Site Ed. Note: The front page indicates that the town of Velletri, 18 miles below Rome on the Appian Way, had been captured at 5:15 p.m. the previous day, along with Valmontone, 20 miles southeast of Rome on the Via Casilina, two of the largest towns which still had been guarding Rome. The Allies had control of the Via Casilina at Valmontone, threatening to sever Germans on the lower part of the front who could not escape north from their supply and communications lines.

Pope Pius XII, with the guns of battle in the distance, spoke to the College of Cardinals, expressing hope that the war would soon subside on the hills of Rome, but that the demand for unconditional surrender might prolong the outcome. He warned that any force which would "lift a hand against Rome would be guilty of matricide…and have to bear a grave responsibility toward future generations."

Up to 1,500 American bombers and fighters struck the invasion coast of France, dropping approximately 3,000 tons of bombs without loss of any planes, as no German fighters were encountered and only light flak--for there was none, as yet in mail with whelp, any so black as ieat in stealth.

Another force of 500 to 750 heavy bombers from Italy struck Miskole, Szolnok, and Szeged in Eastern Hungary, as well as Cluj and Simeria in Transylvania. These strikes were in support of the Russian forces doing battle with the Germans on the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains.

At Iasi in Rumania, the Russians had repulsed all counter-attacks by the Nazis and had pushed back their lines at certain points after the fourth consecutive day of fighting in that area.

In Northern Burma, Allied forces made gains of about 400 yards in the southern portion of Myitkyina and 1,500 yards in the northwest portion.

Chinese forces in Yunnan Province in China continued their advance west of the Salween River, seeking to link with General Stilwell's forces in Northern Burma.

In Hunan Province in China, the Japanese had been stopped by the Chinese in their advance on Changsha along the trackless Canton-Hankow railway. The Chinese had recaptured Kwelyi, 42 miles north of Changsha, where the Japanese had crossed the Milo River.

Bulgaria became a full-fledged Nazi puppet state with a change in regime headed by Ivan Bagrianov, former Minister of Agriculture who favored state control of the economy. He replaced Premier Dobri Boulov who resigned the previous week under German pressure that Bulgaria make a greater contribution to the war. The Nazis then poured troops into Bulgaria, effectively occupying the country.

President Roosevelt announced that since March 11, 1941 when Lend-Lease went into effect, the United States had produced 175,000 planes, 32,000 of which had been shipped to Allies, 25,000 of which were under Lend-Lease and the remaining 7,000 paid for in cash.

Manpower Commissioner Paul McNutt announced that virtually every job-seeking man in the country would be required to register with the U. S. Employment Service beginning July 1 to fill the gaps in existing labor shortages, enabling assignment of labor to particularly needful areas of employment.

The AFL union strike of streetcar operators in St. Louis was resolved.

Hal Boyle, continuing to kill time in London to avoid any possibility of tipping when the Allied invasion of France might occur, this date relates of London slang.

You may read it for yourself. Examples include "the mothers ruin" for gin, "the flicks", among Cockneys, for moompicters, "to the pitchers" or "going to buy myself six pennyworth o'dark" for beer at the pub, "that's where the bird cage fell down" for a shaving accident--whether any differentiation being made between one committed in the dark versus under the lights being not indicated. But yesterday, the barber did say…

Women asked how they were doing typically responded, "So much better for your asking."

Persons absent from work for illness reported that they were "queen yesterday". Whether that made them king today or just another day, once they were again chipper, was not imparted.

Guests in hotels asked the desk clerk to "knock me up at seven". What then transpired at eight is again left on the Q.T.

Jokes passed about re the strict observance of religious services on Sunday in Wales. A pilot, it was said, had to bail from his plane over Wales and, when the parachute failed to deploy, he suddenly realized that it was Sunday.

Right.

On the editorial page, "No Crusade" presents the opinion of a Major assigned to the Allied Control Commission, the military government of Italy, indicating that the situation was under control, that the Six-Party Coalition had been moving to purify the government of Fascists and had obtained from King Badoglio his promise to resign the throne at the fall of Rome. A military government was a necessary evil to rid the country of Fascism and establish and maintain order until a new government could be put in place with popular support. The Major issued the disclaimer that he was not trying to meet the criticism of the process but was simply addressing its reality.

The editorial indicates that since the publication of John Hersey's novel A Bell for Adano, concerning the war the previous summer in Sicily, and the beginning of fighting of the Italians alongside the Allies, opinion adverse to the Allied handling of the Italian situation had greatly subsided.

"John's Plea" discusses the difficulty of Governor John Bricker of Ohio in touring the country as the sole declared Republican candidate for the presidency while the overwhelming favorite, Governor Thomas Dewey, remained mum and at his desk in Albany. It rather placed Governor Bricker in an echo chamber with no foil against whom to run among his fellow Republicans.

"Small Fry" remarks of the Netherlands Minister in London waxing critical of the trend of the Big Four toward establishing the post-war world order, stating that the smaller nations would demand their say and stake.

The piece asserts that, while the smaller nations would inevitably be granted a place at the peace table, their share in the determinations of the post-war world would not be equal to those nations, the Big Four, which had borne the brunt of both the fighting and production in arms. It predicts that the role of the smaller countries would thus be a minor one.

"New Goal" remarks on the necessity of the North Carolina mental health care system to effect changes beyond mere construction of new facilities, that true change could only come by improved care which relied on more trained personnel, especially more psychiatrists on staff. The latter therefore had to be the goal for modernizing these facilities, despite substantial improvements having been made during the previous two years since the expose by Tom Jimison had set the state on its ears to undertake investigations and, in consequence, implement modernization of the physical plant.

Drew Pearson observes the entreaties being made by Republicans to U.S. Chamber of Commerce president Eric Johnston to return to his home state of Washington to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Homer Bone. The thinking was that with him in the race, all boats would rise and give the national ticket a chance to win. Mr. Johnston was not interested, however, having run in 1940 for the Senate and finished poorly in the primary to the eventual loser in the general election.

The eventual winner of that race for the other seat, Mon Wallgren, had indicated his desire to retire after one term, the problem being supporting two homes on the $10,000 per year income of Senators.

He next tells of the chuckle obtained by Army troops from Louisiana in Italy when they came upon a hastily erected bridge over one of the rivers, bearing a sign placed by the engineers which read, "Huey P. Long Bridge". The numerous bridges built in Louisiana during the reign of the deceased Governor conveyed the joke to the native Louisianans.

Mr. Pearson then turns to his collection of Capitol anecdotes. Among them was his report of the intended Democratic response to the Republican campaign poster bearing the picture of Montgomery Ward chairman Sewell Avery being carried out of the plant in Chicago by two soldiers in late April, next to a photograph of a pushcart peddler in Germany being arrested by Gestapo agents, both set above the caption, "It Did Happen Here". The Democrat version would have the picture of Mr. Avery next to one of the 1932 Bonus Army, the World War I veterans seeking their meager war bonus, being run out of Washington at the point of bayonets led by General MacArthur on instructions from President Hoover.

Samuel Grafton again addresses the endorsement of Generalissimo Francisco Franco made in Prime Minister Churchill's recent speech to Commons, finds it inexplicable, that the deal made with Franco to cease the bulk of the trade in tungsten to Germany had been a sordid arrangement. It was, says Mr. Grafton, as if the Prime Minister sought to be openly and notoriously, gloriously wrong, not merely tepidly wrong as Neville Chamberlain. Mr. Grafton left it to psychologists to determine the reasons.

Churchill spoke of imposing democracy on the enemies of the Allies but, in plain, that no change would come to Spain. It was as if to say that Fascism, once in place, would remain with friends while democracy was promised the enemy.

Marquis Childs reports of how remarkably normal the facade of life in constant persisted in the United States as news of D-Day's invasion in Continents the people did await. The general attitude was that the war in Europe would likely end in a matter of months, perhaps by the end of the year. That was so despite the recent warnings of Admiral Ernest King that the invasion would not assure a quick end to the war.

The reason for optimism appeared to be that the details of the war, given its vastness, escaped ordinary people on a week-to-week basis. It explained the persisting black market in gasoline coupons, even among respectable people, and why many workers were deserting war jobs on the West Coast to return to their hometowns to try to obtain employment before the post-war rush would preclude them.

Yet, underneath the calm exterior, there was palpable tension, especially among the many families with members fighting in the war.

It was as if everyone was posing for a time exposed photograph, awaiting the invasion, knowing that things would never be quite the same once the first shots were fired, but nevertheless still proceeding with a face of normalcy.