The Wilmington morning star., 1944-01-07
With
The AEF
By KENNETH L. DIXON

wears resolution is never again IN
get mad at the censors.
After all, they're just another
bunch of good guys who have
nasty job. 1t isn't their fault The
boys have to be censored YoyI
can't blame them because Inc
rules they follow often ara silly II
Just isn't fair to get mad al -hem
so I hereby resolve not to do il
any more.
It's a difficult resolution to mako
and it's going to take lot n
mental discipline to keep it. O.
pecially if they pull some OF The
tricks they used on my copy back
in Africa.
There was that airways com.
munications story which didn't in.
volve any military security. by,
the censors thought that inadyor,
tently it might bring up some in.
ternational political problems
which should be left alone until
after the war. There Was no rule
which would justify stopping it 80
they mailed it to Washington for
higher decision. That fixed it,
Then there was the photo re.
connaissance outfit whose officers
invited me to write a story about
their work and showed the War
Department letter permitting pub.
licity. In addition to that author.
| ty 1 showed the censors in Algiers
that the parts to which they oh.
jected already had been printed
in two magazines.
Certainly replied one censor
But just because we've made two
mistakes that doesn't mean We
should make a third"
Now in all fairness it stands 10
reason that l shouldn't have called
that censor all those names Just
because they fitted. Maybe he
couldn't help it. Maybe he didn't
have any better sense than that
Hereafter l resolve not to tell cen
sors what they really are. But
they're going to have to cooperate
too. If they think Pm going to
make all these concessions myself
they're crazy. It's a poor resolu.
ton that won't work both ways.
Take this last trip up front for
instance l was proud of all the
copy l had written about two
stories a day. Then I got back TO
headquarters and found almost
half of them had been stopped.
Some of the others had been slash.
ed beyond recognition.
They killed one story about d
general and a colonel VINO spent
Christmas Eve together on the
lines in World War l and dia
repeat performance near the Vol
turno this year. 1t seems that the
generals name isn't on the record
yet although everybody in Italy
including the Germans - know
who he is.
But that isn't the censors' fault
They can't help it because the
only generals permitted to get
publicity didn't happen to be cele
brating their war anniversary that
night. 1t makes me ashamed Of
myself to think how I flew into d
rage.
And the things practiced on that
tank battle story were terrible. All
they did was emasculate the story.
You still could tell there'd been
battle involving an undasisnated
number of tanks attacking an un'
named city between two unlisted
hills and they left in the pretty
description of the scene. l figured
the editors would love that.
There was no excuse for me
getting sore at them for cutting
out the number of casualties
saw but leaving in phraseology
which left the impression that the
losses were lighter than they RAJ
ly were. After all it wasn't their
job to worry about the fact that
the deletions reversed the Original
meaning of the paragraph.
So I'm resolved not to get sore
at the censors any more. That's
my resolution even if they ap'
pear to cut copy for propaganda
purposes even if their deletiols
imply that Goums and other
French Colonial Troops are SOL
diers from France.
It's true that they don't make
THE censorship rules and even
they are inconsistent in their en-
forcement of them. even if they
do have knack for stopping the
stories you stick your neck out the
farthest to get, still that my re5o-
luton. I'll never get mad at the
censors again.
And I aim to keep it just like
keep every new years resolu-
ton.