Evening star., 1951-07-20
Appalling, but Hardly Surprising

The military housing conditions described in
a report by the Senate Armed Services Prepared
ness Subcommittee are certainly bad enough to
warrant all the denunciatory adjectives used by
Chairman Lyndon Johnson 1t is, indeed zap
pallng" and 'disgracefu" that families Of serv-
icemen should be living in such shacks and
other makeshift quarters as are depicted in the
report. But, considering the mobilization rush
which followed the outbreak of war in Korea,
it is hardly surprising that such conditions
have arisen.
There is no condonlng, or course, the rent
gouging which the subcommittee found to exist
in a number of instances. The investigators
reported that increases of 100 per cent in rents
were commonplace" in towns adjoining the
rapidly expanded camps and that several cases
involving 500 per cent increases were discovered.
There Is no excuse for profteering at the expense
of men suddenly called to the defense of the
Nation. Noting that some of the rentals charged
seryicemen or their families did not appear un-
reasonable, the subcommittee nevertheless criti-
cized the living conditions which were forced
upon servicemens S families"
However, it is not fair to blame the COM
munities adjoining the reactivated camps for
the lack OF housing that developed after Korea.
The shortage was inevitable under the circum-
stances which prevailed as we began our hasty
~,
as the report seems to do, that local communi-
ties forced" servicemen and their families to
live in substandard quarters The Implication
was contained in the reports comment that "the
primary question was not one of rentals but of
living conditions which were forced upon service
mems families . Those who offer unfit quarters
to servicemen do not acquire dignity for their
exploitation merely by reducing the margin of
their profteering"
1t is evident, from other statements in the
report, that no forcing" was necessary to induce
the men and their families to rent converted
garages coal sheds, chicken coopS, barns" and
the like. 1t was either live there or send their
families back home-which military authorities
advised the enlisted men to do, in vain To
understand the conditions, one must remember
that at the time of the Communist invasion of
South Korea the three camps Investigated by
the subcommittee were abandoned World War II
posts Camp Breckenridge, near the town of
Morganield, Kentucky population, 4,300), has
musnroomed from ghost camp to busy train
ing center with 25,567 troops and Its civilians.
Camp Rucker, at Daleville, Alabama (popula-
ton, 1,00O), has grown into 30,o0o-man center
Camp Leonard Wood, near Waynesville, Missouri
population, 2,000), has $4,000 men, All three
camps were reactivated last summer to train
the new divisions being raised for service in
the emergency
Many Of the trainees insisted on bringing
their families with them, despite warnings of
Army officers of inadequate housing facilities
Perhaps the Army should have ordered the men
to leave their families home, instead of merely
advising them to. But there is morale factor
that must be considered in unnecessarily sep
arating men from their families and sometimes
this factor outweighs other considerations So
the camps soon filled to overhowing with mill
tary personnel and the little towns nearby were
Swamped with servicemen and their families
Small wonder that barns and sheds were pressed
into service for the overflow.
The Army Department has not been un-
concerned about this situation. Trailer camps
have been set up in some places and more are
planned Secretary Pace says that local authori-
ties have been urged to provide more and better
housing-a difficult task for communities which
saw the camps evacuated after World War II
and which have no assurance that another evac-
uation will not follow easing Of the present
emergency An Investment in housing now
could become total waste tomorrow. But more
trailer communities should be feasible And
local authorities can help to relieve conditions
by enforcing sanitary regulations exposing
pronteering and applying rent controls wherever
possible. The problem, in short, is one which
requires fine degree of cooperation between
camp officials and the residents of adjacent
towns. Apparently there was not sufficient CO.
ordination OF efforts in the first rush of the re-
mobilization program