The General and the Eggs
Sirs:
TIME (May i): "Promptly at 8:15, having breakfasted on Lend-Lease powdered eggs, he [General Bradley] stepped out of the officers' mess into a waiting Cadillac. . . ." If General Bradley eats powdered eggs for breakfast, I'll eat your next month's edition of TIME.
(Pfc.) AL GRIFFITHS c/o Postmaster Seattle
Why This Popularity?
Sirs:
TIME (May 29): "The huge New York Daily News last week asked itself why it was so popular. . . . According to Publisher Joseph Medill Patterson's editorial . . . people approve of its 'America First' line." He "drew the same conclusion about" the other two papers, Chicago Tribune and Washington Times-Herald. " 'The answer to these papers' circulation . . . must be that a lot of people like these papers' editorial policies. . . .' "
Another and different reason might be offered Mr. Patterson. Every successful purveyor of quack nostrums and fake patent medicines appeals to ignorance and the lowest human traits. There is gold in them thar hills. L. LEE LAYTON JR. Dover, Del.
Sirs:
If Mr. Patterson really wants to prove his point, let his paper announce prominently that, owing to the paper shortage, the comic strips will appear only three days a week, and let him watch his circulation on the other days. . . .
HELEN BUGBEE Chicago
Sirs: ... I expect Terry Lee, Burma, Dick Tracy, Flattop and the rest would be pretty Top: Terry Lee and Flip Corkin; bottom: Flattop and Dick Tracy. well miffed not to be getting some of the credit for their efforts. ... I console myself in knowing that a very tiny part of this great newspaper's customers believe the drivel that goes in the editorial column. . . . I'll stick to the sports, the columns, Terry and the Pirates, which are well worth the 2-c-, and get my news & views elsewhere. JOHN THOMSON Lieutenant, U.S.A.A.F. Greenville, S.C.
G.I. Joe Look
Sirs:
I am enclosing a copy of a letter from my son, Lieut. Lester N. Fitzhugh. At the time this letter was written he had been in the line 30 days without rest (or a bath, change of clothes and haircut). . . .
". . . In World Battlefronts [TIME, March 27], there is one of the most remarkable war pictures that I've seen. The thing which really struck me a blow was to see the caption under it and the interpretation put on it by the editors.
"It's a picture of a bearded German soldier standing in a burning street (presumably in Russia). . . . The striking thing about the picture is the look in his face. In it, his eyes and his mouth are written the complete story of all that he had been through: eternal fatigue, loss of sleep, probably bad food, recent defeat, seeing his comrades dying countless messy deaths. There is no light left in his eyes, and probably no hope left in his heart. In short, he has what I've called the 'G.I. Joe' look, and right there is where TIME missed the boat this time.
"That German is no rookie; he is very likely the last survivor of his original squad. There may be only a handful like him in his company, but he's been through the mill and has learned his business while he was being completely transformed into what you see in the picture. Look at his gear: it's worn (and obviously this isn't a posed picture), but it's all there and in good shape. A 'demoralized' soldier gets rid of his equipment the first thing. (You should have seen the Eyties.) He's carrying his weapon in the easy way you associate with experience and skill. . . .
"Now, for the 'demoralized' look in his face. That's not demoralization you see. It's the look we all get--Germans and Americans when for days & days & days life is nothing but a soul-killing nightmare of death and flame and fears and fatigue. . . . There really isn't any hope needed at this point, because you've quit thinking. And that's what has happened to the Jerry. He's quit thinking, and I wouldn't mind telling TIME that I'll take on a company of young, fresh, inexperienced Hitler -zealots and finish them with my platoon quicker than you can get a squad of this 'demoralized' kind blasted out of the way. . . .
"To sum it up, as my guide said when he saw the picture before showing it to me, 'Who-ee, I hope I never meet up with that guy!'
"In conclusion I still think TIME the finest magazine we get and best liked by the men."
Lois R. FITZHUGH Lancaster, Tex.
Oil Men
Sirs: Please accept my sincere thanks for the interesting story on oil and the intricacies of drilling for the stuff [TIME, April 3]. A lone oil man could be a pretty nice guy, I guess, but I've lived with a good half-dozen ever since joining this battalion two years ago. I believe I have yet to hear any two of them reach an agreement, and I have listened to them screech at each other all the way across the Pacific. The C.O. is one of 'em but his rank doesn't help him when the majestic question of proper mud consistency arises.
Thanks to you I now know, at least, what the hell they're talking about. FLOYD A. HATFIELD ist Lieutenant c/o Postmaster San Francisco
"It Is Probable That . . ."
Sirs:
". . . the action of July 5-6 in Kula Gulf in which U.S. forces sank three Jap cruisers and five destroyers at the cost of one ship, the Helena."--TIME (May 22).
"While the amount of damage inflicted on the enemy (in the Kula Gulf engagement) could not be accurately determined, it is probable that two Japanese destroyers were sunk. . . ."--Our Navy at War, Official Re- port by Admiral Ernest J. King, March 27, 1944.
Is it in the public interest to perpetuate such myths when they have been officially exploded?
(NAVY LIEUTENANT) Washington
P:TIME'S statement was based on: i) the U.S. Navy's communique; 2) observations of U.S. Naval officers who fought the battle; 3) the reports of TIME Correspondent Duncan Norton-Taylor, who was there. Admiral King's "official reports" are notoriously conservative.--ED.
The CSWs
Sirs:
Last night at the movies I saw a short telling us all about the wonderful patriotic work of our women who are releasing men for war service. I have seen any number of similar shorts extolling the virtues and patriotism of women in factories, shipyards, airplane shops, etc. (who are as a rule getting very high wages and occasionally going on strike), and the WACs, the WAVES, the SPARS and the women Marines, but never a word or picture of the Civil Service Women.
There are thousands of women in the Civil Service with the Army and Navy who have come in for "the duration and six months after." They are releasing men and doing their work just as efficiently as any WAC, WAVE, SPAR or woman Marine. But no one hears about them. They get no credit; and they should, as the work they are doing is just as vital. They get no glamorous uniforms, no pictures and send-off in the papers when they join up. They have no housing and rations given them, no hospitalization (unless actually injured at work, not for flu, pneumonia, or other diseases). And when "the duration and six months after" is over, they are out, with no bonus pay, and no one trying to get a job for them. They are just OUT.
These Civil Service Women are glad to do their part and are not asking for any glamor or publicity, but they do expect to have their services toward the winning of this war recognized along with the other women of this country.
Louis CLARK
Carmel, Calif.
Thanks for the Pony Sirs: Congratulations, TIME! I received your May 15 edition here, "somewhere in Italy," on the 16th! This Pony Edition fills an important place in our lives here by letting us know what's going on back home and in the rest of the world outside our own tight little sphere before the news becomes cold and out of date.
My copy goes to several other officers in my Headquarters, then to the Chaplain for general circulation. At least 25 people must read it, and I am sure its arrival is awaited by them as it is by me, with an eagerness second only to our "sugar reports" from home. LEO F. EPSTEIN c/o Postmaster New York City
Fiddleheads
Sirs:
I am expressing you some fiddleheads. Fiddleheads, in case you are wondering, are the fronds of a particular type of bracken which grows on the islands of the St. John River. They are picked each spring by the Malicite Indians, and here in New Brunswick we regard them as a great delicacy. Hope you will too. They are cooked like spinach, until tender, and served well buttered, if you can find any butter these days. They go better with shad, salmon or alewives than anything else I know.
Enclosed is Prof. DeMill's "Sweet Maiden of Quoddy," which gives you some idea of how many rivers we have to fish in this Province and what funny names they have:
Sweet maiden of Passamaquoddy,
Shall we seek for communion of souls
Where the deep Mississippi meanders
Or the distant Saskatchewan rolls?
Ah, no! In New Brunswick we'll find it,
A sweetly sequestered nook
Where the sweet gliding Skoodawabskookis
Unites with the Skoodawabskook.
Meduxnakik's waters are bluer,
Nepisiguit's pools are more black,
More green is the bright Oromocto,
And browner the Petitcodiac.
But colors more radiant in autumn
I see when I'm casting my hook
In the waves of the Skoodawabskookis
Or perhaps in the Skoodawabskook.
Then never of Waweig or Chamcook I'll think. Having you in my arms We'll reck not of Digdeguash beauties, We'll care not for Pocologan's charms. But as emblems of union forever Upon two fair rivers we'll look, While you'll be the Skoodawabskookis, I'll be the Skoodawabskook.
IAN SCLANDERS
St. John, New Brunswick
P:TIME'S thanks for the fiddleheads and the verse. The fiddleheads tasted woodsy and not unlike hearts of artichoke.--ED.
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