his American 5th army in Italy .

are still accomplishing more than could be expected of them.

This army is “struggling dog- ° ~gedly against impossible condi-

tions, and manned with combat elements which fight on for weeks and even months beyond any

at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. : Could not American armies in western Europe be supplied from these sources? 8.8 8 WE HERE at home have glowed with vicarious satisfaction at the ‘ reports of almost hysterical wel-

Europe and North Africa,

Rep. Forest Harness (R. Ind), a member of the house military affairs committee, was one of the group of congressmen who recently visited American forces in England,

observations and comment in Yhis article.

Mr. [Harness has written his

reasonable service. No army in history ever carried the same supply load that ours does. Our. troops are the best equipped, best fed, best cared for. " 2 ” WE SPARE nothing to keep our fighting men healthy, happy and effective, to protect them against injury, and to restore them if disabled. If an extra ton of explosives or another hundred gallons of gas

tour of front-line

._ will’ prevent just one Say, we

gladly spend it. Our allies are often amazed at the scope and thoroughness of our services for our personnel, at our lavish expenditure of materiel, but we consider it the best pos sible investment, : 8 ” » MUCH THAT T saw in the liberated countries does not seem to make sense.

Seeing how the British Isles are actually on bare subsistence rations, I was prepared to see real suffering on the continent.

There is actual hardship in southern Italy, but the French and Belgians seemed to be faring even better than the people of England. Looking at our supply problems as they are influenced by our alHes and the peoples-in- liberated territory, I came home wondering if American warmth and generosity are not costing us dearly in many ways. 2%» s FOR INSTANCE, one air. force burns up a million gallons of gasoline daily, which we produce, refine and ship from American sources. ; Our allies, particularly Great Britain, have huge oil resources and largely idle refinery capacity just a few hundred miles away,

Up Front With Mauldin

come acBrded our forces by the people in liberated territory. The fact is that I found these people anything but enthusiastic. Particularly does this seem true in areas through which we have had to do hard fighting, because we have so often devastated these areas. : The Nazis make fortresses of thé towns and cities and we simply have to blast them out, building by building. EJ 8 »

THESE conquered people ap- _ parently had comg to accept, at at least, to tolerate the Germans, who, contrary to reports, had done a fair job of selling the subjected people into passive acceptance of the German super-state, We take the blame for blasting whole cities out of existence, and for discomfiting people who had seftled into a routine which _Wwe considered slavery, but which “they had come to accept as at least. endurable. Native local governments have not been helpful to our cause. At

. best, they have been unreliable.

At worst, they deliberately create conditions for which we ultimateoly take the blame. 8 » » AMERICAN supplies often are diverted into personally controlled and promoted black’ markets. The rich and the political favorites prosper; the poor - suffer, and America gets the blame. I understand that suffering among the people has frequently led to riots in Rome. Native governments in the liberated areas have been unable or unwilling to give our armies any real help in restoring order and civilian law. Great quantities of supplies intended for our troops have been stolen.

2 WOMEN AND BOY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1945

WHAT A HOOSIER CONGRESSMAN LEARNED IN EUROPE ABOUT THE YANKS—

‘A Fierce Pride in Our Fighting Men’

MY OVER-ALL impression of supply for our fighting forces is that it is adequate. Adequate, ‘however, is hardly good enough in a life-and-death war,

If we-are going to-fix eur pro-

duction schedules in terms of certainty, we must provide for the worst conditions we can imagine befalling our armies. About the time we aseepled the idea that our shortage of cigarets at home was due to heavy deliveries for our troops, we began to hear that the fighting men also were going without smokes. But the trouble was less with available stocks that with shortage of transport. » s ” AMMUNITION, medical supplies and absolute necessities went up the line ahead of cigarets, so soldiers have sometimes

been short on smokes. There is, also, a black market angle to cigaret rationing in the army. Our government pays men

in the currency of the occupied

country. Troops in France receive French francs on an exchange rate which makes their pay worth just about 20 cents on the dollar for anything they buy from French markets, The idea is not thé army's. It is our government's arrangement with foreign governments, to help stabilize foreign currencies. ¥ » »

THERE IS little real need for"

an American soldier ever to go into a foreign market for anything, for the army furnishes all

his real needs. But that does not curb ‘the Ametican instinct for shopping. Soldiers soon found that in cash deals the exchange arrangements was costing them five for one. But when it came to barter, their American sources, including the PX, had many advantages to offer. ; Cigarets, soap, candy, etc., were powerful swapping commodities on the local markets. This helps to explain the background of the ugly reports of wholesale thievery and blackmark by a few American soldiers in France. 2 =» M BEING an ex-infantryman of the first world war myself, I simply must say a word for the doughboys of this war. We started out to try the experiment of bombing an enemy into submission or, at least of softening him up to the point where ground forces merely had to parade in and take over. I want to avoid any reflection on our air forces in saying that we failed, but we have simply been forced to conclude that air power cannot reduce an enemy to submission. Air power may devastate a country, and soften -it up tremendously. But ground forces still have to go in and occupy the territory. » 8 =n . THE INFANTRYMAN, wading in mud and snow, seeking cover

wherever he can find it, freezing in’ open foxholes, will be the man who finally looks down the Nazi's throat and yanks the gun out of his’ hands. He can't do it without the artillery and armored units which are indispensable parts of his combat team. He probably could not do it without the tactical air power which has taken the luftwaffe off his back and eased his own advance. But this war is proving again that the infantry is the “Queen of Battles.” » » . THE PEOPLE in our army are in fine physical condition on the

average, in spite of the terrific hardships they are enduring.

Above everything else in this |

experience I brought back a fierce, choking pride in the men and women who are the heart, the muscle and the guts of this war machine. <I wish I could truly express their irrepressible and unquenchable spirit.’ If we could catch just a fraction of “that spirit here on the home front, I think our toughest problem would be a pushover,

~ gram for

PAGE 9

| abor G. I. Lives-Paid For 4th-Term, Halleck Says

(Continued From Page One)

that our produétion was all that . anyone could ask. . .. Our people were told that every bullet and shell was going to just the right place, at the right time and in necessary quantities.” Asserting.

~that “we were

led to believe that the war was next to over,” Halleck added that “the inevitable result was to lull the people of our country into a feeling of false accom~ Mr. Halleck plishment.” Halleck said these impressions did much to re-elect President Roosevelt, “The tragedy is that our boys were sacrificed upon the altar of political expediency,” he said. The Indiana Republican said it was strange that “before the election our production was going along splendidly and that right after the election our production is going so badly that we must resort to a measure of this extremity.” > 8 5 : HALLECK said that any attempt to freeze men into war jobs or force others into such work would destroy their efficiency. “We all know what happened when the government took over the railroads in the last war,” he said. Even if the so-called work-or-fight bill were passed, he said, it would be “many weeks before it can begin to operate in any considerable degree.”

1 s " ¥

URGING adoption of a pro-co-operation among those responsible for production, Halleck said management, labor, civilian government agencies and the army and navy should. be called together and told to “get down to business and work this out.” He said they should be told that “America is depending on you,” and that “the situation is serious,” and then they should be given 30, 60 or 80 days to prove that they can do the job. Meanwhile, the house laber committee, in a move which might dilute some of the controversy over the bill, voted to rush consideration of permanent fair employment practices committee legislation, . #” »

AS THE HOUSE began its sec- . ond day of debate on the work-or-be-drafted bill, the committee decided to refer 10 pending bills, all of which would create a permanent FEPC, to a subcommittee for action Thursday. ~ Members of the subcommittee ‘were asked to report back to the ful] committee Friday, if possible, - leaving the way clear for committee approval of the bill on that day. Early labor committee action may help house Democratic leaders to keep the FEPC controvery out of the work bill, which would lose the support of some southern Democrats if it carried an FEPC rider. The administration also hoped to sidetrack efforts to attach an amendment exempting persons affected by the bill from closed shop provisions of union contracts.

We, the Wome

Wise Husband Makes Wife | Full Partner

By RUTH MILLETT

A new complaint is finding its way into my mail these days. It is from husbands whose wives are working for the first time and it goes about like this: “My wife sconsiders that her pay ‘check is HERS, to be spent for the things she wants, and I

: INJURED IN TRAFFIC

Two wbmen and an 11-year-old boy - today were recovering from injuries received last night and today in automobile-pedestrian accidents. The boy, Benny Ridell, 527 Dorman st, was struck last night by

a hit-run driver. The victim was, taken to City hospital where he

the Jeading cause of physicians in general matches the rest of the population since heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in America.

emselves been the victims of enemy bullets. | The records incicate the following distribution

y Day

‘WASHINGTON, Monday—Saturday morning I bok four youngsters to the Smithsonian institute. e saw President Theodore Roosevelt's African

By. Eleanor Roosevelt

truining to accomplish the maximum of which they are capable. d Unfortunately, very few states have adequate hos- | | pitals and schools for these young victims. . Judging

nimals. We looked at the various Indian tribe

thibits which are so well arranged in cases and which give stich a good idea of the way of Ife of the various tribes, and also at their arts, which we try 80 hard to revive. Finally the children had a good look at the dinosaur, and decided it was not a very autractive skeleton. In the afternoon a .little 10-year-old infantile paralysis victim, Master Bobby Riggio, came. to present me with a bag of dimes 4 whigh came in as a result of his broadcast over the Blue Network. We had a “photograph taken among all the bags dimes that are constantly reaching the White se these days, and ‘hat show what a nation n do when it works on a co-operative basis. At 4 p. m. a government worker who 1s a victim f spastic paralysis was brought ‘by one .of the other orkers in her department to see me. ‘There is a. growing agitation throughout the about these victims, who stiffer because of Their’ minds are. not usually

from the number of letters which I am receiving on the subject, it is one of the neglected aspects of ‘public health, and a great many people with afflicted children feel very strongly about it. Some friends of ours brought their children in late Saturday afternoon. The youngsters all enjoyed a movie and we had supper together rather early, which left all the elders a full evening for work. On Sunday we had the pleasure of entertaining Lt. Gen. Sir William Dobbie and Lady Dobbie, the British ‘ambassador and: Lady Halifax, and. Richard Wood, Gen. Dobbie is the hero'of Malta and is here on a speaking tour. I was delighted to have this oppor-| tunity of meeting i and b lady Dobbie. Last night we wen

Mo

very much the A “Dear Ruth.” It was well entertaining evening. "I had enjoyed meeting the at tea in the White House in

‘glad to have that opportuni help generosity. =.

pA

was treated and released.

Minnie Strother, 67, of 1016 Haugh st., was at City hospital after she was injured near her home last

night.

Olive Pranks, 26, of 1019 S. Collier |

st., was treated and released after a downtown accident.

17 Pets Crushed

By Bunny Killer

‘THE SOUTH SIDE rabbit-kill-ing fiend has struck again. Yesterday Mrs. Lena Krempl, 721 Weghorst st, found 17 of her pets dead and badly mutilated. She. valued them at $500." bam ‘Police took four to Dr. Paul N.