Evening star., 1949-10-07
BY Froncis P. DouoIos


His friends-and he has many
in the Navy-reject this idea. One
Of them said his present course
stems from "his bulldog tenacity"
to fight for what he believes to
be right for the Navy and for the
country.
At the white brick Georgetown
home where he lives. Capt. Crom-
melin. 47-year- -old Navy aviator,
was told yesterday afternoon that
Admiral Denfeld, chief of Naval
Operations, had been directed to
prefer charges against him.
THAT means court-martial, !"
Capt. Crommelin remarked in a
matter-of-fact manner. I'm not
surprised"
Prefers to Tell Congress.
He was asked if he welcomed
this development.
= "I don't welcome general
court-martial," he replied. 1T
would be much better, in the in
terest OF the country's defense, to
be called before Congress. It is
fundamental for the people and
Congress to know the situation IN
the Department of Defense.
The court-martial he regarded
as incidental" to his general OBJ
jective. Asked just how he would
state that objective. he thought a
minute and then, wrinkling his
brow under his sandy hair, he
answered slowly:
my basic objective is to get the
security of the United States back
on the rails and to awaken the
American people to the necessity
of their taking a more active in
terest in the defense establish
ment."
His slow, almost hating speech
it may be the result of the strain
of recent days-gives no indica-
ton Of the man of action. His
friends will tell you of that part
of his career, which has been a
distinguished one, and relate Incl
dents to show he is one of the
hottest" pilots in naval aviation.
Survived Sinking, Burns.
In 1943, Capt. Crommelin was
chief of staff to Rear Admiral
Henry M. Mullinix aboard the car
rier Liscome Bay. It is no part of
the job of a top staff aff1cer to fly
q fighter plane. but in the landing
on Tarawa, Capt. Crommelin took
a fighter and Joined in raking the
island with his fire.
In November, 1943, the Liscome
Bay was torpedoed and sunk. Ad-
miral Mullinx was lost. Capt.
Crommelin crawled out of a haw-
serhole. He was burned. but he
was saved. He spent period in
a hospital at Pearl Harbor and
then returned to duty.
One friend-he said he dis
agreed with Capt. Crommelin's
views. had argued with him for
months, but felt Capt. Crommelin
should have the right to state his
opinions-said that, if the captain
had only kept quiet, he would
have been an admiral shortly.
He said Capt. Crommelin's name
was high on the list Of captains.
But Capt. Crommelin emphati-
eally is not keeping quiet.
Sitting in an arm chair in the
attractive living room of his home
at 1913 Thirtieth street NV. he
discussed the train OF explosive
events that he touched off. A
bulging brief case and an addi-
tional pile of papers were beside
him.
He is tall and his well knit
figure recalls his service with the
Annapolis varsity boxing squad
for three years. He spoke quietly.
He put on glasses to read para
graph from, one of the documents
taken from the brief case. Then
off would come the glasses to be
waved in his hand to emphasize a
point. His long upper lip never
lost its severity in a smile.
He was disinclined to talk about
himself. He spoke instead of his
aims. 1t was conversation
carried on between telephone calls,
the return of a small daughter
from school who was sent off again
to dancing school, visitors at the
door and cameramen coming to
film Capt. Crommelin for the
newsreels and television.
Capt. Kane Is Counsel.
But if Capt. Crommelin would
not talk about himself, his long
time friend and Annapolis class
mate, Capt. Joseph L. Kane,
would. Capt. Kane has been asked
by Capt. Crommelin to act as his
counsel in facing the charges to
be filed against him. Capt. Kane
was already on the job yesterday
afternoon.
Capt. Crommelin admitted he
gave to reporters confidential"
official correspondence in which
three top admirals expressed con-
cern about the Navy's morale and
the Navy's position under unifica-
ton of the armed services. This
action of Capt. Crommelin led to
his suspension from duties and
the restriction of his movements.
Capt. Kane was asked: What
makes Capt. Crommelin tick?"
"He is an expert on morale; it
has been his major interest for a
number of years." was the ready
answer. Morale is the main thing
in conflict. Capt. Crommelin has
studied the campaigns Of the past
war and in earlier history to learn
what part morale has played.
"He looked to his men to see