The Ely miner., 1941-05-29

pulling out of here, Hawtry. want
to get to the Puget Sound country
as soon as possible. ;"
They took off at once for San
Francisco. Below them they saw
the roads massed black with flee
ing thousands from Los Angeles,
Pasadena, and towns along the path
of impending invasion.
At San Francisco they put down
for the night because of heavy fogs.
The city was In panic. Steady
streams Of people were pouring out
Of the city on all roads. The Mint
was being emptied, money and Sc
curities from banks being shipped
by train and truck.
A new terror fed the panic. Fog
had engulfed most Of the coastline
from Seattle to San Francisco. Wis
ibility had been stripped from the
sea by vast blankets of fog. Air OBJ
servers were land-bound. If the fog
held out through the next few days,
the invader would be able to put
ashore in whaleboats and establish
a foothold unhampered by Arneri-
can fighting planes.
With nightfaIl word came to San
Francisco that the Fourth Army was
retreating north from San Diego.
General Brunn refused to make any
announcement, but the secret leaked
that his divisions were headed into
the region Of Sacramento. News Of
this retreat converted panic into
frenzy.
In the morning Hawtry took
chance against the fog. He found
hole at Medford and put down TO re-
fuel. Four hours later, Hawtry
nosed about in the feecy sky over
Fort Lewis until he found a rift
and dived to landing.
Here on Puget Sound, some two
thousand miles north of Brunn's re-
treating divisions, was the northern
most element of his Fourth Army.
For defense of the Northwest were
two National Guard Divisions and
part of the Third Regulars.
Benning reported to Lieutenant
Colonel Marsh, G-2, at Fort Lewis
headquarters, whence operations In
the field were being directed.
Marsh's bIoodless, drawn face re-
fiected stunned hopelessness; his
voice was contained but colorless
monotone as he sketched over the
operations map with Benning.
This fog has us stunped, he
groaned. eve know enemy trans
ports are not far off shore-they
may make a landing tonight. But
they can land anywhere from Gray's
Harbor on down the coast into Ore
gon. AL we can do is watch and
wait, keeping our reserves massed
and mobile. When they do land,
all we can do is fight them IN sue
cessive positions for a day or two
and then pull out for the Cascades!"
Astride his machine gun on the
sandy beach south of Aberdeen, Pri-
vate John Rand, 161st Infantry,
thought he heard a rift in the mo-
notonous splash of the incoming
tide. The gun crew held its breath
to strain into the washing waves.
There's men moving" someone
hoarsely whispered.
Private Rand knew that friendly
patrols were not allowed in front of
his own position. His heart pounded
so hard he heard nothing else.
A stab of fame leaped from the
muzzle of Rand's gun. A success
sion of sharp flames followed as he
poured the murderous might of his
machine gun into the night. A shril
cry rang out IN front.
Rand did not live to hear the
bowling, maddening storm that
swiftly grew out of that first bark
of his machine gun. Shadows loomed
out of the fog and bore in on his
crew. The long steel fang Of bay
onet bit into his breast.
From mile behind the shoreline
the commander of a battalion of
howitzers barked an order. Muzzle
flashes cut the night momentarily
to ribbons. The earth rocked from
the force of the explosion that sent
high-explosive shells screaming to
the unseen shoreline.
From the sea came now the roar
of thunder as heavy naval guns
picked UP the brawl TO mock the
puny defiance of the howitzers. The
violence spread in length and depth,
swiftly rose In fury until it became
a ceaseless roar of mighty thunder.
There was no such thing in this
foggy night as observation, no such
thing as gauging the tidal wave of
invasion, or co-ordinating resist
ance. Only by sound could the in
vader be estimated. Ten thousand
men, the staff decided at dawn,
must have landed on the beach un-
der cover of darkness Men enough
to force a human bridgehead for an
army to follow under the savage
protection of naval guns.
Through the stricken, sodden day
that followed, Benning remained at
Fort Lewis while the Fourth Army's
Puget Sound divisions slowly
dropped back. They fought the in
vader from successive lines Of
ridges, but the die was cast, the
command given. The Forty-First
was to cover the withdrawal to the
Cascade passes. The conquest of
the Northwest waited only consoli-
dation by the now victorious divi-
sions of the invader.