The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1944-12-07

Germany. II We were actively partiei-
pating" in that battle we were active
ly participating in a war against Ger
many. The New York Times, defending
these acts, said: "The Nazis make war
on US in the Atlantic. We are making
war on them in return"
I do not raise the question whether
the President should or should not
have done this. Certainly many OF our
very best citizens urged him to do 1t
and approved what he did. / merely say
that as we we're making war on Ger
many, however justified, we are bound
to recognize the fact and coneede II
as fact.
The occupation of Iceland had i'm
mediate repercussions. The President
decided to convoy British vessels SAIL
ing into Iceland. He knew this meant
war Secretary of the Navy Knox had
said To a Senate Committee not long
before that "convoys mean shooting
and shooting means war" Obviously II
an American warship conveyed a Brit
ish vessel carrying war material 10
England or Iceland and a German sub
marine came near, the American war
ship would shoot. That 10 precisely
what it would be there for. British
warsbip would shoot and make no ex-
PLANTATION of the act, because Britain
was openly and admittedly at war with
Germany. But when an American war
ship shot at a German sumarine that
also was war. The President, however,
couldn't admit 1t because Congress had
not declared war and he naturally could
not admit what he was doing or con-
cede its significance. In fact he denied
it. When q newspaper writer reported
that the Navy was conveying British
ships, the President publicly called him
"a liar. When the President said that,
he knew of course that the Navy was
ships and that the reporter
was telling the truth. The truth came
out later, only last year, when the Navy
by Order No. 100, directed the issuing
Of awards of ribbons to men in the
Navy, Marine and Coast Guard who had
been in "actual combat" with German
submarines "before December z, 1941."
Moreover on April 20, 1914, w. A. Crum-
lev, famous naval reporter Of the Lon
don Express, writing of the death OF
Secretary Frank Knox, said: 1.-THE full
extent of our debt to Colonel Knox has
not vet been disclosed but it can be
said that American warships were as
sisting Atlantic conveys as early as
March, 1941, eight months before Pearl
Harbor."
The inevitable result of this, OF
course, was that several American
ships, including naval vessels, were
torpedoed or sunk. One Of these was
the Greer. On September II, 194l, the
President announced:
1.-THE u. 8. Destroyer Greer, proceed
ing in full daylight toward Iceland had
reached a point southeast Of Greenland.
She was carrying American mail to Ice
land. She was flying the American rag.
Her identity as an American ship was
unmistakable. She was then and there
attacked by submarine. Germany ad-
mits it was submarine
Now the public assumed from TINS
statement that this destroyer was pro-
ceeding on a peaceful mission. bringing
mail to American soldiers in Iceland
when she was deliberately attacked by
a submarine. This truth came out Ut
tie later in letter from the Navy TO
the Senate Naval Affairs Committee.
The Greer WIS going to Iceland 10
American soldiers billeted there with
the British army. British patroi
plane found a submarine ten miles from
the Greer. The Greer put on speed ana
pursued the sub. The submarine FLED.
The Greer crowded it, broadcasting its
position to the British Navy. A British
plane appeared and dropped four deptn
bombs on the sub, while the Greer con-
tinued to crowd it for three hours ana