The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1945-06-14

CLSAl1Co luAlIlAilS. L dSkGQ dIlOLn6r MS
age and he told me he was 20 and
that he was the co-pilot of one of
these mammoth bombers that fire.
quently fly 5000 miles on a mission.
These youngsters made up in part
the brave crew of a BIG bomber.
They are the fellows who are carry
ing destruction to the Japanese
homeland, wrecking the war indus
tries, and spreading confusion and
doing as much as anybody to shorten
the length of this bloody war
81 found everywhere in the Paci-
fic men were curious to know what
was going on back home. Did the
people know of the relentless, bloody
and cruel war that was being waged
in the Pacific? Did they understand
the heat and the hazards of the war
against the Japanese? Did they know
that all was activity throughout this
whole area, that men were striving
with might and main to win victory
at the earliest possible moment
'How was the nation taking Presi-
dent Truman? Had they closed
ranks behind him? Was he making
good President? / asked them
what they thought and they thought
universally that he was doing very
well indeed. Having been a soldier
himself, they said, in the first World
War, they thought he would under
stand the problems and difficulties
of the fighting men more so than
some other person might under
stand them.
I'VE can be proud of the accomp-
lishments of our Army and Navy in
the Islands of the Pacific. Almost
unbelievable miracles have been
accomplished. On one of the flights
on our trip there was an over-water
hop of 100 miles. 1t was advisable
! to have some place to come down
on this trip in the event of engine
trouble, bad weather, or lack of
fuel. There was very small island
about midway on this fight. We flew
over it but did not land. It was
but dot in the vast Pacific area.
However, in order to provide an
emergency landing field, our mill
tary forces had extended this island
one-quarter mile by heaping up the
coral on the reef and turning it
into an airplane runway. This is
typical of the work being done in
the Pacific.
ION another island in the Mar
shall group, which we captured from
the japanese, a plane lands and
takes off every fifteen minutes, day
and night, for this particular base
is virtually the crossroads of the
Pacific. More planes land and take
off there in single day than land
and take off from LaGuardia Field,
our biggest airport in New York
City Near this base are many
islands still held by the japanese.
Of course, no one flies over these
islands, lest they be shot at by Jap
anti-aircraft guns; rather we circle
such places at a distance from six
to eight miles from the shore. From
our plane we could look down on
the islands and see the Japanese
air strips and sometimes smoke
arising where they were working.
Frequently our Army and Navy
fiiers bomb these strips so that the
Japs cannot use them. However, as
soon as we bomb, the Japs start
repairing them all over again.
''In the Mariannas Islands, from
which our giant BIG planes take
off for Tokyo, we have made many
improvements and extended and
strengthened our installations al
most beyond belief. Between the
Islands of Guam and Tinian in this
group lies the Jap held Island of
Rota. There are still about 1000
Japs on this Island. AS we flew
from Guam to Saipan over Rota, we
skirted it at about a distance of
six miles from shore to avoid JAP
anese anti-aircraft fire. Of course,
we were out of range. Here again
we could see the Jap air strips which
our military forces continually
bomb.
1--WE do not take such islands, al
though the taking would be com
paratively easy and although the
islands would be useful to us. Our
military and naval commanders in
this area state, however, that they
do not actually have to have such
places, at least for the time being.
and they do not want to expend
several hundred American lives in
conquering territory that is not
vital to our ultimate victory over
Japan. Thus, standing on Guam YOU
can look over to Rota, which is held