Evening star., 1942-05-11
Presidential Room
Al Station Presented
To Servicemen
McNutt Says Lounge
Is Symbol Of Nations
Responsibility to Troops

The presidential reception room
at Union Station, where Presidents
and dignitaries have been welcomed
formally to the Capital, was opened
yesterday as lounge for visiting
service men.
Federal Security Administrator
McNutt presented them the high
domed room at ceremonies attended
by high military, political and civic
officials headed by Gen. George c.
Marshall. Army Chief of Staff, and
Mrs. Marshall; Mrs. Henry a Wal
lace, wife of the Vice President, and
Mrs. Harlan F. Stone, wife of the
Chief Justice of the United States.
The room, 10 feet long and 30 feet
wide, has been comfortably fur
nished with davenports and easy
chairs. writing tables, game tables
and books. 1t will be open around
the clock with four paid attendants
assisted by "a group of volunteer
hosts and hostesses.
Barnard Accepts for Men.
The facilities were accepted by
Chester I. Barnard, newly elected
national president of United Service
Organizations. They will be op-
Grated by the Joint Committee for
Service to Troops in Transit. Of
which Walter B. Clarkson is chair
man.
One of the most important fea-
lures will be an information desk
where service men can be guided to
sleeping accommodations.
An Army private, introduced only
as "a man in the service" ex-
pressed appreciation of the men who
will benefit from the transition of
the reception room.
II know" he said, 'I slept on sta
ton benches for six hours some
months ago when I missed train
for home
Responsibility for Morale.
More service men daily pass
through Washington probably than
through any other city in the United
the gathering that the new lounge
''is symbol of our national ac-
ceptance, properly enough, of re-
sponsibility for the morale and we'll
being of the men who have left their
homes and their families to fight for
freedom the world over
Gen. Marshall, in an impromptu
speech. said that one of the great
worries of the Army is maintaining
morale outside the theater of op-
erations" for the man away from
home.
1T is of great Importance to us
and we are deeply grateful he
said.
I'VE need no reminder" Mr.. Nc
Mutt said. that this is everybodys
war. Fighting it and winning it
calls for active service, not only in
the battle line or on the production
line. II calls for active service also
by our home front.
"A nation that is disillusioned, an
army that is cynical. will win no
wars They must believe in the
things they fight for or, like France,
they will fight half heartedly OF not
at all" n
Sidney Taliaferro Presides.
Sidney F. Taliaferro, chairman of
the U. S. o. Council in Washington,
presided over the ceremonies. Other
speakers included Randall j. LIE
Boeuf, jr president of the National
Travellers Aid Association. and Roy
B. White. president of the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad and of the Wash
ington Terminal Co.
The reception room, locked to the
general public until yesterday, has
been the scene of notable greetings
since the administration of Theo-
dore Roosevelt.
1t was opened to servicemen dur
ing the World War and afterward
President Wilson received Gen.
John J. Pershing there on his re-
turn from France. The remains of
1t. Norman Prince, founder of the
famous Lafayette Escadrille of
American flyers in the service of
France, lay in state in the room
before interment in Washington
Cathedral
President Roosevelt three years
ago greeted King George VI and
Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain
in the same room.