The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1942-07-23
BY DOM SUTTON
Editor of NEA Service

| DSlt, at lot III boys lIOlll
either end of Brooklyn Bridge,
at feathery-voiced Southerners
and at wild and woolly West
erners.
Every American boy can!
be a Clark Gable to the girls
and a Jimmy Doolittle to the
other fellows back home, but he
can be and is both to the North
ern Irish-with a little bit of
Douglas MacArthr-, Joe Di-
| Maggie, Lieut.. Comdr. OHare
and General Marshall thrown
in for good measure.
IRISH LIKE DOUGHBOYS'
FREE-AND-EASY WAYS
Hello, Yank" are smiling
words on Irish lips. Welcome,
Yanks" are heartfelt words ut
tered on the thresholds of Irish
homes in seaport towns and
mountain villages. "Hiya, Big
Boyl" is the U.S.A. slang re-
Gently and proudly acquired by
hopeful colleens.
The American doughboy, after
weeks and months of living
among the people of Ulster, has
won his way into their affec-
tons. They like his free-and-
easy ways even though they
frankly do not understand them.
They are mystified, in fact, by
his -class-conscious, calm as
sumption of equality with all
mankind. But the Yankee SOL
dier was not long in eradicating
from Irish minds the fear, spread
by Nazi radio broadcasts- prior
to his arrival over here, that he
was a "gangster in uniform
SOUVENIR HUNTERS
STRIP UNIFORMS
Freckled school kids make
signs of thumbs up or "V for
victory" as us. jeeps and peeps
and huge Detroit trucks whirl
along winding roads amid the
blue-green mountains. Friendly
country folk invite American
officers and enlisted men into
their homes for tea or dinner
despite the strict food rationing
which circumscribes their hos
pitality.
Deep in the Heart of Texas"
is sung everywhere with zestful
inaccuracy in Irish brogue and
played everywhere by earnest
musicians more familiar with
folk songs and jigs. Once sus-
picious of giving directions to
unfamiliarly uniformed strang-
ers who just might be Nazis
dressed up like somebody else,
the local folk now go out of
their way to show Yankee truck
drivers the way to distant viii
lagos which they themselves
have never visited.
Souvenir hunters display a
great passion for American
coins, cigarettes, match-boxes,
etc Officers who send their
shirts and their uniforms to
Irish laundries and pressers
haven't yet been able to make
sure that their clothing will be
returned to them without a gilt
button or a piece of insignia
shipped off.
"1F SINGLE, DROP
A LINE-ETHEL"
One young lieutenant, on
opening his laundry box, found
pinned to one of his shirts this
note, in feminine handwriting:
IF single, drop a line; if mar
ried, never mind. (Signed)
Ethel" Irish society" girls and
bar-maids alike frequently APP
pear in public with us. Army
insignia mysteriously ornament
ing their waists. despite stern
measures taken to stop the prac-
tisc.
AS for the Irish girls: Gener-
ally unrouged, unlipsticked and
stockingless, they don't have the
smartness of Fifth Avenue,
Michigan Boulevard or Market
Street feminity, in Johnny
Doughboys eyes. But absence
makes the heart grow fonder of
the girl whose close at hand,
so Miss Ireland is doing very
we'll as an ersatz Miss America
Doughboys take her to the
clicks Woo her with candy
bars, apples and oranges. Teach
her American dance steps and
songs.
Particularly do the khaki
uniformer ATS" auxiliary
Territorial Service), the pow
der blue "Wre ms" (WRNS,
w m c ms Royal Naval Serv-
ice get a big play from
the Yankees. But they're serv-
ice girls living under military
discipline, so they must return
to their barracks by 10 o'clock
each evening-which is han
dicap to romance during the
summertime weeks when day
light doesn't end until past mid
night.
YANKS WONDER
If 1T CAN LAST
Amazed at their popularity
with the feminine portion OF