The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1951-07-26
In The
Background
SBy The AssSclatsd PTskaI
TIE PETAIN ISSUE


sinai Pe,ain as dead bat the ar
sQneat promises 10 go echoing
down through history more or
lass forever.
The pickering actually started
long before the former Marshal
oleJ because ne made it clear
t.-at ~ wanted 10 be buried along
With tie other heroes Of Verdun
IAN siie famous cemetery Of Dou-
aJmOnt
THIS vas not 70 be. the govern
U1ent decreed burial on the little
stand Of Yeu. IN the Atlantic off
the coast Of Brittany
THIS was the answer 70 the pro-
Ietain appeals against govern
Hent haggIing over what would
Cc done with petain
The government would moi bag
gle i ordered burial without hon
81 Petain was q hero, yes But
after that. ne was traitor
But the waverlng uncertainty
about Petain is best indicated BY
what happened immediately after
he dlsd-out there on that island
Tie body was dressed in uniform
the .seven-stnred uniform of
Marshal Of France
Don't forget, Petain held rank
tHat's parallel only TO our five
atar grade--and even more exalted
ID the public mind So they dress
"a hin in that uniforTn-eVen
though the court that convicted
h.m II treason had deprived him
III al. rank and all honors Also,
in the coffin, he wore again the
fnilitafy medal--the highest hon
or lie wasn't supposed 10 be
wearing that, either, but nobody
st1pped IT,
Unfortunately for the case a
Panst Petain, he lived too long
BE was 80 when he was found
guilty Of treason for collaborat-
Jag With the Nazis during the war.
lie was sentenced to be shot
but tie sentence was committed
70 life Imprisonment. After all, a !
geetufe how long could he live?
lie Owed six years--six years in
Which, q lot Of hearts softened.
On January 18th Of this year came
the 3sth anniversary Of the Bat
tie Of. Verdun-~where Petain had
earned immortality.
There was agitation TO bring the
old rqan back to the mainland.
lie was always referred to by the
Frencin as The Old One"
Thare is o group called the
Society Of Friends Of Petain,
Whicli includes o good many very
impoFtant people. And there is no
indication that the marshars death
will put an end TO the society's
activities. II has already issued an
appeal for prayers for the soul
~ Petain.
II is the argument Of those who
support him that Petain never
really did play ball with the Ger
uanSa
Thdy contend that he only did
the best he could for the French
people covertly supporting the
allies all the while.
This was the defense brought
So the court at the treason trial.
II was pretty well undermined
by the prosecution. For instance:
petain never did revoke his order
10 the French Navy To resist the
allies in Africa.
II was known back in World
War i that Petain disliked the
British and held American sold
iers in contempt
Hardly anybody in France is en-
tlrely neutral in this argument
can YOU live down treason before
you commit it?
Henri Petain was born in the
north Of France In 1856. He was rs
when the Prussians defeated
France And he decided TO be-
come a soldier. He went to the
military school~-but his career
was singularly undistinguished
lie was a colonel when World
War J broke out, He was 81 when
the great German attack at Yer
dun began. BY ruthless measures.
uch as shooting men for coward
ice. Petain held the line for the
long weeks Of that battle~one of
the worst in the history of war
lie was an icy and hard boiled
eoneral--but he got results And
be- was until 1910 the savior of
FRANCE second only 10 Marshal
F0ch.
The older he got, the more the
French people loved him. We in
Amofica never have built quite
such a pedestal under any soldier
iust for soldering.
Anyway petain was just the
man they needed to surrender the
fFurd republic in ls40-and TO take
over the peculiar dictatorship UNI
der the Germans,
II lasted until the collapse OF
Germany, when Petain was taken
under protest to Germany, only TO
joe brought back 90 trial
It Was all over on August 18th,
945 and the Marshal has been
On the little island ever since.
Now, the clash over ideals rs as