The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1943-07-13
MIRACULOUS STORY


Criticism Of ArmY's Size
There was criticism of the size
of the Army. There were con-
tentions that manpower needed
10 run the production machines
and till the soil of our great
farms was being taken away at
too fast a rate, but the secretary
of war warned what we were up
against.
He pointed out that in Europe.
the estimated strength of the
Nazis and their satellites was
100000 notwithstanding 800
divisions of Germans. 80 Italian
divisions and 30 divisions of
other satellites.
He declared at that time: Our
plans are to produce about 100
American divisions of ground
forces, together with their aux
Hilary troops These figures
certainly make our ground forces
seem of very modest size in
comparison.
Optimism
But optimism even then was
held out in some circles on the
score that Hitler had lost hum
} dreds of thousands of his best
troops in the Russian adventure.
Comparisons mounted, too. re-
garding our air strength as COM
pared with that of the Axis. II
was pointed out that on the basis
of Patterson's figures on plane
production. we might send APP
proximately 10000 down the as
sembly lines in l943 including
about $4,000 combat craft.
Against this. observers poised
estimated figures of the Axis air
strength-20,000 planes now. with
a combined production rate of
200 a month. And hopeful signs /
of a possible waning of the
Reich's air strength were seen in /
the weakening OF German repris- |
ais for the Allied attacks on Eu- /
rope in the first six months of 1913. |
But regardless of armchair |
comparisons, the leaders of the
fighting forces acted on the idea
that we weren't preparing for
any push-over.
Rigid Training Enforced
The men were trained to meet |
foe experienced by years of !
war, and they were schooled in !
various branches of fighting
ranging from tactics that char
acterized the Indian wars of old
TO combat on wind-swept noun
tain ranges.
The former Wyoming cow
puncher was trained to drive a
tank. The onetime insurance
salesman from Hartford, Conn.
became Ranger, drilled to steal
through underbrush and plunge a
stiletto into the heart of an enemy.
The brakeman of the Northern
Pacific who used to work out of ST.
Paul joined the Engineers and
learned to construct and even run
a railroad of kind that might be
placed in newly-won territory.
The student, the school teacher.
the kid from the New England
textile town, the gangling youth
from the prairies of the Midwest,
the boy from the rolling slopes of
the Pacific:-all of them became
tough. fighting timber whether
they wore the uniform of the sail
OF, infantryman. parachute troop
IT. cavalryman, artilleryman or
marine.
We have land commands and
! air commands. and of the latter.
Lieut.. Gen. Arnold, commander of
the air forces. says:
In size, equipment and fire
power. the airborne army will ex-
coed anything of the kind the
world has yet seen
Chemical Warfare
We have men trainel to offset
gas attacks the enemy may con-
ceive. men equipped with protec-
tive clothing and drilled to de-
tect even gases that have no
odOr
We have artillerymen trained
20 fire a 450-pound charge from
240mm howitzer with only
few yards as the margin of error.
We have men expert IN the
use of camouflage and smoke
screens with which to outwit the
enemy aircraft and submarines
We even have officers who
are prepared TO 60 into foreign
lands with the armed forces and
10 set up local. regional and
even national governments IN
. occupied territory.
No man will be sent into
the battlefield Under Secretary
VI n-4.r,--1vz k.A -2rd nm