Evening star., 1944-05-27
Letters to The Star
Discusses Alleged Breaking
of Promises to Soldiers
, the Editor Of The Star:

of Promises to Soldiers
To the Editor Of The Star:
At the moment of demanding the
supreme sacrifices of our drafted youth,
it would seem appropriate to ask our
selves whether we at home are keep
ing faith with them.
Hypocrisy, a despicable vice at any
time, is particularly despicable at this
moment.
Our fighting men have been promised
that we would make total war"
They have been promised that we
would back the attack"
They have been promised that coun-
tries subjugated by the Axis, when lib
Grated, would be returned to their
peoples and have the fright of self
determination.
They have been promised that in the
postwar world there would be four free
doms, including freedom from want"
and freedom from fear"
At the date Of this writing, we have
ample evidence that the people Of
America have not the slightest inten-
ton of fulfilling these promises.
Total war" means only one thing:
The civilian population gives the same
devotion to its allotted tasks that is
demanded OF the drafted combstants.
Voluntary, even enthusiastic submission
to a National Service Act is the only
possible fulf1llment by an honest people
Of promise No. !.
The hating Of one days work in es-
sential production Is no less treason
than being AWOL on D-day. A regi-
ment short Of ammunition and supplies
in the midst Of an attack will pay the
penalties which were due the workers
who abandoned them. Until we have
the courage to say to ourselves: I'VE
must work or submit to the same dis
ciplines as drafted soldier who leaves
the firing line" we are hypocrites who
have broken our faith with our sons; we
deny our promise No. 2.
When in Algiers we dealt first with
the Vichyites and then with the
Giraudists and De Gaullists, when In
Italy we re-estabnshed the rule Of the
King and Badoglio, and when on May
16 we announced that the royal fam
lilies Of Norway, Holland and Belgium
would be restored to the rule Of their
peoples as soon as their countries were
freed" we broke the pledge of the At
lantic Charter, which is also a pledge
to our fighting men. We, ourselves, de-
termined for these unfortunate people
the form OF their future governments
governments which played their part in
the economic ruin of Europe prior to
their fight from the Nazi juggernaut.
From this 1t is to be assumed that King
George will be restored In Greece, and
the old dictatorship of the landed aris-
tocracy in Poland. Promise No. 8 has
been torn up.
In order to have the slightest chance
to fulfill our promise Of freedom from
want" the tremendous agricultural
capacity of the United States must be
developed fully. Only National Serv-
ice Act which places able-bodied women
and men disqualified for combat in fac
tories producing farm machinery and
fertilizers, and in the fields and dairies,
and In the processing plants, can fulfill
promise No. in respect to our own
needs or those Or friendly nations.
The remaining promise is freedom
from fear" This can refer only to the
fear Of recurrent wars and acts of ag-
gression. This war and the last war
were started by totalitarian aristocra-
cies. Our fighting men are entitled to
know in plain language what our war
aims are In respect to these sources of
military terror. They are entitled to
know what is planned for the future Of
the enemy peoples who survive in the
defeated totalitarian countries. II this
plan Is sane AID constructive in regard
to disarmed Axis proletariat, 1t should
be announced now, for 1t would be q
powerful weapon to shorten the war and
reduce the loss Of life. II we have no
such plan, or if it is q plan in which
Russia and China cannot fully CO.
operate, then again we have failed
our sons.
A country that cannot keep faith with
its own soldiers has little reason to hope
for the trust ard confidence of its allies.
I make bold to suggest that we who
are the parents Of drafted sons have
special obligation to see that our Re-
public fulflls its promises. The logical
step on our part is to organize to bring
pressure upon our Representatives in
the Congress to pass the National Serv-
ice Act, and to compel the administra-
ton and the Department of State to
adhere to such international principles
and commitments as they have an
nounced already in cooperation with
Britain, Russia and China.
CHARLES LAW WATKINS