The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1946-01-17

an airing - good, old-fashioned air.
Ing at the one source where lies the
authority to correct it: the Congress.
A soldiers grippe is one thing. From
all sounds rumbling around the world
right now, however, this appears to be
something else again. If, as one officer
IN the Pacific has been quoted as say
ing It's the work of communists with
IN the Army" then we should know it
ana take steps to correct it. On the
o1her hand, if the CT has a legitimate
complaint - if our Army has abused
us privileges of rank to the detriment
Oh the men - then that too should be
corrected. +
It was to be expected that our citi-
zen-soldiers, draftees for the most part.
would find plant with any program
no matter how well executed and how
speedily carried out, to bring them
home and demobilize them into civilian
life. The men, UNDERSTANDABLE, were
war-weary, lonesome and tired of the
RECOMMENDATION imposed by military life.
They seemed to be enduring their over
seas duties, however, until badly-ad-
vised announcement from the War De-
partment said the rehabilitation pro-
gram would be slowed down. The re-
versal of that policy 49, the showdown
policy 49, simply served, in the eyes of
most people and especially the home
sick CT, to prove that it wasn't neces-
sary in the first place to keep more
millions of troops overseas than We had
legitimate use for.
But the complaints about getting
home more quickly are minor compared
to the charges now arising: charges
from the ranks indicting the whole
Army system.
: What are these charges, conveyed
in the manner of soldier-demands for
reforms which would wipe out the
traditional line marking commissioned
officers from the rank-and-file of their
troops?
First, the men ask identical living
quarters be provided for officers and
enlisted men. Secondly, they propose
that mess facilities be shared without
distinction of rank. Thirdly, they ask
that privileges of rank be abolished
and that officers clubs be opened to all
military personnel on pay-as-you go
basis. Next these soldier demands pro-
pose that at least one enlisted man sit
on every military court trying an enlist
ed man for a military offense. And
lastly, it is proposed that all commits
sions be awarded from the ranks, ex-
cept in time Of war.
To the civilian who has not served
in the armed forces these demands may
not bear much significance. To the Of
ficers and men whose lives have been
governed for some years by military
law, customs and traditions, the de-
mands are tremendous, revolutionary
and far reaching in possible conse-
quence.
It is not our immediate concern to
diagnose these demands as good or bad.
Much can be said either way on each
of them.
But it is our concern, and it should
be the concern of every intelligent
American citizen, to find out what has
transpired during these recent years
that results in such demands being
made. Has our Army produced officers
whose sense of responsibilities to their
men has been so. lacking that a legiti-
mate complaint against discrimination
has foundation? Have our Army offic-
ers abused their privileges, and if so
why hasn't the Army corrected the
abuses? Has the contrast between en-
listed man and commissioned officer
been so sharply defined to suggest
discrimination against the former in
the matter of living quarters, messes
and recreational facilities?