Evening star., 1946-10-02
Bradley Due 10 Repl,
To 5teIIe' 5 Charges
Before Legion Today
By George Beveridse,
sior Staff Correspondent

least two hrSt-rate American Legion
rows" are due to come to the front
today, with Veterans AdminiStra-
tor Omar Bradley promising to an
swer Comdr. John Stelle's charge
that he has broken faith" with vet
Grams, and Marion Hargrove here to
open fire on a red-hot internal or.
ganization battle.
Beyond broad defense of the re-
cent on-the-job training program
limitations, Gen. Bradley deferred
any other comment until he appears
before the Legion conventions Sec
ond plenary session late this after
noon.
Mr.. Stelle made his charges in an
annual report that alleged on-the-
lob training has been turned into a
"WPA project" and "pauper act"
Although Mr. Stelle committed his
organization to the views, there has
been surprisingly little reaction here
among delegates, who, for the most
part, sare content to leave the next
step to Gen. Bradley.
Warns Against Navy Cuts.
Undersecretary of Navy John L.
Sullivan, in addressing the Legion
today, warned delegates that the
Navy must not be reduced below
its present minimum" strength.
Emphasizing that the Navy has
been reduced from peak of nearly
100000 to 571 .671 men, Mr.. Sulli-
van said he has mot only the hope
but the confidence" that U. N. will
become a guarantor of peace, but
added:
This minimum naval force can
not be substantially reduced until
the United Nations has proved its
ability to preserve the peace"
Immediately following the cessa-
ton of hostilities. in 1918 the United
States led the world in disarma-
ment," he recalled. "To such an
extent did we carry out our DEM
onstration that it was only at the
appalling cost of rows of white
crosses all over the world and un-
marked graves in every ocean that
we finally saved America. That
major error must not be repeated.
Halsey Also Speaks.
The Navy official also asked the
legion to take a strong stand
against sinister and purposeful
minorities," and declared that
every one within our borders must
adapt himself to the spirit of our
institutions and conform to the
basic principles of our laws"
Admiral w, F. Halsey. wartime
commander of the Sd Fleet, asserted
the United States should maintain
q powerful Navy and IAN adequate
network of bases in our ocean areas"
A Navy redesigned on the basis
of information cleaned from the
Bikini atom bomb tests, he said.
could serve the Nation well in an
atomic age.
"The possibilities of employing a
speedy, mobile feet in an atomic
counterattack are very promising"
he declared.
Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, Sc
lective service director, urged uni
versal military training as the best
insurance against .our national
existence and scoffed at the isIeGl
that the atomic age would mean q
war involving only few technicians
on the shooting end.
'In the future" he said Eve must
train every one to know what to do
to survive
Post Was Denied Charter.
Mr. Hargrove, author of "See Here
Pvt. Hargrove,, and commander of
the Duncan-Paris Post in New York.
arrived by plane today. The post
was denied a permanent Legion
charter on September 13 by the New
York. Department because of alleged
communist activity within the unit.
Here for the avowed purpose of
forcing the issue before the conven-
tion, Mr.. Hargrove will be met by
the posts vice commander, Justin
Gray, a paid Legion employe and as
sistant chief of the organizations
Americanism Committee.
The Duncan-Paris Post officially
became "ex" very quietly Sunday,
when the Executive Committee pro-
nounced it dead along with about a
dozen other inactive" groups. Al
ranking member of the committee
said that although Mr.. Hargrove
wired a protest demand for a hear
ing, the wire hadn't been received
when the action was taken. He also
emphasized that the move was
merely confirmation" of the States
rejection of the charter.
Rights in Dispute.
The points of State power and
right of redress for any group in the
organization, are two of the issues in
dispute, according to Mr.. Gray.
If Mr.. Hargrove demands an Ex-
ecutive Committee hearing and is
referred back to the New York De-
partment, his only recourse this
week probably will be to force the
matter on to- the convention floor.
hit o1d pl1ar6 I,epionnajreS doubt