Evening star., 1943-07-19

seen places that most Of the resi-
dents of Paris never heard of-from
the jungles of the South Pacific to
the icy North Atlantic. And they
have experienced things so remote
from the everyday life of Main
street Or Broadway that many OF
them only half-believe what they
have seen themselves.
In North Africa they saw the
desert covered with spring flowers
which brave men clutched In their
hands as they died. Against back
ground so exotic that motion picture
producers have to tone it down in
studio reproductions so the audi
ences will accept 1t as reality.
American soldiers in Africa went up
against the might of the German
Army only to see that army collapse
like wet towel when the going got
really tough.
| American sailors, marines and
merchant seamen are spending their
days and nights rolling and pitching
through the oceans of the world,
while somewhere in the backs OF
their heads is tense waiting for a
German torpedo to strike. :
American airmen probably are
experiencing the most unbelievable
life of any in this improbable war.
While the ground troops continue
to push the enemy back in the
Mediterranean theater, the might
OF the American air power grows in
every theater of war.
BY now, veteran American bomber
crews know the sky over Europe
like their own back yards. They
know where to expect the heaviest
barrage OF antiaircraft flax and
which flax gunners are the most ac-
curate. They know which German
fighter pilots are coming after them
by the way they fly. And with the
American fighter pilots It's about
the same. To these airmen, life on
the ground Is only the intermis-
sion between the acts of 8 furious
drama that takes place many thou
sand feet above the ground and
which has become more real to
them than the humdrum of every-
day life below.
The other night I saw a Fortress
crew walk into the lobby of the
Savoy Hotel and sit down for an
hour just to watch the men and
women walk through to the restau-
rant, to watch them eat, drink. talk.
laugh and dance. The airmen sat
perfectly still and said nothing.
Then they got up and left. This was
an unreal world to them and they
were trying to get the feel of it
to see If people really did behave
like that sometimes as we'll as
crouch behind machine guns in air.
craft speeding through the skies In
tent on killing or being killed.
1 don't know how long a man has
to live in the world of war in order
to lose touch completely with the
world OF peace, just as I don't know
how long this war is going to last.
But you can figure it out for YOUR
self whether or not the paratroop
major who landed his bows on Sicily
is going to go back to the copy desk
OF a small-town newspaper. That's
where he came from-stooped over
with his green eyeshade pulled low
and his rows of neatly sharpened
pencils beside him.
Or do you think one of the hottest
pursuit pilots flying out OF England
is going to be happy If he returns to
his job Of selling shoes In the corner
store at Yankton, S. Oak?
All I want to say is that when
Johnny comes marching home again
he won't be quite the same JOHNNY
VINO left on a troop transport that
pushed out of the harbor sometime
after midnight. And, after you have
finished cheering him and throwing
confetti. 1t would be nice thing II
you could remember that it can be
harder to learn to live in peace than
1t is to learn to live in war.
Right now your Johnny Is doing
grand job-he's got a lot more to
do before the war is won, but he's
dong 1t. Just don't forget what
he's been through when the lob is
finished. That's all.
distributed BY McNaurht Syndicate, Inc)