Evening star., 1941-07-15

Henry McLemore. u n tll a lew
days ago, his light was hidden I'M
der a bushel-of epaulettes, gold
braids and stars.
But destiny, in the shape of some
shapely Memphis girls in shorts,
presented the general with crisis,
and his mastery performance in
the face of it made him the man Of
the hour, not only on Central stand
ard. but on Pacific, Rocky Mountain
and Eastern daylight saving time as
well.
Gen. Lear was playing golf on a
Memphis course when his oppsr-
tunity to join Americas military
immortals presented itself. In
foursomes ahead Of and behind
him were number of Tennessee
eyefuls wearing the type of shorts
which make it perfectly clear why
shorts are called shorts.
Along the highway that borders
the course came truckloadS Of men
of the 10th Motor Transport, 35th
Division, returning from Camp For
rest to Camp Robinson after war
maneuvers in the wilds of Tennes-
see The sight of the girls grace
fully three-putting and topping
shots was a welcome relief to the
soldiers after weeks Of association
with nothing prettier than squirrels,
chipmunks, rabbits and buck
toothed beavers.
So the soldiers yelled and whistled
and flirted as well as a man can
firt when travelling 35 to 40 miles
per hour in a bumpy Army truck.
Gen. Lear saw them and heard
them and a moment later he had
acted. with the same hair-trigger
alertness that earlier American
generals displayed in crisis.
Brandishing his brassie, and with
scorn for the danger Of being
struck by sliced tee shot, he
charged to the roadside and halted
the procession of trucks.
! Exactly what Gen. Lear said to
/ the officers and men of the 10th
Motor Transport is not known, and
/ probably won't be until future his
torians deal more fully with this
momentous event. Lincoln's Gettys-
burg Address was not appreciated
at the time. The now famous say
ings by Ethan Allen, Commodore
Perry, Stonewall Jackson. William
T. Sherman and other great leaders
were not familiar to their contempo-
raries.
All We know now is that he gave
the men what Sherman said war
was, with trimmings, and finished
by ordering punishment for them.
His start toward disciplining the
malevolent men was to make them
turn around as soon as they reached
their Arkansas camp and return to
Memphis for a night of alfresco
sleeping on the grounds of the mu-
nicipal airport, while faced with the
prospect of having to walk at least
a good part of the way back to their
home base.
Good for you, general
Good for you, for putting a stop
to such goings-on as this.
What would this country come to
if its soldiers we're allowed to smile
or whistle at pretty girls? Why. the
next thing you know we'd have
kissing in this country, wouldn't we,
general? Just because Adam smiled
at Eve in the Garden Of Eden Is no
reason for recognizing the attraction
of women for men as anything more
than a passing fad.
You 60 right ahead and stamp it
out. general. though I must say you
have cut out right smart task for
yourself.
But there isn't a man or woman
in the country, general, who hasn't
gained a measure Of comfort from
your stand on the matter. It is
bound to give one a feeling Of Sc
curity to know that this country
has an Army under the command
of a man brave enough and conf
dent enough to tackle the business
of defeating the way of man with
a maid. And a general who feels
that he is capable of that is more
than equal to the job of defeating
enemy tanks, dive bombers, flame
throwers and parachutists.
Therell come a time when Gen.
Lear will have a statue in his honor.
This country is blessed with many
public squares and much marble and
is always willing to pay tribute to its
military geniuses.
Your guess as to what form the
generals statue will take is as good
as mine. There is no end to the pos
sibilities.
He could be shown on Vermont
base whacking Cupid, wearing the
uniform of a private, first class, over
the head with brassie. That would
be very simple and appropriate.
So would a marble group showing
the general ourt-martialing such
trif1ers as Romeo and Juliet and
Dante and Beatrice and Brenda and
Shipwreck.
So, for that matter, would be just
a slab of marble showing the general
as bust.
For some reason this last possi-
bility seems to appeal to me most
of all.
Distributed by McNaught Syndicate. mcg