Evening star., 1949-11-02
Fight in Congress Held
Likely on Nomination
OF Admiral Sherman
Writer Asks Whether
New Navy Chief Agreed
To Submeree Views
By David Laurence

10 Submerge Views
By David La,crence
Does the new Chief of Naval
Operations, Admiral Forrest Sher-
man, have independent views OF
has he agreed to submerge them
and reflect only the views of Sec
retary johnson and Secretary
Matthews?
When Admiral Sherman testi-
fles next January before the Sen.
ate committee which considers
his confirmation, will he express
his own views or will he tell the
Senate what his superiors want
him to say?
VIII any Chief of Naval Opera
lions hereafter be believed by Con.
gress, now that punishment has
been meted out to Admiral Den
field for expressing his convic-
tions?
These are questions which un-
fortunately becloud the so-called
"unif1cation" efforts in the Penta-
gon.
Fight on Nomination Likely.
Few members of the House
Armed Services Committee really
believe that Admiral Denfeld was
ousted because of anything that
happened prior to his testimony
or that he really was informed OF
any such purpose on October 4
as claimed. The best answer tc
that point is the very general feel
ing hereabouts that, if Admiral
Denfeld had not, on October 10
testified in opposition to the views
of Secretary Matthews on naval
aviation, there would not have
been any removal because of any,
thing that occurred prior to these
hearings.
A fight in Congress on the Sher-
man nomination may develop.
This isn't because of any antipa-
thy to the new Chief of Naval
Operations but because he is a
symbol of what many people in
the Navy think is wrong-the ap-
pointment Of a Chief of Naval
Operations after secret confer
ences held to ascertain his, views
and not because he might be the
best man for the job. To put it
another way, the high officers
eligible for promotion to the post
are being punished because they
will not abandon their technical
point of view on the requirements
of the Navy in favor of the polit-
ical requirements.
Who will speak for. the Navy
now? An address by the Under
secretary Of the Navy, Dan A.
Kimball. on Tuesday in Cincinnati
makes some interesting points.
First of all, Mr.. Kimball reiter-
ates what he said a year ago about
the right Of free speech in Amer
lea, and adds that the armed
services are made up Of "men
with strong opinions, strongly
held-epinions based upon the
varied experiences Of many mems
1ifetimes."
Next Mr.. Kimball stresses the
value of competition in America
and points out that the presence
of an air force of 1and-based
flyers and an air force of naval
flyers makes for real spirit and
Zest in research and in aviation
achievements.
But the most important point
Mr.. Kimball made was in his ref
erences to the battle of Okinawa,
which was not just an island
hopping affair" but the largest
land operation the United States
undertook In the Pacific prior to
the proposed invasion Of Japan.
Core Of Controversy.
Mr.. Kimball says:
"The battle for Okinawa was
the last great campaign Of the
Pacific war. The island itself is
a rugged land mass of coral, lime
stone hills and precipitous valleys.
The enemy took full advantage
of every terrain feature. To take
Okinawa was no small task. The
magnitude Of the operation may
be judged by the fact that $50, 900
United States Army troops. Ma
rines and Navy Seabees went
ashore before the island was Sc
cured. A fleet Of 1900 vessels
was required to carry these troops
and to supply them with ammu-
milton, food, medicine, stores, and
the thousands Of different tech
nical items required to fight q
modern war. This immense fleet
was obliged to remain in the re-
stricted waters around Okinawa
for 72 days while unloading went
on under the most difficult con-
ditions in the open sea. Protec-
tion for that fleet was provided
by Navy and Marine ayiators
from aircraft carriers.
''They were the sole air support
for the landing, and they contin-
ued to support the forces ashore
until Army engineers and Seabee
battalions, working shoulder to
shoulder, could build landing
strips ashore.
1--WE do not know precisely how
many planes the Japanese put
into the air, first from Okinawa
and later from nearby Jap-held
shore bases. but we do know they
lost 1880 aircraft, of which 4,155
were shot down by planes of the
fleet. During the three months
from March % to June %, 1945,
!. the Japanese made hysterical ef-
forts to drive us of the beachhead.
Their efforts to repel us cost SO
United States vessels sunk and 231
g damaged. OF the SO vessels sunk.
; IA were destroyers and escorts.
The rest were smaller craft. Sew
i eral of our larger vessels were
damaged. but not one American
4 carrier, battleship, cruiser, or
-troon tranSnort Was lost