Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-01-09

" ~ CUuIlUTlcS IL z
England and Russia, where the civil
populace has known hunger and the
sound of falling bombs, perhaps the
war is total, without regard to in
dividual status. In the United States
no such conditions exist.
For farmers who can complain
about the exigencies of war, for
miners who feel they can still af-
ford to strike, for a people who can
cry because their sugar consumption
has been cut in half, it isn't total
war.
IAN unskilled laborer in war in
dustry can sit around and shout,
Boy, I guess we're licking 'em,
while I know men who are doing
and enduring ten times as much
without shouting anything and who
are making $50 month, with no
prospects for the future.
Not Regarded as Injustice.
ION the surface of things, this all
appears to be an injustice, but in a
deeper sense it makes as close an
approach to justice and logic as any
thing else in civilization. Democracy
isn't static-it doesn't roll downhill
of its own weight. 1t has to be
fought for, and when the time
comes to fight there's always a
generation of such an age that they
have to bear the brunt of the fight
ing, no matter how little their eff
forts are appreciated. I know that
less than one-tenth of our people
are in or could be in the armed
forces.
THE nine-tenths who remain are
practically all related to those who
do the fighting. They are the moth
ers, fathers and Uncle Bills back
home, and they have to be protected,
whatever the cost. They can't be al
lowed to share the fate of the Poles,
Frenchmen and others who have
fallen. And if, in the smallness of
their human nature, they fail to give
the accolade to that minority who
champions them, it isn't an injustice,
it's only incidental.
II know we will win this war, but
In doing so We'll sacrifice a great
deal of our youth and optimism and
idealism. That's an unpleasant pros
pect, but not half the tragedy it
would be if we should lose. Then we
would be not only failing ourselves,
but millions of people whose child
ish naivete doesn't even permit them
to appreciate us.
Places All on Altar of Duty.
1.-THE sacrifices we make will be no
more than scratch on the shining
surface of our country's legend. So
our destiny is clear-cut. We have
duty to perform and most of us are
doing it cheerfully.
:" :. I don't know who's at fault
IN the coal dispute, but all of us out
here can't comprehend such actions.
They're not only incomprehensible
to us, but petty, traitorous and vile
to a degree. When thousands of
young Americans are laying down
their very lives to capture a few
square miles of enemy territory, how
can people back home squabble over
anything so inconsequential as 1iv-
ing conditions?
=. doubt if any soldiers in
history ever fought with grimmer
resolution. But you can't fool them.
We officers have to fight a lot of
bitterness, and it can be traced to
these things I've written about. Well,
enough of that. Perhaps a person in
my position forms opinions that are
disproportionately strong or distort-
ed
49,. Dad, thought you'd like to
know how things stand You went
through a war. While I have my
idiosyncracies, still think I'm fairly
typical. Most of us are cynical, but
it's cynicism without pettiness or
personal complaint"
Lieutenant Mitchell, %, is a native
OF Memphis, Tenn. He attended
William R. Moore School for Boys
in Memphis, Washington University
at st. Louis and the Memphis Acad-
envy of Art. He entered the service
in November, 1941, and was commits
stoned at Camp Davis, N. c., where
he designed the insignia for an anti
aircraft artillery regiment. 1t.