Evening star., 1944-04-24
Navy Itches 10 Face
laps, Admiral Ramsey
Tells A. p. Luncheon
Ry the Associated Press

NEW YORK, April 24.-Rear Ad-
miral De Witt c. Ramsey, chief of
the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics
said today the Navy was itching for
a 'knock-down, drag-out fight
with the japanese Navy, and the
sooner it came the better.
I'VE can afford to play the game
of ship for ship with them and
they cannot" he said before the
annual luncheon of the Associated
Press at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Admiral Ramsey and 1t. Gen.
Alexander A. Vandegrift, Marine
Corps commandant, who also spoke,
declared that Japan might not risk
her feet until the war moved close
to her homeland.
Burma Thrust Described.
Another speaker at the luncheon.
feature of the 44th annual meet
ing of the A. P, was Col. John r.
Alison of the Army Air Forces, who
described the landing of gliders and
troops behind the japanese lines
in Burma. Robert Mclean, A. P.
president, presided. s..
The A. P. Board of Directors, dis
cussing the Governments antitrust
suit against the organization, said
in report submitted to a business
meeting that the A. P. would resist
to the utmost every effort to bring
about Government control of news. "
Admiral Ramsey expressed belief
the Navy's air arm would continue
to spearhead the westward drive in
the Pacific"
Through the concentration of
carriers in the large numbers now
available" he said, I'VE can bring
overwhelming air power to bear
against small but strategically i'm
portant island objectives where
limitations of terrain definitely re-
strict the number of land-based
planes that can be operated.
Japs Due to Rely on Subs.
''It would appear that the Japa-
nese will rely in the main upon SUBJ
marine action and night air attacks
to slow down our advance. This is
their cheapest form of defense and
I sincerely believe it has been i'm
posed upon them.
When and where their fleet will
be risked remains to be seen. It
may not be until We get very close
to their back yard. From our point
of view, the sooner we get In a
knock-down, drag-out fight with
the enemy's surface navy the better,
for we can afford to play the game
of ship for ship with them and they
cannot"
Cites Tarawa Lessons.
Gen. Vandegrift said the seizure
of Kwajalein and Eniwetok in the
Marshall Islands were the results
in light casualties-of the hard les
sons we learned at Tarawa."
But the remaining islands on the
Tokyo road are not all atolis," he
said. "The Marianas and the Caro-
lines and the Bonins are not coral
atolls. They are volcanic islands,
choked with jungle growth and
honeycombed with caves. There
will be many places where naval
gunfire will not be possible and
where bombs will not penetrate.
LAS we go closer to Japan, I have
no doubt that the enemy will re-
double his fury in defense and
counterattack. His fleet, now giv-
ing the lie to his propaganda broad
casts in some hidden base. might
come out. And we may take heavy
casualties. The enemy will take
more, assure you"
Gen. vandergrift said the enemy
"will fight until he is beaten" and
although we were now striking sue
cessfully Eve must not forget those
hectic days of early 1912, and the
unpreparedness that brought them
about"
Sees Peril in Forgetting.
I'VE are in danger of forgetting
that black winter of 1941-2," he
said. I'VE should never make that
mistake. We were not ready. But
that is reason, not an excuse for
the shattering news that seemed
to come in with such depressing
regularity in the early days.
why we were not ready is not a
problem to discuss here. But it is a
problem for every member of the
American information services, if
may SO characterize the press of this
Nation to think 0f as we approao+