Faster! Faster!

ARMY & NAVY

There were leis for everybody--some made of ginger flowers, some of paper. Planes flew overhead. Bands played Aloha Oe. WAVEs kissed sailors. A hula dancer performed on the flight deck. The Saratoga, biggest U.S. aircraft carrier left in World War II was sailing for home.

The Sara's hangar deck, the pilots' ready rooms and even the admiral's flag office had been turned into quarters for over 2,000 sailors, who tossed their leis in the water as the big carrier weighed anchor from Pearl Harbor. Soon 35 smaller escort carriers would be similarly transformed into Navy transports.

Back in the U.S., the Army released 14,121 soldiers in a single day. The number of men returned to civilian life since Germany's defeat had risen above 700,000. The Army now expected to discharge 400,000 in September (an earlier estimate had been 250,000). By Christmas, the Army hoped, the total of discharged soldiers would stand at 2,000,000.

Nevertheless, Congress was on edge to get demobilization going even faster. The public had put the heat on Congressmen, and they passed it on to the War and Navy Departments. Suddenly the Senate Military Affairs Committee decided to haul in War Department officials for questioning. When Under Secretary Robert Patterson pointed out that the rate of discharges had already passed 10,000 a day, a Senator replied, "We are getting 10,000 letters a day."

Colorado's hulking Ed Johnson, who sees no reason why the Army cannot be disbanded as fast as the Senate can adjourn, charged that some combat troops were "mowing lawns with bayonets" while they awaited discharge.

The Army pleaded for patience, finally sent all Congressmen a four-page booklet by General George C. Marshall explaining the simple arithmetic of demobilization. Thumbing through the booklet, one Congressman said: "This will help, but when someone wants his man out, that's just what he wants. People don't care how difficult it is, or who else can't get out. . . ."

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