Evening star., 1942-11-15

ammunition, although he has the es-
sentials even in small details.
He is adept in employing the fire Of
all kinds of weapons If his enemy is
prone to be road-bound, especially in
difficult terrain, he mines or otherwise
obstructs the roads, piles up the enemys
transport, encircles him by moving of
roads, and then destroys or captures
him. 1t is clear that his skill is the
result of training, for the same pattern
is observed in all Jap operations. He
Is equally at home in the jungle, in open
country and in mountains He is fully
abreast of modern technical advances,
although he displays a marked prefer
ence for simple and rugged equipment,
provided that it answers requirements.
These brief descriptions may appear
to portray our enemies as admirable.
A better word is formidable We are
concerned with bald facts If the facts
are against us, let's change the score
and we can do it. It certainly Is both
silly and dangerous to kid ourselves into
believing that We face pushover. It's
better-and healthier-to hit the dirt
now, and get good. Your comrades
overseas are learning about their enemies
the hard way. You must avoid some of
that grief.
We Have Army of Free Men.
All in all, we must admit that the
Germans and Japs both have done we'll
by themselves thus far, thanks to
thorough, painstaking preparations for
years, careful planning and bold, un-
scrupulous leadership. The results ad-
mittedly have paid no small dividends
on the great gamble of these two ma
tions. Our job is to break up the game.
Now let's look at our side of the pic
ture. We are building an Army Of free
men-free because our forefathers made
us so We are have Nation. We most
certainly are anything but militaristic.
We probably are called mercenary,- COM
mercial, materialistic or whatnot, partly
because we are not uninterested in such
aspects and partly because we are not
military-decidedly not It Is true, of
course, that we have military establish
ments, but they always have been COM
paratively small, and the citizenry as
whole has been almost entirely un-
affected by them. The contrast between
us and our enemies, in point of military
p owess and background, could hardly
be greater. We now are beginning to
test our kind OF an Army against those
of our veteran enemies How are we
doing?
AS generality, an army needs ma
teriel and personnel. Material-arms,
equipment, transportation, clothing-has
given and is giving even our vast in
dustrial system a few headaches, espe-
cially on account of aiding ottr Aflfes
but the matter is being licked. We still
lack of rnateriel here at horne. but things
are coming along, and troops are going
overseas in an excellent state of ma
Terrell Moreover, our materiel is mod
ern and of the highest quality. The
quantity is ample, in fact, more than
ample. We certainly are over-transport-
ed, especially in view of the fact that
we must find ships for all our trucks.
In any event. the state of materiel is
favorable; would that the picture in all
respects were equally so.
As to personnel, your commanders all
agree that our Army has superb human
material-both officers and enlisted men.
You are unsurpassed as potential SOL
diers, but actually you have not yet
reached the peerless class 1 do not
prophesy that you will be the best, but
believe that you could become the best
if you went to work with the fanatical
zeal of our enemies
Leadership Is Vital.
Such fine soldiers deserve and must
have fine leadership. This vital need
has been and still is a difficult problem.
While our pre-war Army had many able
and experienced officers-both profess
sional and citizen-the number was far
too small for our present Army of mil
lions. However, the situation is being
(See McNAIR, Page B-6)