A Private Speaks

One Army outfit that is celebrated neither for its morale nor for its soldierly qualities is the 44th Division (New York and New Jersey National Guard) stationed at Fort Dix, N.J. It has been the focus of many stories of unruly action, such as mass grousing over Army pay, breaking windows to show displeasure.

Last week the 44th gave regular soldiers acute pain once again. From Companies I and L of its 174th Infantry went a telegram to Isolationist Senator Burton K. Wheeler, protesting extension of the National Guard's year of service. At week's end Major General Clifford Powell announced that this breach of military discipline had been forgiven. Next day the 44th passed through Fredericksburg, Va. From the trucks showered penciled notes--more protest. Sample text: "One year's enough. Send this to your newspaper. . . . Why not take a vote among the National Guard?"

What was wrong with the 44th was a question the U.S. Army would have to answer. Interesting in this connection last week was a letter written to a friend by one of the 624,000 draftees in the U.S. Army (not stationed at Dix):

"The personnel of the draft army is as split on this issue of intervention v. isolation as the general public is. But the doctrine of isolation . . . as I have observed it in the Army, is a poisonous thing. . . . Our own officers, to my mind, are not tough enough to drill into the men the idea that Hitler--alone--is our enemy and that Naziism must be destroyed before America is safe. Perhaps somebody ought to quit talking about defense and start talking about war. You'd be amazed at the number of men in the Army today who blindly seem to think that if they put in a year of service in company with a million-odd other men Germany and Japan will cower in submission. No kidding, there's a hell of a big job to do on the psychological front in this Army."

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