Evening star., 1942-05-31
Roosevelt Reviews
u. 5. Military Might
In District Parade
q 125,000 Persons See
Arms Display in Honor
- Of Memorial Day

Continued From First Page.)
. mer boy of Shiloh" Members of
his family said this was the first
. Memorial Day he had failed to
! visit the Ampinitheater at Arlington
Memorial Cemetery for the exer-
cises He marched, then rode in
countless Memorial Day parades.
I, In six automobiles following Gen.
Lewis and his staff were repre-
slsentatives of the G. A. r. Memorial
Day Corp. of Patriotic Organiza-
tions.
M Hail to the Chief Played.
& The contingents of Americas new
military power came into sight.
First was colored cavalry escort
from Fort Myer, Va, then on horse
back, Brig. Gen. Albert L. Cox,
commanding the parade troops, and
his staff. Gen Cox's horse got jit-
terry as 1t approached the preSi-
dental stand, but the general
soothed it into docility.
Drums thundered up to the stands.
Along came the famous Army Band
IN blue jackets and white trousers.
AS the musicians passed the Presi-
dent they broke into Hail to the
Chief"
A new cheer swept the stands.
Then came the paratroops-those
intrepid commandos of the air
which this war created.
There was louder applause as they
passed. What stalwart looking lads!
They swung along with such care
less ease. Most of them were tall,
and every one appeared an athlete.
Indeed, these are picked and picked
over men-theirs is one of the
hardest outfits in the Army to en-
ter. They wore cloth helmets and
q costume that must have been
sweltering in the 90-degree weather.
Their uniform is a neutral color
that probably would be highly in
distinctive In the brush.
Troops Training Shows.
Next appeared battalion of the
l76th Infantry from the 29th Divi-
sion, preceded by khaki-clad band.
In war helmets, their rifles bayonet-
ed, the foot soldiers looked ready
for anything. They we're 1.-the,
hardened boys. their 16 months of
training showing in their tanned
faces and in the way they marched.
The next outfit looked like an OBJ
solete exhibit beside the mechanical
trappings of contemporary war. 1t
was a horse-drawn artillery bat
talon. But it's not outdated. There
are places where only horses can
pull guns as the men on Bataan
, found out. This was the noted gray
horse artillery unit from Fort Myer.
Each outfit executed the tradi-
tional "eyes right" as it passed the
reviewing stand, and the President,
wearing white summer suit, took
off his straw hat and held it to his
left shoulder in return salute.
A command car ushered in a
combat team-a modern hard-hit-
ting component that includes within
the framework of a regiment Of
infantry all the elements needed to
make it small independent army,
with artillery, engineers and medi-
cal troops.
Peeps" Carried Mortars.
The 116th Infantry Band-Vir-
ginians. mostly-struck up "Swanee
River" arousing wide approval.
There were two rows of peeps"
those midget combat cars which
probably could sneak into a jungle.
Each of them carried a trench NOR
tar, its small barrel protruding from
the middle of the little truck.
Armored scout cars joined the
passing combat teams. They bore
small and large machine guns.
There were eight reconnaissance
cars. each bristling with 5O-caliba~
anti-aircraft guns. More peeps aP-
peared and more reconnaissance
cars. Then came 37-millimrter
trucks.
The combat team Yas joined by
a battery from the 111th Field Ar
tillery. Prime movers artillery
trucks-flled with men trailed 1O5-
rnillimeter pieces. Then there were
transport trucks loaded with troops
and, finally, battery of heavy ar
tillery--155-m wicked look
ing cannon with terrific fire power
and vast range.
The combat team was followed by
some colored outfits, first engineers,
then infantry. The crowd clapped
and cheered as these troops swung
by with the precision of veterans.
The engineers had white officers,
but the infantrymen had officers of
their own race.
The colored engineers had their
band, and it played The Stars and
Stripes Forever" And could those
boys playl
: The Air Force Band introduced a
truck-escorted plane-a P-40 pur-
suit ship that brought the biggest
cheer from the crowd. Behind the
plane marched provisional squad
ron from the Army Air Base at
Boiling Field.
Here Come the Marines"
Here come the Marines" people
said, and there they came, preceded
by their noted band stirring the
blood of the most sluggish with the
leathernecks' hymn, From the
Halls of Montezuma. Their rifles
slung, the marine battalion from
Quantico swung both arms in the
snappy march typical of them.
Next came the Navy Band, break
Ing into Anchors Aweigh" for the
President. Behind marched a de-
tachment of bluejackets, followed by
a Coast Guard unfit, eager boys.
The Coast Artillery brought an
Lii Mr. Dv1n Cows