The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1941-12-18
THIS WEEK in DEFENSE


treachery be wiped out, but the
ources of international brutality,
wherever they exist, must be abso-
lutely and finally broken With
confidence in our armed forces
with the unbounding determination
" our pcople-we will gain the in
evitable triumph We will win
he van and we are going to win
the peace that follows
Army and Navy Action
The President announced he had
instructed the Army and Navy to
take all steps necessary to U. s.
defense. The War and Navy Depart
ment announced that the Army and
Navy had beaten off attempted Jap
anese troop landings in the Phil
ppines, sunk a 29,O00-ton japanese
battleship, a cruiser and a destroyer,
scored hits on the battleship KONGO;
that Marine garrisons at Midway and
Wake were holding out; that Navy
Secretary Knox had flown to Hawaii.
Both the Army and Navy an
nounced volunteer enlistments at a
record level. The War Department
asked Congress for legislation to re-
gister all men Is to Ga years old
and to permit use of men IS to As
for military service. Selective Ser
vice Director Hershey said it may
be possible to raise the number of
selectees in service for the present
800 900 to about 100000 without
using other than the 21-28 asy
groups. If Congress approves the in
duction of those from 2S to 35, nov
registered but deferred, another L.
100000 might be raised, Gen. Her
shey, said. SIS national headquarters
directed all local boards to reclassi-
fly ex-service men who have been
deferred because of prior service.
Congress passed legislation re-
moving the ban on U. S. Army men
from serving outside the hemisphere.
Congress also granted the Army and
Navy permission to hold enlisted
men for the duration.
Civilian Defense
Followig air raid alarms in San
Francisco and New York, the Office
of Civilian Defense ordered all
Pacific and East coast and District
Of Columbia air raid volunteers on
the alert. OCD Director LaGuardia
announced enrolment Of 100000 air
raid wardens and other volunteers
and called for three times the ex-
isting permanent fire personnel, plus
one air raid warden for every 500
persons.
The VA Department asked all
Governors to be ION the alert" with
home guards and State troopers
availabel to meet any situation; in
structed special plant protection
services to protect all ~arsenals, fac
tories and storage depots against
sabotage.
Director McNutt of Defense
Health and Welfare Services asked
Governors to complete mobilization
Of State Health and welfare services.
He also issued a call for young wo-
men to enroll in schools of nursing
to meet critical shortages of profess
sional nurses for the Army, Navy
and civilian requirements.
Communications
The Navy initiated censorship on
all outgoing communications and for
bid publication of any naval infor-
nation that might be of value to the
enemy. The Army restricted infor-
nation of troop movement except
when announced by the War Depart
ment. The Maritime Commission re-
quested the press. radio and other
news channels to refrain from pub
fishing Information about merchant
vessels in any waters.
The President authorized the De-
Tense Communications Board to de-
signate radio facilities of the nation
for use, control, inspection or clos
ure by Federal agencies. The Fed
eral Communications Commission
prohibited operation of amateur ra-
dio station in all U. S. territory.
The Army and Navy announced
casualty lists will be withheld from
publication in order to avoid giving
aid to the enemy in determining
where and when and how many los
ses the U. S. had sustained. Families
Of casualties however, will be mott
fled Immediately whenever possible.
Lend-Lease to Continue
The White House issued a state
ment that "the Lend-Lease pro-
gram is and will continue in full op-
GRAFTON The statement said
1T was the German hope that if
the U. s. and Japan could be pushed
into war, that such a conflict would
put an end to the Lend-Lease pro-
gram Germany and Japan, the Pre-
sident said, "are conducting their
military and naval operation in ac-
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