THE NOME NUGGET
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SOLDIERS FOLLOW SOLDIERS
Recently, Juneau's young men!
who a year ago joined the Al-;
as*a National Guard, and who
were inducted into active service
es the National Guard of the.
United States about two weeks'
ago, left home for their training
center at Chilkoot Barracks.
Hardly will these men have aj
chance to move in and get accus]
tomer to their quarters than
they will be joined by 158 new
members, the advance guard of
Alaska's future army of draft
ees.
In all, 883 young Alaska men
are slated to be inducted into
active service throughout the
Territory on October 15, accord
ing to word received from the
War Department.
Of these, 158 will be attached
to Juneau’s Company A Chilkoot
Barracks, and another 154 will
join Ketchikan’s Company B,
quartered at the same training1
Center. The remainder of this
first group of draftees will be
inducted into Anchorage and
Fairbanks units and into the med
ical and headquarters detach
ments at Fort Richardson.
When we consider that some- j
what less than 50 officers and I
•men left Juneau for Chilkoot
Barracks, it’s plain to see the
members of the parent Company
A organization will really have
their work cut out for them train
ing the drafttes who will out-;
number then more than three to
one.
In pointing out the advantages
of joining the National Guard
units before the induction date, I
officers predicted that practical
ly all the men in the original
company would become officers,
once the draftees began to arriv:
at training centers. Certainly, it
appears these predictions were
r.ot ungrouded. This first contin
gt nt of draftees is but a down
payment on Alaska defense forc
es. They will continue to arrive
lr. installments at training camps |
es they are mustered out of civ
ilian life and the men who have
received the most advanced train
mg will certainly have the best
opportunity to advance into po
sitions of command.
But certainly, mere service in
the original National Guard
units will not insure men that
they will be advanced to officer’s
ratings. Some of the selectees
will be college trained men who
have been holding down import
ant jobs in civilian life. They will
be men who learn quickly, have
a good grasp of the necessities of
army command and will be ex
cellent timbre for army officer
ships.
As has been demonstrated in
the States, the army is not dis
criminating against men who are
drafted into service in favor of
men who enlisted. If the draftees
can meet the enlisted men on a
common ground and prove them
selves better qualified for ad
vancements, the drafted men will
be given those advancements.
Just as the original National
Guard members had a better
chance of earning adancements
because of their months of train
ing before actual induction, so
this first group of draftees has a
better chance of catching Up
with the r enlisted fellow sol
diers than will the men sent out
by draft boards in future install
ments.
It's been almost a year since
the first draftees were drawn
from cities in the States. Some
of those men have already been
discharged from service, due to
age and other reasons. But just
because our boys are a year be
hind the States boys in going to
camp doesn’t mean they won’t
catch up with the units in the
south, so far as proficiency in op
erations is concerned.
We predict that a year from
now the Alaska defense army,
made up of Alaska men, will be
a crack bunch of outfits, second
to none in the country, espec
ially when it comes to Alaska
maneuvers. And we hope that
practice maneuvers will be the
most warlike duties this embryo
army has to perform.
— Juneau Empire
TO REEMPLOY
SELECTEES
(The Cincinnati Enquirer)
An estimated 8,000 Ohioans
will be mustered out of the army
by mid-December. These men
were promised by their govern
ment that their means of livli
hood would be conserved. To
make good this promise state sel
ective service headquarters has
requested each local draft board
to set up a reemployment com
mittee.
This move is being made in
good time but no earlier than it
should be. The mechanics of set
ting up reemployment commit
tees adequate to the job involved
real difficulties. Moreover, the
committees must be organized
well in advance of the influx of
returning soldiers if they are to
operate with hopes of success.
The first problem in reemploy
ment wil ecus upon men 28 years
old, or older, who have been
made eligible for immediate dis
charge under recent legislation.
The main problem will develop
later, when the older men are re
leased in greater numbers, and
when others will be mustered
Out because of need or depend
ency or at the expiration of ser
vice.
Although details have not yet
been elaborated, the reemploy
ment plans calls for the appoint
ment of a member of each draft
board as reemployment commit
teeman. He will select his own
advisers from local industrial
and service groups. The commit
tee will help return soldiers to
their former jobs and find sim
ilar jobs when the first aim can
not be achieved.
An excellent feature of the
p’an is that the efforts of draft
boards in each state will be co
ordinated with those of boards in
other states. Further, national sel
ective service headquarters is to
provide advance lists of men re
turning to civilian life. These
arrangements should give the re
employment system a maximum
of workability.
A REASONABLE
CENSORSHIP
(Cincinnati Enquirer)
According to James B. Forrest
al, Acting Secretary of the Navy,
the armed services are planning
a rigid censorship of outgoing in
formation in the event of actual
war, but not a general censor
ship of the newspaper press with
in the country.
This is throoughly sound, and
it cannot be emphasized too
much that any other censorship
policy would be a blunder. The
one valid object of censorship
in wartime is to withhold from
the enemy information of mili-!
tary value to him. This can best
be accomplished by stringent
control of outgoing mail, cable
services, and radio communica
tions. Consorship of the daily
press goes far beyond these re
quirements.
A democracy, if it is obliged
to go to war, needs abundant in
formation, for morale in a free
nation depends on keeping the
whole people thoroughly inform
ed. One of the many reasons for
the collapse of France last year
was the blundering censorship
policy at Paris, which denied the
French people virtually any in
formation whatever about the
JUST WHAT IT MEANS, THIS i
SECOND BATTLE OF UKRAINE
By Morgan M. Boatty
AP Feature Service Writer
WASHINGTON, Oct. — The
Russo-German war now enters a
stage that may demonstrate the
staying power of the two power
ful mechanized armies—and re
veal Hitler's plans for the winter.
Nazi armies on the eastern
front have been marking time for
more than a month, either get
ting ready for a new push or try
ing to patch up their communica
tions system—or both.
Observers in Washington al
ready have checked off Lenin
grad and Odessa. They take the
view that these two positions
have been hopeless for Russia
for several weeks. Neither side
is sending new forces to these is
lands of resistance.
Real stakes just now probably
are the Ukraine and the Cau
casus, now that Hitler seemingly
! has been stalled in this major as
i sault on Moscow.
The vigor of the German drive
i at the remaining slice of the
Ukraine—as well is its direction
— will demonstrate Hitler’s
strength and his weaknes.
It’s this way:
The Russians from the start
have surprised the world with
the amount of military machin
ery they had. and their skill in
handling it. Nobody was more
surprised than Hitler.
But it seems apparent that the
Russians must have thrown the
best of their manpower and their
equipment at the oncoming Nazis
Likewise, the Nazis were forced
to go all out.
Both armies have been punch
drunk for several weeks. The
Nazis found they couldn’t drag
up supplies quickly without
roads. They’ve been forced to
s’ow down, and take counter ^
punches. On the other hand, the
Russians themselves have been
rocked on their heels in all sec
tors.
_ I
I
Now comes the crucial test.
Without a long rest, how much
more punishment can the Nazis
deal out, and how much more
can the Russians take?
There’s not a military man of j
reputation in any world capital
who will hazard a flat prediction
on this point. But most Washing
ton observers do feel that the
Germans have worked them
selves into a position where they
must pull more magic out of the
military hat—and do it quickly—
or lose momentum.
The Germans have been slow
ly building up bridge heads on
the lower Dneiper and tributary
streams, apparently while trying
to divert attention to Leningrad,
the Mediterranean and Africa.
That’s an old German military
tr ek. They may be expected
therefore to aim their next big
blow at southern Russia.
The Germans may have con
vinced themselves that the Rus
sians are fresh out of replace
conduct of the war. Unable to
get the acts, the French people
believed whatever rumors they
heard, and Germany provided;
the rumors, deliberately created
to develop the hysteria Ger
many's war plans called for.
The American newspaper press
has shown its ability and its
willingness to maintain a volun
tary censorship, such as the pres
ent agreement not to disclose the
movements of naval vessels or
the presence of foreign vessels
in our harbors. Even this self
censorship has been carried far
ther than common-sense requir
es. A sound precedent in this re
gard has been given by Great
Britain, where there is not the
slightest restriction on the urint
ing of news or comment, even
acid comment, save if it involves
military secrets.
If we are lucky, we shall not
be formally engaged in war. But
if actual war does come, we shall
have a stronger morale, a more
unified people, and still an ade
quate protection of military in
formation if censorship is con
‘ined to international communica
lions exclusively.
_ I
subscribe for The Nome Nugge*
ments, and C3n’t resist one big
push down south. Also, the Nazis'
regard hard frozen ground, still'
unencumbered by heavy wunter
snowfa’l as an ideal polo field
for their panzers. That means the'
big push could begin now and
land under full steam later in
October.
What would such a Nazi drive
reveal?
Most observers here feel thatj
the next German thrust may dis
close these three situations:
1. Hitler may have been us
ing up gas and oil by the millions
of gallons weekly. He may have|
reached a point where he cannot;
wait until spring to replenish re
serves. Therefore he will muster
a big push, aim it at Rostov. If;
succesful, this would give him
the northern rim of the Black
Sea. then put that body of water
in shape for the start of the bat-:
t’e of the Black Sea. Oil is just |
beyond the sea’s eastern rim.
2. The Russians may be run
ning short of critical w;ar machin
es such as planes, bomfosights,
tanks and heavy artillery. The
United States mission in Moscow
w ill be in a position to report j
just w'hat is would take to keep
Russia in there punching.
3. The German offensive may
fall short. Both the Russian and
German armies need rest. Nei
ther may be capable of a sus
tained offensive just now, like
the beginning Nazi drive, or a
counter offensive such as the Rusi
sians have started in the center.
As a matter of fact, slow pro
gress of the Russian counter
punches indicates that the drive
is more of an attempt to relieve
pressure elsewhere than the start
of a full-fledged counter-attack. ;
—
Based on the normal logistics
of battle losses—not on the com
muniques — Russian manpower
losses shou’d now amount to
more than 800,000 dead and,
wounded—the best trained fight
ers in Russia. Prisoners and miss
ing should bring that total up to
more than 1.200,000.
German losses can not have'
been much less. Dead and wound (
ed probably number more than
900,000. Prisoners and missing
should raise the total to 1,000.000.
These figures are based on the
mathematical averages of mod
ern battle, assuming about 7.000,
000 men in action on the eastern
front.
{
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Irving McK. Reed
MINERAL SURVEYOR, G. L. O.
Surveying for Patent
Office on Second Street, back of Polets
Will be in town until about October 15
DEFENSE H TIT 7
BOND V U 1L
G. Has the Government set a quota to be raised
through sales of Defense Savings Bonds?
A. No; there is no quota and no time limit. The
Defense Savings Program is to be a continuing
effort, and both Defense Bonds and Stamps
should be purchased steadily and regularly.
Q. Why were the Nation’s retail stores asked to
sell Defense Savings Stamps?
A. American retailers were not asked—they vol
unteered through their national organizations
to undertake the sale of Defense Savings
Stamps on a vast scale.
Note.—To buy Defense Bonds and Stamps, go to
the nearest post office, bank, or savings and loan
association; or write to the Treasurer of the
United States, Washington, D. C., Also Stamps
are now on sale at retail stores.