Evening star., 1945-10-08
Annapolis Grip on NovyRonk
Reported Broken by Truman

restal with notation that all the
plums were falling as usual to An
napolis and that surely the global
war had developed reserve officers
of sufficient capacity to fly an
admiral's flag.
In our town of Washington
word from the President constitutes
a hint of iron.
No Choice But to Obey.
The admirals had no choice but
to obey. They have altered the list,
and Navy circles are buzzing with
stories of their efforts to arrive at
a compromise which will satisfy the
President but not diminish the lus-
ter of the old school tie.
Two reserve officers are being
mentioned as lucky beneficiaries of
Truman's determination to inf1l-
trate the Annapolis front. One
is his own naval aide, Commodore
James K Vardaman The other
is Capt. Gene Markey, Hollywood
producer-his successes there also
include marriages to glamour girls
Joan Bennett and Hedy Lamar.
This solution if true will not meet
the problem. according to the
boards critics.
Without personal animus to Capt.
Markey who is popular, they believe
he will not either remain in the
service or aggressively push the
cause of the reserve. One critic
declares that Markey's promotion
to captain startled even him. He
said that Capt. Markey on learning
of it, in a burst of happy candor
told the story of the Jewish boy
who made fortune, then satisfied
his life's ambition to own a boat.
In his elation the new owner bought
a complete captains outfit and re-
turned home to show the folks.
When he had done explaining, his
mother, as Markey tells the tale,
said obviously: Able, to me you're
captain, to papa you're captain,
but to captain are you captain?"
Plan Own Spokesman.
The reserve wants to see admirals
named who will be admirals to the
admirals. They feel that only in
that way can the reserve get the
dignity and recognition it must have
if the best interests of national
defense are to be served.
This group is forming an organ
ization to keep alive reserve inter-
ests in a strong Navy. They will
shortly have their own spokesman
and outlet in the form of maga-
zine which is about to hit the stands.
Their object is to help maintain
national defense at a high level in
stead of having it sink down in the
intervals between wars. They con-
tend that one reason the American
people lose interest in defense is be-
cause the civilians who get into the
services during wartime get such a
pushing around from the regulars
Both the Army and Navy throw
recklessly away In wartime their
chances to win friends and influence
people outside the ranks, 1t is as
serted.
War correspondents bear out the
truth of these contentious. which
are equally true of both services
Recently civilian officer, his breast
blazing with campaign ribbons and
decorations, exploded from the
Pentagon Building, waving $40 bill
and shouting, "I'll give this to any
West Pointer who isn't brigadier
general"
The Navy is a hard nut to crack.
1t Is the vested interest of the
adnirals and they don't care for
any back talk. Most civilian secre-
taries 90 along, notable exception
being Josephus Daniels. The Tar
heel editor was stubborn too, un-
fortunately he made his great fight
on an issue which did not endear
him to the rank and file when he
dried up the Navy. The late Frank
Knox went along, possibly a wise
course under Mr.. Roosevelt.
The Nays friends declare the
selections board is chastened since
President Truman took it to the
White House woodshed for paternal
remonstance. The new lists will
shed light on the extent of its re-
pentance.