The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-06-16


 softening up Germany for the kill. IL has been given flock of money to do this job in the fiscal year. But right now, with the invasion at its most crucial point, the outfit could not appear more futile.
 This drift into uselessness has has been going on gradually, like creeping paralysis. A year or so ago, director Davis tried @ series of weekly press conferences to review the war and answer questions. They produced nothing and were discon- tinued.
 i Then when editor Palmer Hoyt of the Portland Oregonian was made director of OWI's Domestic News Service, things got hot. MT. Hoyt came in on the principle that OWI should make the Army and Navy give out more news or quit. He made progress. The daily noon meetings iE Elmer Davis's office with repre- seEtatives of the Army and Navy public relations departments fre- quently became stormy sessions and lasted an hour or more.
 NAVY HURRIED TARAWA NEWS
 How much news OWI actually forced Army and Navy to give out was never disclosed, but there was nice fight over forcing release of the story on the Nazis' sneak raid on Bari, Italy, which the Army held up couple of weeks, and the Navy actually outdid itself in getting fast coverage on Tarawa.
 For his liaison man with Army and Navy, Hoyt picked George Lyon, former Buffalo and New York City editor. who gave good account of himself, though he sometimes made the Army and Navy press officers pretty peeved. Lyon was finally sent to England to help make arrange ments for U. s. newsmen assigned to cover the invasion. On the clipper after Lyon departed, the Army sent its Col F. V. Fitzgerald to the same place with a similar assignment. ''FitZ" had been the best and almost the only Army spokesman on mili- tary operations and he and Lyon used to tangle frequently.
 With Palmer Hoyt's return to his job and Lyons departure, OWI set- tied down to a humdrum operation on war news Maj.-Gen. Alexander D. Surles, head of Army public re- lations, began coming less frequent ly to Davis's noon meetings, send ing subordinate. Capt. Leland P. Lovette. head of Navy public rela- tions, did likewise.
 LOOKS LIKE ARMY NAVY
 VICTORY
 Army and Navy, giving every out ward sign of cooperating to the fullest with OWI, appeared to have won the argument and were run ming their own shows about as they pleased.
 The payoff came recently when correspondents assigned to the War and Navy Departments. getting a little fed up with War Department runarounds on special requests, de- cided to take matters into their own hands. Forming an association, they presented demands that compe- tent Army spokesman be appointed to succeed Colonel Fitzgerald and be available at all times to provide background and tactical informa- tion on the then-forthcoming inva- sion. Army complied with the as- signment of Brig Gen. John Ma gruder to this post. It is from his twice-daily briefing sessions with the correspondents assigned to The Pentagon that much of the inform ation is given for the interpretive invasion articles you now receive out of Washington.
 The interesting detail about this is that none of the correspondent even thought about taking their troubles to OWT. It had become that dead