Evening star., 1944-07-05
|325,0O0 Attend
War Bond Show
|At Monument
Crowd Is Greatest
Ever Gathered in
One Place Here

SvSs S0kIbOtSO III
One Place Here
An audience officially estimated at
approximately 1926, 900 persons, as.
sertedly the largest ever to congre.
gate in a single place in the city,
witnessed "Washington's Cavalcade
OF Freedom" held last night on the
Monument Grounds.
Edward j. Kelly, assistant SUPER
lntendent Of the National Capital
Parks, said that approximately u.s.
600 persons Allied the Monument
Grounds and another 100000 were
around the fringes.
AS far as the eye could reach a
mass OF humanity stretched. filling
the grounds and extending to adia-
cent streets. The program freouent-
~ was interrupted by the an
nouncer, who held a lost child in
front OF the microphone and asked
for the parents.
Moment of Peril.
But for one brief interlude tha
crowd was well hammered. They had
come to see a show and they saw a
good one. They witnessed the best
display Of fireworks ever to be shown
and they applauded the many Holly
wood celebrities taking part.
The incident that occurred to mar
the evening was when about 5000
persons, consisting chiefly of chill
dren, broke through barriers and
advanced toward the stage.
This happened when Dennis
OKeefe, screen actor, who was act
ing as master of ceremonies, sud-
denly yelled through the micro
phone:
Maj. Clark Gable is somewhere
in the audience, I've just been told"
Hundreds craned their necks and
it was then the break-through oc-
CURED. When Mr.. OKeefe saw the
excitement he had caused he said:
That was bum steer. I meant
Maj. Gable was in Seattle, Wash"
success in Bond Sales.
From the War Bond standpoint
the affair was a complete success.
Original estimates were that if ST.
100000 in bonds were sold, the event
could be considered a success. Sales
were well over that figure, officials
agreed.
One of the most impressive events
of the evening was the "Massing Of
Colors' in which 40 patriotic, veteran
and citizens associations particle
pated, together with members of the
armed forces.
The marchers paraded down
through the center aisle carrying
flags and their individual banners.
They lined up, facing the audience,
in front Of the stage while the flag
raising ceremony took place.
Marine Band Concert.
This was proceeded by a 30-min-
ute concert by the United States
Marine Band and was followed by
the introduction of the principal
speakers by John A. Reilly, chair.
man of the Executive Committee.
The invocation was given by DR..
John w. Rustin, pastor of the Mount
Vernon Place Methodist Church.
Edward M. Curran, United States
attorney for the District. read the
Declaration of independence.
One of the principal addresses
was given by 1t. Comdr. James H.
Hunt, group commander of the
combat transport Samuel Chase. He
has seen action in the Mediterra.
mean. Africa, Sicily and Salerno.
A two-minute period of silence was
then observed in honor of the war
dead and the occasional of flags
followed.
Fireworks End Show.
The show then swung into the last
two phases of the program, the Of
ferings of the Hollywood stars and,
the fireworks, which concluded the
affair.
In quick succession, Gil Lamb,
Pvt. John Payne, Paul Whiteman,
Rosemary Lane, Marlene Dietrich,
Dennis O'Keefe, 1t William Holden,
Mischa Auer. Red Shelton, Ellen
Woods and Ethel Norman made
their appearances in a parade Of
jeeps which had started at the
Mayfower Hotel.
BY the time of their arrival, the
Army Air Corps Band of the Train
ing Command, under the command
of Capt. Robert Jennings and con.
Quoted by Master Sergt. Harry Blue
stone, had assembled on the stage
and the entertainment went on.
The fireworks display lasted ap-
proximately 80 minutes. giving
Washington a realistic taste of the
noise of bombardment. Aerial
rockets. mock battles and displays
of President Roosevelt and Gen.
Eisenhower were among the pyro-
technics.
Judge Prescott Speaks.
At Takoma Park. Judge Stedman
Prescott of the Montgomery County
Circuit Court told an audience Of
several hundred citizens that the
people of America should rededicate
themselves to the job of fostering
and encouraging the American way
of life"
Corpl. Charles Goodman, son Of
Mr.. and Mrs. Samuel Goodman,
Takoma Park, who was wounded at
Guadalcanal. called for whole
hearted participation In the Fifth
War Loan drive.
A feature of the celebration was
the dedication of the community's
roll Of honor containing the names
of 713 men and women from the
Takoma Park area now serving in
the armed forces.
The exercises were held at Carroll
and Willow avenues, with Mayor
Oliver w. Youngblood giving the ad.
dress Of welcome. Music was fur
nished by the Washington Mission.
arv Tn1leon Rand ,,pdar thu d3~>o%1.,.