The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-04-22
Observations
National Military
Training Viewed as
Certain After War
BY Helen Essary

Mai. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, ma.
tlonal draft director, gave the tip
on the other day to a trend Of some
Official thinking-that the nation
must not get caught short If an
other war breaks out
The handwriting on the wall IS
that this country is headed for ma
tional military training and a
strong and active military force
after the war.
Certainly there will. be no rapid
helter-skelter rehabilitation as
there was after World War |.
There are two reasons: First,
certain capital authorities have the
hard-headed conclusion that If We
don't want 10 lose the peace, we
must have the military might to
back up our peace ideals. Sec
ondly, high government sources
indicate they don't want to throw
II million serYicemen on tho
peacetime home economy before
il can absorb them. They point
out that. mobilization was slow.
and orderly process. and argue that
rehabilitation should be the same.
Indications are that World War
II veterans will he in uniform long
or after the war than were those Of
World War J.
CLAUDE WICKARD. whose cshl.
net job as secretary OF agriculture
dwindled with creation Of the pow.
erful War Food Administration
has his eye on what will happen to
farming after the war.
Wichard a reslist who went
through the postwar farm depres.
sion in the twenties, isn't Just
twiddling his thumbs despite the
fact that Aaryin Jones Is virtual
chief Of the department.
The lndianian is looking ahead.
fearful of trends that will smack
the farmer back into financial
chaos. He warns against skyrock-
citing land prices and postwar UNI
employment.
Now is the time to plan pro-
gram 10 keep agriculture on an
even keel when boom days are
over" Wickard explains. He en-.
dorses creation by Congress OF a
postwar agriculture policy com
mittee to take a long.range view
of the situation, This is a new
idea-and. in the opinion OF agri-
culture observers, a good one for
Congress TO follow through on.
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY'S
SWIFT ADVANCE on Rumsnis.
Poland and Czechoslovakia, Allied
delay in opening a second front is
forcing iutuitive Adolf Hitler 10
make one of the most crucial de-
cisions OF his stormy career.
Hitler and the German high COM
mand must soon decide whether TO
dip into their strategic reserves
along Europe's Westwall-now es-
timated at 40 TO 50 divisions-or
let the surging Soviet forces speed
onward
In terms OF realistic military
st .tegy. the Allied delay is pay
ing huge dividends. With Russian
troops at the Carpathians, Ger
many must have an estimated 90
fresh divisions II she is to defend
the vital Ploesti oilfields that fur
nish about one-third OF her oil.
Thus. with military observers
and weather forecasters indicating
that April is the ideal" month for
the invasion OF Europe, the world
VII witness one OF the most mo-
mentous CANDLES in history-Hit-
ler's decision on whether to weaken
his western reserves and pave the
way for invasion from the west.
L. S. ARMY AIR FORCES In the
British Isles are just coming into
their own and coming weeks should
see devastation heaped on Ger
many unlike anything in history.
There have been rlmblings OF
criticism. both in America and
Britain, tn U.S.AA.F and Raj.
had failed 10 crush German resist
ance from the air.
Wise airmen took the criticism
and plodded along-althoug they
could have blasted back that planes
they were promised many months
ago only recently have been arriy-
ing in large numbers at the front.
Now the American air forces in
England can launch three, -four
and fye.pronged attacks at var.
ious targets in occupied Europe at
the same time. The result has
b been dwindling resistance by the
sLuftwaffe.
More important, air experts pre-
dict destruction. OF German facto-
ries since mid-February will be
reflected in the amount OF Nazi re-
sistance on the ground once Allied
troops move onto the continent
Airmen still insist that two or
three months of good flying wealth
or and plenty OF planes are all that
are needed to cripple Germany so
badly her resistance will begin 20
crImble soon after pressure is ap-
piled by land, sea and air az stra-
tegic points
KILLED IN ACTION