The CIO news. (Cumberland, Md.) 1942-????, 1943-09-06
From George
Meyers
To the Editor:

young mans fancy turns to love,
so, around Labor Day, this young
mans fancy has me sitting down
writing a letter to my friends In
w. Md, thru you, the Editor OF the
Voice Of Labor.
i am now wearing the two stripes
Of corporal, just as proudly as
the several officers, and many
sergeants from Local 1874 wear
their insignia. Many things have
happened to me since l entered the
Army. I've lost IS pounds; learned
a little about what makes our air
planes fly. and how to keep 'em
flying; I've seen Is and 19-year-old
kids develop into leaders (same as
In the Labor MovemenD; I've seen
govt. (some people call II $50
cialized') medicine doing an ex-
cellent job keeping lot Of men
In tip-top physical condition. l can
now count cadence.
I've seen all the prejudices OF
the North. South. Midwest and
West; the prejudices Of the farmer,
the city dweller. the worker and
the intellectual-all the prejudices
that infeSt this country-first flame
brightly, then dissipate into moth
ingneSs as all of us, IriShmen.
Pole, Jew, Italian, English. Chinese,
Lithuanian, Scot, Negro, Minnesota
Swede. Milwaukee German, Georgia
Cracker" New England Yankee"
Iowa "Rube," and Brooklyn Slick
er"-all OF us-learned 10 live to-
gether, to work together, TO under
stand each other, to hate Fascism
together.
Even those boys taught from
birth to hate and fear human
being with o dark skin. can't
quite fail to appreciate the fact
that nearly 100000 Of our bud
dies, wearing the same uniform,
receiving the same pay, eating
the same kind Of food. gripping
about the same things. fighting
the same rats, are members Of
the Negro race.
I've been In the Army over 8
months now, and I've talked to a
lot of guys. The big desire is to
get the war over, and not just to
get 1t over, but to win ito win
1t. and to write the kind of
peace in which all the nations who
have shown their love Of freedom.
can work together to assure both
the political and military defeat
of Fasclsm, and all II stands for.
We know, perhaps even better than
you. that the home front and the
battle front are one and the same.
Anything that disrupts the home
front, be 1t Fascist-insplred race
riots, or the black market. strikes.
the failure of price control-any-
thing that keeps you from supply
ing us with the wealth Of material
necessary TO vlctory-iS the same
as the military defeats suffered
at Pearl Harbor, Bataan and Cor
regldor.
Another thing. we In the service
look with damn questioning eye
upon those in this country who
seem determined Gas II they coulO
to break up the United Nations
TO keep us from helping each 9TH
er lick the Axis. These are the
same people who say after the
war the soldiers should run the
country" yet they are doing every
thing possible to keep US In the
Army the rest Of our lives. Those
Of them who own or control news
papers have added an extra comic
strip or two. for US to read.
Well, we read the editorial pages.
too. We know, II they don't. that
every Fascist killed by a Russian
soldier, Is one less to shoot at US
every British aviator going down
In flames, Is dying for the same
cause-that every Chinese fighter
is carrying arms for the same pur-
pose we are-to lick the Axis.
We're for them. all OF them. AS
far 90 Hri,npipo tho rnunfrv after