Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1941-08-28
i Might Be
|. Wr0ng-BUT|
by p. G. Stromberg'

mentalism is one Of. the most
serious collective sins of Ameri-
cans. Take the hysteria in
connection with the case of one
John Habinyak. Here is a SOL
der whose actual physical
offense was his refusal to obey
orders. He declined to clean
his mess-kit, to make up his
bunk or to police quarters and
grounds. AS the story is told,
when reprimanded for splitting
on the floor of the mess-hall, he
retorted by saying that the
army should provide him with
a spit-toon. Later, he defed
orders and stated he had been
making ten dollars a day and
that he would not work for
Uncle Sam or anyone else for
twenty-one dollars a month. He
was placed under arrest, and
his Indictment contained five
counts, on each of which he was
found guilty. After he was SEN
fenced to ten years in prison,
some newspaper reporter (more
anxious to get human interest
story than to do bit toward
building army morale) sensed
an opportunity to exploit the
American public's weakness for
hysterical sentimentalism. The
story clicked" and was broad
cast over the country. AS a
consequence, a flood of criticism
poured into Washington where
the reviewing authorities, re-
duced the sentence to three
years.
That's the story Of the
Habinyak case. That's the
story $50 far as we are given
the facts) Of the effort to
heroize a man who has cast
away every vestige of his claim
to anything Of benefit which
might accrue to him as result
of American citizenship. Surely
if our military authorities are
to render to the public the type
of service demanded they must
insist on rigid and unquestioned
discipline and they must enjoy
the complete confidence of the
public. In reducing the sem
tence Immediately, the review
ing authorities gave comfort to
those who criticized the sever
ity of the officials. 1t would
have been far better to let the
sentence stand and mark the
record to indicate that this
man would be eligible for re-
lease after three years.
It is an amazing incident
when we realize that this
culprit, Habinyak, was in open
rebellion against the very insti-
tuition which had given him the
opportunity to make ten dollars
day. He showed lowness of
character. and utter disregard
of fundamental decency when he
spat on the floor Of the room
where honorable men had to
eat. And yet our "sob sisters
and sissies" would insist that
he be confined in a place Of
absolute safety for short
period and then released to
again enjoy all the freedom and
liberty for which other men
had struggled. / often wonder
what people, whose sympathies
are easily aroused by incidents
such as this, would have mill
tary authorities do to enforce
discipline and command respect.
This mans offense was not a
physically heinous crime but, in
any fair analysis on a patriotic
basis, it was more serious than
many felonies, the sentence for
which can be as long as twenty
years or even life. Even hard
ened criminals are Oftimes
jealous patriots. Unless a man
possess that unreasonable
something which is summed up
ia the word patriotism" he is
unworthy of the privileges and
blessings which come to him
under his government.
We have heard hue and cry
about low morale among our
new soldiers. We demand that
something be done to build up
tie morale. Yet we jump on
any slight incident which has