MacArthur Has
• Fine Record
WASHINGTON — Tho«e w h o
knew General Douglas MacAr
thur in France are not surmis
ed at the superb job he is doing
in defend ng the Philippines.
During the last war he was one
of the Army’s bravest and most
picturesque higher officers. Once
when he wanted some informa
tion about the enemy he went,
4 over the top himself, took a Ger-,
man dugout by surprise and
came back with a prisoner. He
got bawled out for it. because no
general is supposed to expose
himself to fire. But his men wor
shipped him.
As Chief of staff in Washing
ton during the Hoover Adminis
4 traton, MacArthur was an er
ergetic go-getter for anything
the army needed, and a good or
ganizer. In the Philippines this
organizing ability has been one
of his greatest assets, for he has
had the task not only of build
ing up a Philippine army, but
getting cooperation with the U.
S. Army, the Air Corps and the
Marines.
Incidentally, MacArthur is fol
lowing in the footsteps of a sol
^ dier father, General Arthur Mac;
Arthur, who became famous for
cleaning up the Philippines after
the Spanish-American war.
America First
One place where the surprise
Japanese assault really created;
consternation was in inner Am
erica First circles.
The isolationist generalissimos
were as completely sunk as the
ships bombed to the bottom of:
Pearl Harbor.
Just a week previous, America
First leaders had embarked on a!
new line of operations — open1
political activity — and had even,
gone so far as to spend a large
sum of money for the campaign i
of an isolationist candidate ini
the Seventh Massachusetts Dis
trict.
Their No. 1 limelight attrac
tion, ex-hero Lindbergh, was all
• set to take the stump in this
figj'it. Also, he was quietly weigh
ing whether to toss his hat into
the 1942 congressional elections
arena.
But the Japanese attack blast
ed all these ambitious schemes tn1
smithereens — including the Am
erica First Committee itself —
though not until after a sharp'
dispute among the inner leaders.
They split over the future of,
the organization. One group, led
^ by General Robert Wood, favor I
ed immediate dissolution and
full support of President Roose
velt in the prosecution of the
war. Another group wanted to
hold off for a while to see what
developed.
Politics First
Among those who wanted to
wait were Edwin S. Webster, sec
retary of the New York Chapter,
and leaders of the Bronx Chap
ter, all bitter Roosevelt haters.
Webster felt so hotly over dis
solution of the Committee that
he talked of rushing out to Chic
ago to try to persuade Wood to
change his mind.
He contended the America
First organization should be kept |
intact to take advantage of any
opportunities for continued pol
itical warring on the President;
and to oppose any presidentia’
cand date who advocated Roose
velt policies in 1944.
Lindbergh is Webster’s White
House candidate and he wants
America First to stay in busi
ness to push the flyer. Webster |
has certain opinion about the out
come and aftermath of the war j
and thinks there is a big political
future for Lindbergh.
Following a meeting of the Am
erica First Executive Committee,
in Chicago, however, General
Wood’s plan was approved and
the disbanding order went out.
Note: Certain leaders of the
die-hard faction cons der start
ing a new America First organiz
ation under different trappings.
The new outfit would take the!
guise of a superpatriotic move
ment beating the drums for ultra
nationalism.
“Strictest Confidence”
Members of the Senate Naval
Affairs committee know the
whole story of what happened at
Pearl Harbor, including the rea
sons why U. S. forces were
caught napping.
They were given a detailed ac
count of the disaster by their
chairman, Senator David I.
Walsh of Massachusetts, after he
and Representative Carl Vinson
of Georgia, chairman of the
House Naval Affairs committee
were given a confidential fill-in
by Admiral Harold R. Stark,
Chief of Naval Operations.
Walsh gave his colleagues the
information in “strictest confid
ence,” and on condition they |
wou'dn't breathe a word to any
one, even their wives. Vinson,
however, was less trusting. The
Georgian flatly refused to tell
his committee what he had learn
ed from Stark, insisting it was
up to the President to make
known the facts at the proper
time.
The President hit the ceiling
when he heard about Stark's off
the record disclosures. Calling
Stark on the carpet he bluntly
demanded why the Admiral had
not consulted him before talking
to Walsh ad Vinson. Stark re
plied that he thought he was act
ing with White House approval
and that as all members of Con
gress were clamoring for inform
ation about the Pearl Harbor
disaster, he thought responsible
leaders such as chairmen of the
Naval committees were entitled!
to know.
The President said he realized
this, but it was too early to make
a report. He also tartly remind
ed the Navy chief of the num-!
ber of news leaks on the Hill.
Stark suddenly called off his
scheduled appearance before Vin
son’s committee.
Note: Naval circles say the
Japanese must know the extent
of the damage caused by their
air attack, since, after the first
wave of bombers, the second
wave gets photographs which
show* the extent of the damage,
and the third wave gets final
photos of the fires and sinkings.
(The Washington Merry-Go
Round, by Drew Pearson and
Robert S. Allen).
Buy Defense Bonds and Stamps !
0
This is a view of the Japanese two-man submarine which was beached o nthe Hawaiin island of
te Oahu during the Japanese attack on the U. S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor. This is one of the first
pictures released by the army or navy.
WINGED DESTRUCTION ST 'NTS IIICI-IAM F'T I>
. * -«• w „ mJMm
Muiutu. ■ •. iiMt'ii’/. . -*a*y. J tm . 4 ’ . . **>*.
A major object of the Jfpanese bombing raid on Honolulu, Ilicliak liield was littered with wreckage. This is one of the first
pictures of the destruction released by the army and shows one cf the damaged hangers.
PEARL HARBOR, TARGET OF JAPANESE BOMBERS
^n,, j | T,i——in IT " ii ,
It was just another bright Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor Naval ha . Dee.7. >hc-tly l>er« re this nicture was in ' ' " , u«f
denly, came a hail of Japanese bombs and machine gun bullets, leaving the burning battleship Arizona sinking in t'e ! '"'ini- a rf
four other warships destroyed.
SMOKE PAILS PEARL HARBOR
«k
Smoke from the burnng battleship Ai'izona spread a pall over Pearl Harbor naval base Dee. 7 as
a Japanese plane (arrow) dodged through anti-aircraft fire to drive home the Japanese at — :
that launched a war on the United States.