Detroit evening times., 1946-01-08
GERMANY today is an utterly defeated
VI nation.

" nation.
The land of Hitler is so crushed that
one can actually feel pity at the sight of
ruined cities and the whipped-dog hope
lessness of a people who willingly or un-
willingly followed their gangster leaders
to doom.
One goes to Germany today with
newsreel memory of what the place looks
like, and he says to himself, "Well they
asked for it!
But the actual sight of the wrecked
churches, hospitals, museums, and the
numb despair i'm the eyes of a starving
people now trying to remedy the chaos
caused, eventually touches the heart-nO
matter how Systematically one makes him
self remember Lidice, Warsaw, Buchen-
wald, Dachau and Germany's other sins
against humanity.
Our officers and troops In Germany have
lost most of their bitterness. Many now can
feel the emotion Of pity despite what they
went through to bring Germany TO this Just
status. Americans, especially, hunger for no
more revenge. Indeed. they have little time
for anything except the enormous job of gov
erning their share of a chaotic and desperate
remnant of nation.
TTWAS at Wiesbaden that our plane dropped
Il into the battered land that sought to domi-
nate the world. An aide to 1t. Gen. John *.
Cannon, commanding general of American oc-
cupational air forces, met us at the flattened
airport and took us through the Uttered city
to headquarters for aSconference on U. 5. var
surpluses in that area.
HEARD, ONCE AGAIN, THE COM
PLANT THAT DEMOBILIzATION AND
THE LACK OF PROPERLY TRAINED RE-
PLACEMENTS ARE GRIPPING OUR
EFFORTS TO PROTECT MAINTAIN AND
OPERATE OUR SURPRISES AND FUNC-
TIONS IN GERMANY.
We regretted missing Eisenhower who had
Just gone home. Gen. Bedell Smith, Gen.
Eisenhower's great chief of staff, is especially
concerned over our impending loss of billions
of dollars worth of supplies vast proper
ton of which cannot be brought back to the
United States, or would do us little good if
they were brought back.
TNHIS officer has recommended to Wash
Il ington that we now turn over to France
and England all the surplus property they
need and settle on price later. This to me,
seems very practical solution.
Those two countries eventually will get
what they want from us, anyway, and for
variety of reasons. If we can give them the
stuff now he reasons, we will at least save
the cost of maintaining 100000 men overseas
to guard and care for this surplus and get
them home sooner.
sample Of the deterioration Of our serv-
ices in Europe is the fact that 353 of the $50
highly trained air transport weather fore
casters, radar and radio men who operated
our airnes there have been returned to the
states.
In their stead are rs green men. Gen.
Cannon has wisely forbidden planes to fly
unless weather is clear and the planes are
mechanically perfect. The result of this ruling
is that we now have only 10 per cent opera
ton, and huge backlog of woud-be air pas
sengers. But lives are being saved.
I piloted a small plane down the Rhine
for a low-leve look at the destroyed cities,
the fower-covered graves, the blasted bridges
and-gleamng white and unscathed-Hitler's
sleek Yacht, now used by the U. S. Army.
There was little traffic on German roads;
scant rolling stock is left for Germany's rail-
roads The Rhine once leading in river
traffic now deserted except for wrecked and
overturned barges and boats sorry sight.
GERMANY is parayzed.
" l thought l knew the meaning of the
word destruction" until flew to Berlin and
landed on Templehofs short, dangerous
steel-mat runway.