The Alamance Gleaner
Vol LXIX GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1943 No. 34
?
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Allied Armies Start Drive to North
Against Fortified Nazi Lines in Italy;
Jap Key Base at Rabaul Is Encircled;
Farm Groups Dissent on Subsidy Plans
?EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed la these columns, they are these of
estera Newspaper Union's news analysts and net necessarily of this newspaper.)
? Released by Western Newspaper Union.
Shown scanning sides (or re-appearance of strafing Messerschmitts,
this American anti-aircraft crew aided in valiant defense of beachheads
established by D. S. troops at Salerno in bloody fighting.
ITALY:
Yanks on Offense
Their bases firmly established on
the beaches of Salerno after eight
days of bloody bat
tle, Lieut. Gen.
Mark Clark's Fifth
army went onto the
offensive and drove
Nazi panzer units
back into the hills
rising inland.
As the Germans
retreated. General
Clark's Doughboys
made contact with
Gen. Bernard Mont
gomery's British
Eighth army, charg
Lieut. Gen.
Mirk Clark
ing northward from the toe of the
Italian boot. Together, the two ar
mies prepared to swing against the
series of mountainous defenses
erected by the Nazis to wear down
the Allies before they reach the main
enemy lines in the Po valley.
Although the Allies were first
pounded by 88-mm. guns when they
landed on the sandy beach, and har
assed by German armored units be
fore they could organize strongly for
attack, their position was gradually
strengthened by a constant stream of
reinforcements. Clouds of Allied
planes roared overhead to break
German battle formations, and 16
inch naval guns poured explosives
into the hills from which enemy bat
teries caused such havoc on the
beaches earlier.
Losses in Sicily
Despite the Allies' whirlwind 38
day campaign in Sicily, they suf
fered material losses ranging up to
54 per cent, Secretary of the Treas
ury Henry Mofgenthau declared in
support of the current 15 billion
dollar bond drive.
According to Morgenthau, opera
tions in Sicily cost 13 per cent of
all 155-mm. howitzers landed; 46
per cent of all 57-mm. guns; 13 per
cent of all guns employed; 8 per
cent of all medium tanks and 7 per
cent of all light tanks; 54 per cent
of the carriages for the 37-mm.
guns; 36 per cent of the carriages
for the 75-mm. guns, and 22 per cent
of the carriages for the 105-mm.
guns.
"In Sicily we met only a small
fraction of the opposition we are
getting from the Germans now in
Italy," he said.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC:
Big Base Encircled
With Allied troops in command of
the Solomons and firmly closing
their grip on New Guinea, the great
Japanese naval and air base of Ra
baul has been encircled and neu
tralized as an advance post for ac
tion in the Southwest Pacific.
Hardly had General MacArthur's
troops closed the noose before a big
naval battle was reported in the
area between New Guinea and the
Solomons, thus indicating that the
Allies were moving swiftly to capi
talise ois their position.
With Allied bombers faced with
shorter runs and therefore enabled
to carry heavier loads to the big
base, and with the U. S. fleet ready
to spring into action from neighbor
ing waters, the encirclement of Ra
baul removes the Japs' immediate
threat to Australasia. At one time
the Japs threatened to overrun the
entire region.
SUBSIDIES:
Farm Groups Dissent
Declaring that maximum produc
tion was the best guarantee against
inflation, leaders from national farm
organizations met with President
Roosevelt to protest against general
food subsidies to consumers.
To assure highest production, the
organization spokesmen suggested
the government support "floor"
prices for farm commodities at lev
els assuring fair returns. In the
case of meat and butter, it was said,
subsidies failed to halt price reac
tions to supply and demand at the
markets.
Bucking the subsidy idea on which
organized labor has pressed the gov
ernment to spend two billion dollars,
were Albert S. Goss of the National
Grange; Edward A. O'Neal, Amer
ican Farm Bureau federation; and
Ezra T. Benson, National Council of
Farm Co-operatives. Representing
the National Farmers Union, James
G. Patton differed with the major
ity, favoring subsidies.
See Large Crops
Despite an unfavorable combina
tion of low rainfall and high tem
peratures in a huge irregular area
extending from southern New Eng
land to central North Carolina, from
northern Georgia to central New
Mexico, from central Illinois to
southwestern Mississippi, and from
central South Dakota to the Rio
Grande, crop production was expect
ed to be 4 per cent above any pre
vious year, excepting 1942.
Estimating a yield of 31.7 bushels
per acre, the department of agricul
ture forecast a corn crop of 2,985,
267,000 bushels. At 16.7 bushels per
acre, 834,957,000 bushels of wheat
were expected. And at 30.2 bushels
per acre, 1,145,060,000 bushels of oats
were anticipated.
Yielding 668 pounds per acre, the
peanut crop was set at 2,801,515,000
pounds. On 136.9 bushels per acre,
460,512,000 bushels of potatoes were
expected. At 46.9 bushels per acre,
71,217,000 bushels of rice were fore
cast.
Combined with meat and poultry
production, the crops were expected
to boost food supplies over present
levels.
DADS' DRAFT:
Army Insists
Pointing to the army's admission
that 2,700,000 troops will still be in
the U. S. at the end
of 1944, Senator Bur
ton K. Wheeler
pressed for congres
sional consideration
of his bill for the de
ferment of fathers.
Insisting that the
army's program re
quires the induction
of 700,000 men or
WACs by the end of
this year, Lieut.
Gen. Joseph T. Mc
Narney assailed the
Lieut. Gee.
McNarney
proposed deferment of dads. The
general said that each month 79,000
men are needed to replace casualties
or discharges.
Declaring that voluntary methods
for bringing men into war industries
have not fllled needs, Undersecre
tary of War Robert Patterson fa
vored a labor draft, to give an ef
fect, as he said, to an obligation on
everyone of working age to render
necessary national service.
JAPS:
Woo Subjects
In an effort to enlist tha activa
support of the 700 million Asiatica
already under her
heel, Japan has
promised them sell
government, taken
scrupulous care to
respect their reli
gions, invited their
young students and
leaders to Tokyo,
where they have
been entertained by
the emperor, and
exchanged techni
cians with them.
Premier To)*
According to diplomatic advices,
the program has had its effect.
With the assistance of the natives,
the Japs are getting bauxite for alu
minum from Burma; iron from
North China and Manchuria; oil
from Java and Borneo; copper, tin
and manganese from the Philippines
and foodstuffs from Thailand. In
addition, the wily Japs are installing
factories in the conquered countries.
Under Tojo's leadership, it was
said, the Japs are ready to sacrifice
five million men to beat the Allies.
They expect the war to be long, but
consider present action in the South
Pacific as merely outpost skir
mishes.
WHISKY:
No Production
Because of a boost of 20 per cent
in the estimated requirements of in
dustrial alcohol for the newly estab
lished synthetic rubber industry, dis
tilleries will not be allowed to switch
to whisky production for the rest of
the year. Previously, distilleries
nourished hopes of being given two
weeks to build up dwindling stocks
of whisky and blends.
The decision to place greater re
liance on alcohol for synthetic rub
ber than on petroleum resulted from
conclusions that use of the latter
would interfere with the aviation
gasoline program. Furthermore, it
was said, the government objected
to the diversion of grain to whisky
at a time when it was trying to main
tain the nation's food standards.
This Excuses Everybody
As chairman of the house ways
and means committee, Rep. Rob
ert Doughton presided over con
gress' shaping of the present in
come tax.
Recently, Doughton summoned
the committee to a night session
to see whether something couldn't
be done to simplify the filing of
.returns.
Doughton, it seems, had to get
a "tax expert" to make out his
own form!
HOME DELIVERIES:
Cut Oct. 11
To assure continuation of motor
transportation against wartime
shortages of fuel,
replacement parts,
equipment, tires
and manpower, Di
rector of Defense
Transportation Jo
seph B. Eastman
ordered curtailment
of retail and whole
sale merchandise
deliveries.
Effective October
11, milk deliveries
to homes will be
Joseph B.
Eastman
limited to tour times
a week; meats, fruits, vegetables,
fish and bread to three times, and
dry groceries, laundry and dry
cleaning to two times. Permission
was given for delivery of ice every
day.
Wholesale deliveries will be cut to
six times weekly for bread, bakery
products, cream, milk, dairy prod
ucts and repair parts; five times
for meats, eggs, fruits, vegetables,
fish, live plants, laundry, dry clean
ing and cut flowers; and once for
alcoholic beverages, wines and bot
tled malt beverages.
RUSSIA:
Oil Hopes Blasted
Once set up as the cornerstone of
the Nazis' drive for the Caucasus
oil, Novorossisk was abandoned by
them as the Germans pulled back to
the Dnieper river for a last ditch
stand in Russia.
The German withdrawal along the
whole front to the Dnieper was regu
lar, with the Nazis within 100 miles
of the broad, curving river, from
Bryansk in the north to Lozovaya in
the south. Only along the coast of
the Sea of Azov were the Germans
any distance from the Dnieper, and
here it was believed they were hold
ing deeper defenses to permit their
troops in the Crimea to pull out.
Every indication pointed to the .
Germans' use of the Dnieper as
their last strong natural defense in
Russia. If the Reds cracked the
Dnieper, the Germans would have
no suitable defensive terrain left, but
would have to fall back on the
Dniester river, in Europe itself.
Washington, D. C.
INDIA AND U. 8.
Despite the Churchill visit and the
impending campaign in Burma, con
ditions inside India still remain one
sore spot where Anglo-American re
lations, (rank and friendly as they
are, could stand some cleaning up.
All of the President's special ad
visers have brought home more or
less the same reports. They in
clude: Laughlin Currie, member of
the White House staff; ex-Under
secretary of War Louis Johnson;
Special Ambassador Billy Phillips.
Latest evidence of Indian sore
spots is a report to Leo Crowley,
new Economic Warfare administra
tor from his New Delhi representa
tive, John Fischer, who writes:
"The government of India, the
British army, and many Indian busi
nessmen view the opening of an
OEW (Economic Warfare) office
here with frank and deep-rooted sus
picion. This suspicion is not direct
ed at us alone; it falls on all Ameri
can representatives in India.
"The American Mission was es
tablished here in 1941 in the face of
considerable reluctance on the part
of the government of India. (Previ
ously the United States had not been
permitted even a consulate in New
Delhi.) The OWI, OSS and even
lend-lease representatives have told
us that they have been received
here with open misgivings?and in
the case of the flrst two agencies,
sometimes with hostility. Before our
arrival, the government of India
raised a number of questions re
garding our mission with the Ameri
can Mission.
"We have reason to believe that
our movements have been under
close observation, both here and in
England, and that surveillance is
likely to continue.
Reasons (or Coolness.
"There seem to be two main rea
sons for this attitude," Fischer re
ported to Crowley.
"1. The fear that American rep
resentatives may send to Washing
ton, through channels not subject to
British censorship, information con
cerning the internal situation in In
dia. This, the government of India
seems to believe, might stimulate
American sympathy for the Nation
alist movement and criticism of the
government's ineffective adminis
trative techniques.
"2. Fear of American post-war
commercial competition. This con
cern seems to be shared alike by
the British and many large Indian
businessmen. It has been so pro
nounced that the mission thought it
expedient, shortly before our arriv
al, to assure the government that
OEW activity in India is in no way
eoncerned with trade promotion.
"To offset the cool attitude of the
government of India, the American
Mission has received us with a help
fulness and kindliness which has ex
ceeded expectations ... we are
confident that despite all this we
can manage fairly well."
? ? ?
i TO RELAX RATIONING OF
FARM MACHINERY
Agricultural official* have been
closeted for several days working on
an announcement which will be good
news to farmers. They are plan
ning to relax the rationing of farm
machinery.
Relaxation will take two forms.
One will be to permit farm ma
chinery companies more latitude in
distributing their products to differ
ent parts of the country. The other
will be to take certain machines
definitely off the ration list.
Although plans are not quite com
plete, it is probable that most farm
machinery will be unrationed from
now on except tractors, combines,
hay bailers, beet lifters and similar
mechanized equipment. In general,
tractor implements will be taken off
the list, though tractors will stay on.
It will still be necessary for farm
ers to go to their ration boards to
get permission to buy certain farm
machinery, but this will be only for
the purpose of making sura that
they are legitimate farmers and
really need the equipment. The old
system of strict rationing on most
farm machinery will go by the
boards.
Hitherto, farm implement compa
nies have been required to distribute
their products equally throughout
the United States, so thst some coun
ties where little wheat is raised have
received as many binders as coun
ties in the middle of the wheat belt.
Or in some cases, too much corn
machinery has been sent to coun
ties where little corn is raised, while
corn belt counties have been
slighted.
The new order will permit farm
implement companies to use more
discretion in order to avoid ineffi
cient distribution.
Marine Fliers Triumph Over Perils of Air and Sea;
Combat Correspondents Recount Tales of Heroism
Sergeant Survives
After 32 Days on
Barren Islands
For 72 days he was "missing
in action." His comrades in a
marine corps flying unit in the
Guadalcanal area had long giv
en up hope of seeing him again.
But Sergeant Bill Coffeen came
back. Shaggy and lean, he
stepped out of a navy rescue
plane. He told of surviving
storms, blistering sun and in
fection and living for 32 days on
a coconut diet. The last 40 days
he was missing, friendly natives 1
cared for him.
Today Staff Sergt. William I. Cot- i
teen Jr., 23, whose parents live at ,
5348 North Lotus street, Chicago, 111., |
is at a naval base hospital being
treated for malaria and malnutri- |i
Hon.
"I got off on the wrong foot that <
morning of April 13 and ended up i
the same way," began Coffeen. "My
plane barely missed the tieetops as
I took off from Henderson Field. A i
guide light at the end of the strip
blinded me. We were to escort navy |
torpedo bombers on a mission.
"Within sight of land between Ko
lombangara and Choiseul islands, I
suddenly noticed my engine smok
ing. My oil line was leaking.
"Losing altitude rapidly and fear- '
ing the motor would explode, I de- I
cided to bale out,
"It seemed that I hit the water
just a few seconds after my para
chute opened.
"I pulled the cord on my life jack
et, but it failed to inflate. It had
been punctured. I pulled my rubber
raft out and inflated it The paddle
was missing.
"The water was calm, but 30 min
utes later a storm hit. High waves
tossed my small rubber raft about
like a toothpick, and overturned it
Into the water went all of my medi
cal supplies and emergency rations.
All I had left was the clothing I was
wearing, and my hunting knife and
pistol.
"After I righted the raft I started
paddling with my hands. I still was
in sight of land. In mid-afternoon
I heard the familiar drone of our
fighter plane motors?it was my
flight returning from the strike on
which I had set out that morning.
"Several of the planes flew low
| and almost directly over me. I fired
five shots from my pistol and waved
' the white raft sail, but they failed
to see me.
"I started paddling with my hands
toward land. On the way, sharks
swished by the raft.
Reaches Small bland.
"I slept in a sitting position that
night. Long before daybreak I
started again for land. The sea
was calm. Near sundown the sec
ond day out, I finally reached the
shore of a small island. I was ex
hausted, hungry and thirsty. When
I reached the beach of the coconut
j grove island I realized I made a
grave mistake by tossing my shoes
overboard after the storm. My
socks were the only protection for
my feet.
"I gathered two coconuts, cut
holes in them with my knife, drank
the juice, then broke them open and
ate the meat. It was the first liquid
and food I had had in nearly 48
hours.
"I stayed on this island three
days. It was uninhabited and I knew
I would die if I stayed there.
"Far away I could see a larger
island and decided on the fifth day
to strike out for it I was growing
weak from the coconut diet
"After hand-paddling along the
coast all that day with a blazing sun
baking me, I made the next island
at dusk. It was studded with coco
nut trees like the first island.
"Next morning I decided to try
for another island. It took me all
that day to reach it It was the same
story when I landed there?no food,
no fresh water, no life.
Arm and Foot Infected.
"My left arm was swollen to
twice its normal size overnight
My right foot was also infected.
I realized blood poison was devel
oping, so I cut open the source of
infection with my knife, and bathed
my arm in salt water for more than
an hour. I was relieved somewhat
and decided to move on. That morn
ing I tried to drink coconut juice,
but I just couldn't get it down.
"As I paddled along the shore I
saw what appeared to be a red
roofed house near the end of the
island.
"The bouse proved s greater dis
tance sssf than I had sstimatad:
when night fell I still was several
miles from it. But I had something
to look forward to?and I alept bet
ter that night.
"I reached the beach near the
house at mid-afternoon of the next
day. I hid my raft in the bush
and approached the building, fear
ful that it was occupied by Japs. I
saw a sign that read 'Solomon De
veloping Company, Sydney, Austra
lia .. .' I soon learned that the
building was part of an abandoned
coconut plantation.
"I stayed at the plantation house
Bve days. On the sixth day I gath
ered some limes and oranges and
started traveling again. In the dis
tance I could see the tip of a large
island, with the peak of a moun
tain rising above the clouds. I de
cided to make this island my next
objective.
"When I landed I soon found that
( had made another bad move. I
found no life; only cliffs and moun
tains. However, there was plenty of
fresh water?my first in approxi
mately 27 days.
"I finally decided that I would re
trace my steps and try to make it
back to the first island on which I
landed. I started out the next morn
ing and barely made it back to the
plantation house. The infection in
my hand had cleared, but my foot
was swollen from infection.
Prayed for Direction.
"That night 1 planned what I de
cided would probably be my final at
tempt to contact life. I prayed to
God Almighty to send me in the
right direction. Tomorrow, I de
cided I'll make for the other side of
the big island.
"Near dusk on the fourth day, as I
had barely enough strength in my
arms to paddle, a storm broke and
gradually I was carried out to sea.
The last I remember I started to
scream, and then I passed out!
"I was told later that a high wind
blew me into shore. When I re
gained consciousness I was in the
arms of a native.*
" 'You American or Jap?' the na
tive inquired in his best pidgin Eng
lish.
" 'I'm American,' I told him.
" 'American, you good,' he re
plied.
"Those were the best words I be
lieve I have ever heard in my life.
I knew then that I had been rescued.
"I couldn't walk. My rescuer car
ried me to his hut not far from the
beach. I asked the date and he told
me it was May 15. When I told him
I had been lost since April 13?32
Scrft. William I. Coflecn Jr.
oays?ne narcuy oeuevea me. He
told me that white men could not
live that long on the aea and in the
Jungle. The native was a converted
Seventh Day Adventist. He had been
taught English by missionaries.
"I felt stronger the next day. By
the third day I was able to walk
once more. They decided to take
me in a canoe to their village, where
I was given American food?canned
meat and potatoes. On the second
day in the village the infection in
my foot was lanced.
"During my stay in the native vil
lage I was stricken with malaria.
I was given 'queetue,' native name
for quinine. My body was bathed in
fresh water and lime. Within five
days the fever disappeared. While
with the natives I regained 30 of
the 40 pounds I had lost. When I
arrived at the native village I
weighed about 115 pounds.
"On the 72nd day after I had para
chuted into the sea, a navy rescue
plane landed off shore near the
natire village.".
Gunner Attempts
To Bring Home
Crippled Bomber
"Twelve fighter pilots of my
squadron had been out on a rou
tine escort mission. We were
sent to escort a group of marine
dive bombers on a foray against
the Jap-held airfield at Munda
and were returning to Hender
son on Guadalcanal."
Major R. L. Vroome, U. S. M. C..
was telling a group of fighter pilots
about Sgt. Gilbert Heme, an 18-year
old gunner from State Center, Iowa.
"Somehow in the fracas I got sep
arated from my formation," went
on the major. "As I headed home
ward I received a radio warning
that one of our dive bombers was
in trouble.
"I found it a good mile south at mm
at about 5,000 feet. The pilot hang
ing half way out of the bomber's
Sergeant Gilbert Bean
cocspil, Ois neunci |uoc, uu i. ?mir?
ripped to shreds.
"I asked by radio, is your Pi?
alive?"
" "I don't know sir!" he answered,
'we got hit by a burst of shrapnel
about 20 minutes ago, and he baa
been that way ever since.'
" "Can you, or have you ever flown
a plane?'
" 'No sir,' he answered.
" 'Do you think that you can keep
her level and follow my instruc
tions?'
" 'Yes sir. I sure can try."
" "The first thing I want you to do
then is to release that 1,000 pound
bomb.'
Can't Release teak.
" 'I can't release it sir, it can
only be done from the front cockpit.'
"I peered anxiously ahead. Be
low arid just visible lay the shore
line of Guadalcanal. If we could
make it I could signal for a crash
boat or any kind of a boat and then
if 1 could get the kid to follow my
instructions I would try to bring
him in by water. Then I heard the
kid shout over his radio, 'My engine
just sputtered then, sir. She must
be out of gas.'
"That's the last word I heard over
my radio for suddenly it too went
dead.
"I could see the kid working fran
tically on the stick mi the bomber
went into a sickening glide.
"With my radio dead I frantically
signaled for the kid to jump.
"If he saw me he failed to notice.
Then I saw his head and shoulders
emerge from the cockpit. I saw him
clutching for his ripcord. Sudden
ly I saw his body, parachute and all,
shoot upward as the trailing edge
of the plane hit him. No man could
live under such an impact.
"I followed the chute downward in
tight circles. I could see a huge
vent in the shrouds. The kid's body
dangled from the harness.
"A few minutes later it hit the
water with a splash.
"I brought my plane within a few
feet of the water. As I passed over
the spot where the kid had fallen
all I could see eras his yellow 'Mae
West.'
"As I headed for home I prayed
that the kid eras unconscious when
he hit, at least this would spare him
any suffering before he drowned.
"I happened to be sitting by our
radio a few days later. A flier had
been picked up by some friendly na
tives. He was conscious when
found, and though suffering from
multiple wounds and fractures, had
a better than SO-SO chance to sur
vive.
"I learned later that the tail of
the plane bad severed his right tag
below the knee."
(Liim'i mo?: Sorgtmnt Banas wot ro
a tmod ? iho S?t ami Hoi m tko V. S. |9
iwal k-pi-l. Mara Itiomd. Colifonim.
Bo wot laid tt flilfrida iwSaj. San
Comtm, lowoJ &S
(Editors not*: The following two
stories wore written by Combat Coo
respondents of th* United States marine
corps. Typical of the work of these
fighting writers, the first was by Staff
Sergeant William I. Coffeen Jr, as told
to Staff Sergeant Harrr Bolser. The
second teas written by Sergeant Pen T.
JohnsonJ