Evening star., 1945-06-11
Letters to The Star

In War Against the Japs
To the Editor Of The Star:
Maj. George Fielding Eliot has sug-
gested the use of poison gas by the
United States forces against Japan.
Truly one can't help wondering whether
at bottom we Americans have one bit
| more respect for moral (Christian
standards in dealing with problems than
have our enemies. If you ask me, the
"good-natured, kindly, friendly Amer
leans" are just like any of the other
peoples of the world, except where the
principles of Jesus Christ have seeped
deep into the consciousness of individ-
uals or groups. Shame on Maj. Eliot.
God grant that this cruel war may end
quickly. or we all shall be practicing
the rules of the jungle-ruthless, real
istic" force instead of Christian humil-
ity and understanding.
Let America beware! Some day she
may have to take" what today she
gives" Where are todays Christians2
B. E. r., Veteran.
To the Editor Of The Star
Maj. George Fielding Eliot, in his
article Gas Against the Japanese" ap-
pears to have suffered q relapse. He
seems to be back to the bad Judgment
he showed around the time of Pearl
Harbor when he felt that all we had
to do to the Nipponese was few weeks
Of mopping up.
The late Adolf Hitler promised not
TO use gas during the progress of World
War II, and he kept his word 1t Is
becoming increasingly easy for military
men who, as fighters have failed to
attain the objective on time or who,
as writer's, have failed to guess right,
to demand the use OF poison gas against
our enemies. Certainly the women of
the American and Chinese republics are
not asking for gas to be used against
the hordes of Hirohito.
But tossing humanitarianism to the
four winds, the major is in error from
point of overall strategy.
Let us assume momentarily that we
use poison gas on the Nipponese. Nat
urally they will use it against us, and
our troops will be provided with q
supply Of gas masks, amination
equipment and the like But China and
Great Britain now are the two other
OF the Big Three" in World War II;
and have we consulted their wishes?
Would Generalissimo Chang Kai-shek
be willing to have the lives of hun
dreds of thousands Of his soldiers de-
stroyed because they had no gas masks
and because we were in a hurry to
capture few caves and pillboxes? How
long would it take us to recover the
ground which the Chinese automati-
cally would have to concede to the Japs
once gas were used by the latter? And
how long, if ever, would it be before
we could recover the good will of the
Chinese which we wilfully would lose
tary men?
1t sounds very brave for those with
military titles to talk of "gassing EN-;
but 1t takes brave nurse to see those
boys in hospitals coughing up bloody
sections of their lungs until they die.
1t isn't very funny.
MISS CHIU CHUN-MUI.
To the Editor of Tn. Star:
Many a parent will agree with the
letter Of Tl5 Raymond c. Ferrel in
The Star, advocating that German pris-
oners be used in the Pacific theater of
operations instead of American SOL
diers for common labor. AS he well
points out, it is indefensible to send
young Americans to build roads, air
fields and barracks, when hundreds of
thousands of German prisoners are
Laying their time away, enjoying good
American food right here at home. 1t
Just doesn't make sense.
Many more parents will agree even
more heartily with the strong, thor
oughly reasoned article by Maj. George
Fielding Eliot, urging that gas be used
against the Japs as means of saving
hundreds of thousands of American
lives and other hundreds of thousands
of broken bodies in warfare against an
enemy that has determined to make his
defeat as costly as possible and whose
fanatically propagandized soldiers are
prepared to die by millions, provided
they can bring about the death of even
more millions of Americans. And they
are ready to do precisely that.
To oppose use of gas on the grounds of
humanity is nonsense. The most ter
rible weapon of death and destruction
ever used in the world is the new jelly
gasoline and phosphorous bomb. If the
truth were known, it probably would
be recorded that hundreds of thousands
of Japanese have lost their lives in
hurricanes of the flaming, soaring
bombs dropped from the skies. We do
not hesitate because we know they are
making war against us to the bitter end
and unless overwhelmingly defeated
will plan to retrieve their defeat even
though 1t takes them a hundred years
to accomplish it. Compared with these
devastating incendiary weapons, to send
Japanese soldiers and munition work.
ers to join their ancestors by means of
asphyxiating gas is humane.
ROSSEL EDWARD MITCHELL.