The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1952-12-08
HAL
BOYLE
SAYS

NEW .1OIh vi - 0Cu. ONtSul
Eisenhower's campaign bombshell
his promise to go to Korea if
elected president-has been kept.
One of the most dramatic jour-
neys of oul generation is over.
What will be the results?
The final fruits of his visit to
the bitter Korean peninsula can
be expected to mature slowly. The
situation there is too complex to
be solved by pulling a rabbit out
Of the hat, and Gen. Eisenhower
has wisely warned he has no ready
tricks up his sleeve to end the war.
The great danger of his voyage
to see the facts at first-hand is
public impotence, a letdown into
establishment. The hopes of many
rode with him, and the hopes of
some were too high. There was
even considerable hySteria in the
minds Of many mothers, who per
haps nursed a wild maternal
dream that their sons might fol-
low the general home on the next
plane.
Gen. Eisenhower himself, of
course, encouraged rC such illu-
Sions. His own son is with a front
line division, and he has seen too
much service to promise an easy
solution to a problem tina. has BAT
fled some of the best military lead
ers who helped him forge victory
in Europe in the last war.
The present Eighth Army COM
mander, Gen. James A. Van Fleet,
has a son missing in combat in
Korea. The U. S. Army itself-the
career soldiers-suffered a high
rate of casualties, particularly in
the first six months of the war.
The war has now dragged into
its 30th month. What General Ike
wanted to do-and now has done
was to make personal tour of the
battle area, and get the picture of
the stalemate there through his
own eyes, unprecedented by prior
commitments to any single course
of action.
It is unlikely that any possible
decisive measures he feels should
be taken will become apparent i'm
mediately. In war things don't
usually go that way. 1t requires
time and planning to carry out any
major decision.
Thus it seems highly probable
that the war will go on for while
much as it has been for many
months, barring the launching of
gigantic offensive by the million
man Chinese Red army. The
Korean landscape is forbidding
enough in the summer. In winter
its frozen hills form ever more
terrible obstacles to widespread
offensive operations.
But while Eisenhower's journey
may Immediately diSappoint those
who built their hopes too high, it
already has had two heartening
effects:
l. 1t has given the troops in
Korea a tremendous morale lift.
2. It has brought ''the forgotten
war" into the hearts and minds
Of millions of Americans in a men,
orable way. For too long it has
been matter of personal concern
only to the men who fought there.
and their families and loved ones
at home.
An even greater result is that it
is likely to take the whole question
of the conduct of the war out of
the realm of partisan politics.
Eisenhower is a symbol of VIC
tory. He is firmly trusted by most
Of Americas allies as well as by
the American people. They have
faith in his military Judgment.
Whatever final course he and his
advisers decide should be taken,
the average man win probably
say: eff Ike says that's the best
way, then it must be the thing to
do. He was right before"
The first fruit of his journey
should be unity. That has been
sorely lacking in the Korean War.