St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1946-01-18


indicated that their first intention
upon being returned home was to
get things straight" again. They
had bravely talked about taking
their rights for which they had
much tremendous sacrifices to win.
Politicians quaked in their boots;
homefront slackers lived in hourly
fear Of the return Of the men who
accepted the responsibility and to
whom should go the greater share
Of the glory.
The sacrifices to which they were
subjected while in the services were
to be made up for by greater op-
portunities at home.
But it seems that all was talk and
instead Of action, the boys get
ting off the ships and planes every
days are more concerned with "see-
ing the sights" and having a good
time as reward for their long
periods Of service than with imme-
date Improvement Of their position.
All of this adds up to a pretty
ominous future for the veteran. As
long as he was on the battlefield,
he could get certain things through
demand and public sympathy. AS a
civilian, he is submerged in the COM
mon struggle to get ahead in the
postwar world.
To the average citizen who didn't
go overseas and who didn't have
close relatives in the armed forces,
the veteran CT or sailor is a no
body. He'll clap in applause for
him when the veteran is introduced
in a nightclub; he'll listen for a
few moments to the veterans re-
counting Of some of his experiences
while on the other side, but event
ually he moves on or tries to change
the conversation to something that
has more interest for him personal
ly than things he didn't experience.
AS a result of the apathy Of the
veteran to get organized and into
the stream Of American life, labor
has moved in and is far in front in
demanding what it wants from in
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The only tangible squawk coming
from veterans, on the other hand, is
from the boys still in occupation
forces in conquered countries who
want to come home. And those
squawks-amplified by present War
Department delays affecting hun
dreds Of thousands of irate and
wait-weary GI's-are today begin
ming to be poured in volume into
the ears Of Congress and the
American people. Those already
back have been too quiet. The
homesick GI's in Europe and the
Pacific - once back here - didn't
make themselves heard.
Negro soldiers in particular are
facing a bad situation. Unless they
talk up in an organized fashion,
they'll be left holding the bag be-
cause the American way today is
for the individual to get ahead,
either collectively or individually,
and most Of the isms and causes for
which the war was fought have
been discarded with the end of the
war.
The four Freedoms have turned
out to be a myth; so have other
slogans, including democracy" etc.
Everybody now is jockeying for
position because the future doesn't
look too easy. 1t may even come
to pass that the depression may
come on so suddenly that we all will
be caught up in it.
Among the things our soldiers
and other servicemen should organ
ize Immediately to demand are (D
proper housing facilities instead of
Quonset Huts; (2) jobs that pay
decent salaries; (3) political and
social rights. To date, little has
been done about these things so far
as l can ascertain. Therein lies the
danger. The boys who want to
nightclub it, have a little fun etc.
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