Evening star., 1943-12-09
carrier announced

OF each. This meant . delay some
times OF two or three weeks, some
times longer. But when the name
Of ship was revealed to have been
lost, all the parents or next of kin
knew instantly that II they had not
received word, they could assume
that their sons or relatives had sur
vived. This has been the custom
since the beginning of the war until
complaints began to come from va
rlouS newspapers and magazines
criticizing the Navy and intimating
that the reason for withholding the
news was really to give wrong i'm
preston about our losses.
Took Criticism on Chin.
The Navy officials took this criti-
cism on the chin, listened toler-
antly to the intimations of distrust,
and finally swung to the viewpoint
OF the critics and decided to an
nounce first the names of ships lost
and notify next of kin afterwards
under certain circumstances and to
follow the old policy under other
circumstances.
When ship is lost and the names
Of casualties can be obtained quick
ly. the Navy now waits till it learns
all the names and then announces
the loss. When there is a heavy loss
and where the enemy is making
claims and when the press clamor
is loudest or might lead to charges
Of distrust. the Navy gives out the
name of the ship. Then the families
Of the men involved suffer.
The worst waiting is for the fam
flies of the survivors. Take the
case OF the Liscome Bay. The
Navy announced on Friday, Novem-
Der 26 that Admiral Mullinnix was
missing in action" and If the fam
lilies of those on board knew that
the Liscome Bay was his flagship
they began their worry. On Thurs
day, December 2, the Navy an
nounced the sinking of the Lscome
Bay but did so without knowing the
casualty list.
Missing in Action"
Since last Thursday the casualties
have been coming in slowly. The
Navy had to check not only at
shore stations in the Gilbert Islands
but also all ships in that vicinity
who might have picked up survivors.
In accordance with custom, unless
the death of a sailor or officer is
actually witnessed by some one. the
Navy reports missing in action" +"
The Navy hesitates to notify any
family till 1t Is sure the sailor or
officer is really missing in action" +"
but finally 1t does notify next of kin.
1t notifies them even if the mem
Der OF the Navy is only wounded.
But the Navy has never revealed
any list Of survivors and does not
notify next of kin when the officers
or members of the crew of a lost
ship are picked up except in ex-
traordinary circumstances in re-
sponse to inquiries.
So the families Of those on the
Liscome Bay who have not vet
been notified do not know whether
their boys are safe or missing. Un-
der the old policy. the Navy made
every possible check of the casualty
list before making public the name
of the ship lost.
The difference in time of an
nouncements under the old policy
and the new might not be more
than week or two The question
Is whether the American press must
know so promptly the name of the
ship lost. even at the expense of
causing unnecessary anxiety to the
families of the boys in the NAVY
That question can be answered only
II one happens to know what the
families of the boys on that air.
craft carrier have been going
through this week and still are
going through. Many families would
prefer to have definite news than