St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1945-07-06

clean but hard McALPIN
blows.
1t was a smooth bit of strategy
to put Col. B. o. Davis, Jr., in COM
mand of the 477th Composite
Group (Fighter-Bomber), and then
four days later announce referral
to a General Court Martial of the
cases of the three officers who have
been held in arrest since early in
April on charges of violating the
64th Article of War in connection
with entering white officers
club"
1t was even smoother strategy
for Maj. Gen. Frank Old. Hunter,
commanding General of the First
Air Force who is the real force
behind the discriminatory policies
and practices which have provoked
the men of the 477th-to name an
all-Negro court, including Col.
Davis, to hear the charges pre-
ferred by "his boy" Col. Robert
Selway.
This is all designed, apparently,
to take the heat off the War De-
partment when the three men are
convicted-if they are. They would
then be convicted by members of
their own race-so the cry of dis
elimination logically could not be
made.
And it is almost certain they will
be convicted. In the Army's court
martial procedures, extenuating
circumstances do not count. All
the court seeks to determine is did
you do it or didn't you. 1t will
listen to the mitigating or extenu-
ating circumstances, but will give
them no weight in the decision.
So, since we swallowed the trans
fer of command at Goldman without
insisting these pending cases be
cleared up first, let's admit we were
out-maneuvered. It will accomplish
US little to raise a howl about the
courtmartial decision.
But, there is a weak point in the
War Departments defense through
which we might throw some pun
ishing blows. How about Maj.
Gen. Hunter and Col. Selway? Are
they to go scot-free, without being
charged and courtmartialed for
having deliberately misapplied and
misinterpreted Army regulations?
Such dishonesty is not becoming an
officer of the United States and
must certainly violate some of the
Articles of War.
Col. Selway, carrying out Gen.
Hunters orders and policy, issued
a base regulation (No. 1922 on
April 9, 1915, and ordered all the
Negro officers to sign an endorse
ment to indicate they had read and
understood it. Refusal of 101 of the
officers to sign is what led to their
arrest and subsequent reprimand-
which is still part of their per-
sonnet files, so far as any of them
know.
The base regulation set up sepa-
rate facilities of all kinds for what
it described as two different types
of personnel-base, command and
supervisory personnel in one group,
and "trainee" personnel in another.
The authority for the regulation
was given as "Army Air Force
Standards authorizing Separate
Curfewing."
Col. Selway and Gen. Hunter
knew, however, that medical Off
GERS who had qualified as fight sur
geons, who had completed all the
required Army medical training,
who had behind them years of pri-
vate medical practice, could not be
classified as "trainees." But they
were-because they were Negroes.
Let's admit we were caught by
sleeper" when the War Depart
ment held back any action on the
cases of Its. Roger Terry, Marsden
Thompson and Shirley Clinton, I'M
til after Col. Davis had been put in
command with pomp and ceremony.
But let's get up from the canvas
at the count of nine and start
throwing punches until Col. Selway
and Gen. Hunter go down for the
count.
Army justice in time of war is a
grim thing-but it should work the
same for everyone, regardless of