Evening star., 1944-12-10

road blocks. filling in gaping antitank
traps and helping clear a way for ad-
vancing troops. Their courageous &C
tions permitted vehicles and armor to
move out in support of the infantry"
the citation revealed.
Bulldozers Make History
Some day, when the official history of
this war is written, due credit will be
given the bulldozer and the part it has
played on every front-particularly in
Pacific island warfare.
In this most mobile of wars. movement
is the responsibility of the engineers.
They build, they destroy, they fight
with the twofold purpose of aiding this
movement of friendly troops, and i'm
peding the movement of the enemy
They drop out of airplanes with demo-
lition equipment strapped to their backs
They clear the way. then move into
battle to fight shoulder to shoulder with
the infantry.
Today the Engineer Corps is the
largest of the technical services and has
more uniformed personnel overseas than
any other branch-arm or service
except the infantry and Air Corps
Among their other specialties, engin-
neers build and operate portable pipe
lines which largely have taken over the
bulk movement of fuels in combat zones
They fight fires and supply water where
ever the Army goes, build and repair
ports through which move the unending
flow of supplies. The engineers handle
a wide assortment of floating equipment
including port repair ships, seagoing
dredges, assault boats and pontoons
They also make millions of maps for
the Army, without which planning is
useless.
Then, too, they are in the camoufage
business. They operate utilities, run
sawmills and even generate gas They
are the h-movers-moving dirt faster
than 1t has ever been moved before
Their motto is "Essayons' means
Lets Try"-and there's nothing they
won't try, and accomplish. Maj. Gen.
Eugene Reybold is chief of engineers.
In First World War
In World War I, the engineers set
new records in widening the scope of
their activities. They repaired and
maintained light and standard guage
railroads, built roads and bridges, did
general construction in Army areas,
handled the water supply, produced
maps, camoufage. They built new ship
berths, storage and housing facilities.
In the words Of Gen. John j. Pershing:
Among the most notable achievements
Of the AEF was the work of our engineer
troops. The scientists said it
couldn't be done, but the damn fool
engineers didn't know that, so they went
ahead and did it,
Now that the war is in its final stages,
military construction is a problem pri-
marily for the overseas theaters of
operation. 1t is possible now to reveal
many of the miracles of engineering and
construction performed since the Axis
war makers made it imperative that the
United States become the arsenal of
democracy. The War Departments con-
struction program since June, 1910, in
cluding more than $4,000 projects, rep
resents the biggest building job in his
tory. Begun by the Quartermaster Corps
and transferred to the Corps of Engi-
neers late in 1941, this accomplishment
is tribute to all the agencies, indus
tries and individuals that took part
Something the Axis Missed
Nowhere was the faulty Judgment of
the Axis leaders in planning the war
more pronounced than in the field OF
heavy construction equipment. They
failed to take into account the Amer
leans ready adaptability. his genius for