Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-29
POW Code


soldier and who is the father
of soldiers should take Brig.
Gen. F. w. Norman. USA,
to the woodshed. He ends his
fiag-waving letter of August
Is with this hysterical sum-
nation of his reaction to The
Stars editorial on the POW
Code: II have been asked to
be a coward. Do not ask me
to be a fool" AS a veteran
with more than average for
eign service in both World
Wars, may ! remark that the
latter mission has been ac-
complished.
SO Gen. Hull who signed
the Code must be glad he has
taken off his uniform q.
since he now knows that when
: he sees it on the street 1t does
not clothe a man sworn to be
steadfast unto death" That
is q slur upon our sons that
should rate q reprimand II
anyone but q solid brass hat
bafked It at q disciplinary
formation for proven towards.
Since when have the words Of
an oath been the substance OF
a good soldier? And has the
new wording Of an oath sub
tracted one whit from the
innate heroism of our soldier
sons? Nothing has changed
but the rewriting of an Army
regulation. And the brass hats
change Army regulations so
fast that we have more SOL
diers servicing red tape than
we have available for battle.
/ wonder If the General can
recall a single battle that was
won by Army regulations. I
will wager more battles were
won by those who said, ito
hell with them"
But to an old volunteer,
nonprofessional soldier, the
Generals ideas about vital
military intelligence and in
formation is the real essence
of Pentagon paranoia. Show
me something more stupid
and inconsistent than Penta-
gon rules and practice OF CEN
sorship! They strain at a
misplaced comma and blandly
swallow the competitive brag-
ging OF interservice rivalries
which release more vital tech
nical information than a
super-spy could bride from
10000 traitors. They hide
their mistakes and incompe-
tence by slapping SECRET,
CONFIDENTIAL or CLASH
FLED upon information their
civilian superiors, the taxpay-
ers. have a. perfect right to
know. Vital information leaked
to the enemy the Pentagon
way draws no indignant pro-
test and denunciation. But our
abandoned sons, confessing
absuTdities under wanton
Communist barbarism are
traitors.
Our President and Com
mander in Chief has grimly
warned World War III will be
an unbelievable thermometer
holocaust, suicidal for both
friend and enemy. Tell us,
General. how you would go
about defying the fiendish in
genuity of those who already
possess the secrets of total de-
struction? Are there any more
secrets to reveal?
Thomas E. MattingIy, MD.
n *#
I would like to say that I
am very proud TO serve in the
same army with Brio Gen. F.
w. Norman. He strikes me.
young solder that I am. as
being a fine officer, dedicated
to his country and willing to
make any sacrifice that is nec-
essary to safeguard 1t and its
citizens. In my opinion, that is
what every soldier should be.
from the newest recruit, to the
Chief Of STAFF.
/ happen TO be a draftee
and / have made adjustments
to become a good soldier. as a
million other men have and
will. ! am proud to be a part Of
the armed services of this
country and / don't like to be
thought Of as soft or as being
a stool pigeon.
The Citizen" whose letter
you published along with the
generals, needs his eyes opened.
1t disgusts me to think that
the men eating and sleeping
next to me are so egotistical
as TO think their individual
lives are more valuable than
a battalion, or a regiment, or
for that matter, a squad. Our
Citizen" would have them
think that wayl Fortunately,
only small percentage have
thought that way in the past.