Evening star., 1944-04-30
Public Held Ready to Face
HeavyLosses With Invasion
Prompt Report on Developments, Whether Good
or Bad, Is Urged as Nation Braces
to Withstand Shock.
BY Constantine Brown.

inc BroUn.
armies In Italy win collapse or may even
be withdrawn Ii the Allied attack In
Western Europe is as successful as We
all hope.
High ranking officials In Washington,
such as Secretary of War Stimson and
others, are complaining that the puhlio
does not show the same patience as In
the past and that certain amount of
skepticism is evident among many sec
tions of the public at the information
received from authoritative sources.
Rumors Of Removal.
Officialdom which is dispensing news
and Is handling the correspondents in
the field Is largely to blame Although
responsible military men expressed
grave doubts about the success of the
Italian campaign the most rosy COM
muniques, statements and special
stories were issued from that war zone.
The public was encouraged and led to
believe that the occupation of Rome
would require only a matter of weeks
after the Salerno and Naples operations
were successful
II the lack of success was due to
mistakes by the commanders in the
field. 1t would have been only proper
to spare no feelings and after removing
those responsible, the public should
have been informed of it. As 1t is.
there are rumors that a couple of
commanding officers were removed
after the Salerno affair. But these are
only rumors which have never been
confirmed by responsible authorities.
The lamentable MISUNDERSTANDING
which destroyed a number of TRANSPORT
planes with paratroopers in the Sicilian
campaign was made public only after
some "indiscretions" occurred in this
country outside the Jurisdiction of the
military censors on the spot. Whatever
military reason may have existed for
concealment of this tragic mistake for
certain time, SO that the Germans
could not take advantage OF it, did not
justify the War Department to keep it
covered up until it reached this country
by word of mouth from eyewitnesses.
The public would have much greater
confidence in the news issued by the
War Department if the release of un-
favorable items were spontaneous and
voluntary instead of being forced by
private disclosures.
Bari News Withheld.
The same thing can be said about the
bombardment of Bari by Nazi planes, an
affair which cost the Allies heavily In
lives and number of merchantmen and
warships. 1t was some time before the
high command-this happened in a
British jurisdiction-revealed part of
the story which had been given wide
publicity by the Nazi radio The theory
| that the enemy is fishing" when 1t
gives out such news or announces the
destruction of Allied shipping is only
partially correct. The enemy does not
make many such fishing expeditions"
but the military authorities can easily
differentiate between these endeavors
and the truth. The commanders on the
spot only seldom realize that the morale
of nation can be damaged If the news
reported by the enemy is proved event.
ually correct. In such cases there can
be no reason for any conceaIment. @
Although political news should not
fall in the same category as the mill
tary, the censorship from abroad is little
inclined to lack of understanding over
many of the present political problems.
Nobody expects, of course, an outright
statement that such dissension exists.
But the rumors could be spiked by more
liberal information regarding the points
of friction, particularly in regard to
postwar communications and airfieIds,
which are said to exist between the
governments of the two countries.
The British Prime Minister made a
very important speech recently in the
House of Commons regarding Britains
imperial policies and some references to
the United States. Extracts from this
speech reached the United States, but
the full text, which is rumored to be
very interesting" has never been given
to the American public. Even some of
the large metropolitan newspapers
which make habit of publishing the
full text of such speeches have never
carried it.
Ready for Heavy Losses.
After two and one-half years Of war
the country is seething with rumors
which are frequently believed because
there has been too much covering up
of important military and political in
formation in the past.
The pending invasion of Western Eu-
rope will unquestionably be the largest
and possibly the bloodiest operation in
which the American armed forces have
ever participated.
The country has been given ample
warning about this. Most of the re-
sponsible military and civil spokesmen
have said so. The country is prepared
to hear unpleasant news. But If the
system of covering up, of issuing rosy
communiques, continues as in the past,
there is every likelihood that those who
adopt this short-sighted policy will
cause frame of mind which will not
be favorable to the prosecution of the
war.
The American people have been
primed to hear about heavy losses. They
expect them and there will be no kick
back so long as they know that nothing
is being concealed from them by the
authorities who have complete control