The Charlotte News

Tuesday, November 18, 1941

FIVE EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: "I'll give thee a wind."

"Thou 'rt kind."

"And I another."

"I myself have all the other,

And the very ports they blow,

All the quarters that they know

I' the shipman's card."

We shall let you discern why that should come to mind from today's page.

"Mustachelets" asks the Army the reason for its newly accumulating hirsute accoutrement. They respond, obviously dissembling behind the mask, that it is that RAF Wing Commander, Tuck. The truth, of course, was Kitchener, or perhaps the Sergeant on the cover of the album.

Plainly, it was not to emulate Hitler, lest they should have bought a Luger and turned it to their own mouths, pulled the trigger.

Just why it is of such interest to the editorialist, we cannot say. Perhaps, he had trouble sprouting stubble. It is, we might say, at first attempt, double, double, toil and trouble. But, once it comes in, you scarcely notice it. One twice tastes the milk, as well the cream soda. It has its advantages.

Anyway, "One Soldier" brings to mind the mention on Friday of Undersecretary of the Navy James Forrestal, who later, in 1944, became Secretary of the Navy, then, under President Truman, became in 1947 the first Secretary of Defense after the War Department was reorganized and renamed Defense. The reason he comes to mind is that, not unlike the soldier described in the piece, Mr. Forrestal, in 1949, after being discharged from his post by President Truman, committed himself to Bethesda Naval Hospital for depression and then, a month and a half later, jumped or fell from a window there. Unlike the soldier, however, Mr. Forrestal died in the process. His death was somewhat enshrouded in mystery, as to whether it was suicide or accident. Some have even speculated that he was murdered; the purpose of murdering someone to silence them in some way after they had already voluntarily committed themselves to a hospital for a mental condition, however, fails to find a readily acceptable explanation. He had become an ardent anti-Communist, to the fanatical point that Truman felt him too unstable to continue in the post, compounded by his opposition to the Administration over Defense cuts imposed in the years after the war.

The carrier U.S.S. Forrestal bears his name. It was this ship, incidentally, July 29, 1967, shortly after "All You Need Is Love" was released, on which Senator McCain was nearly killed when ordnance near his plane exploded after an errant rocket ignited it. One hundred and thirty-four men were killed in the incident.

It all simply comes to mind from the piece. We make no further comment.

The Raymond Clapper piece of the day tells of how Hitler is attempting to soften the blow of failure in Russia, by proclaiming his manifest destiny for all of Europe, no doubt also timed to coincide with the coming attack at Pearl Harbor by his Axis partner, making ready a point of refuge for the Americans who it was hoped would come limping to the peace table after the blow to the Pacific Fleet.

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