Evening star., 1943-10-24
Pawnee Indian N. P.
In Italy Awes Allies
As Well as Enemies
BY JOHN LARDNER.

ADVANCED FORCES IN ITALY,
Oct. % by Wireless to NANAD.- -
A man like Corpl. James Jim is a
surprise to the British and Italians
as well as to his German enemies
Corpl. Jim, that being his legal sur
name, is PaWnee Indian from
Pawnee, Okla, and stands 6 feet 5
inches tall. His hands are like two
big hams but he does not have to
use them to be forceful personal
ity on the 5th Army battlefront
Corpl Jim is now military police
man. He used to be semipro base
ball pitcher. He understands his
tribal tongue when it is spoken but
cannot speak it himself, and the
same is true of his Italian.
Since l came here have learned
to say eat and wine right ana
left" the corporal told your cor
respondent. When they talk TO me
I can't make it out much so l JUST
give them a big smile and see that
everybody keeps moving.
Sings Pawnee Songs.
The other night some German
prisoners under Corpl. Jim's guard
wanted to give a choral perform
ance because they hadn't been al
lowed to sing in their own army lor
10 months. So they said, at leaSI.
When they we're through Corpl.
James Jim arose and sang death
song and then a love song IN the
PaWnee language.
1t was all of his tribal speech he
remembered but it made tremen-
dous impression.
Those prisoners haven't been
able to take their eyes off OF Big
Jim since says his commanding
officer. Capt. Leroy Lambeth OF
Okemah, Okla.
This may be tribute less to
Jim's voice than his size and ap-
pearance. In spite of the fact he is
30 pounds underweight and recov-
ering from a dose of fever he looks
like the Pyramid of Cheops stand
ing on its head. l saw IA prisoners
being interrogated, with Corpl. Jim
leaning nonchalantly on his rife
close BY. The prisoners never looked
at ANY one else. They acted as
though they thought he was a new
secret weapon.
Thought He Was Fresh.
Occasionally there is prisoner
who talks English and strikes Corpl.
Jim as pretty fresh. Yesterday one
such captive. young, blond prl-
vate from Westphalis, looked de-
risively at Corpl Jim and three Of
his American colleagues and said.
Does it take all four of you TO
guard us?"
Corpl Jim was Stung
why. I could throw this gun
away and guard the whole lot of
you with one hand" he said
Il agree with you," said the pris-
oner.
Corpl, Jim considers this German
to have been a standard type of
"pop-off" guy.
I've seen the same kind in Okla
homa,' he says. They like to hear
themselves talk"
Corpl. Jim is not an oil Million
sire. When they drilled for oil on
lis parents land nothing emerged
1.lt salt water. Since joining the
>srmy he has been up and. down
occasionally, AT regular intervals
~ is busted" from sergeant to
~1vate. and then climbs rapidly to
ne rank Of sergeant again. since
1e is too valuable to be anything
.oss. He can instin discipline simply
by walking up and down a line of
men.
Italians Stare.
Italians stand around him in cir
cles staring. British soldiers who
have heard of red Indians, but
thought of them as schoolboy legend
are convinced when they see Corpl
jim. Wandering around his regiment
they f1nd further proof because %
olfferent tribes are represented. in
Guiding Greek, Choctaw. Cherokee
ChickasaW, Seminole, Ojibway. Paw
nee, Arapaho, Sioux, Usage, Chey-
enne, Blackfoot, Apache, Comanche
dIIu NAVAJO.
Some observers in this outfit con-
slder Corpl. Jim to be the toughest
man in the Army. but it is generally
conceded that the best and bravest
all-around soldier is Sergt. Francis
P. Brave, also of Oklahoma, who
spends as much time behind the
enemy lines as his own. Sergt. Brave
Is a full-blooded ChoctaW. The
commanding officer at this part of
the front says Indian troops are
perhaps no better marksmen than
the average but that they are peer
less for scouting and are expert
soldiers generally.
What lmpresses me every time I
see it" the general says, is the way
they get out their guns and clean
them whenever there is a lull in the
fighting Then they line up their
ammunition and clean and check
their guns again. They take a pro-
feSslonal, craftsmanlike view of the
war, which is not the commonest
thing in the world"
tCopyrieht, l943, by the Bell Syndicate.
InCD