opinion Thursday, October 8, 1942


The Charlotte News

Thusday, October 8, 1942

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page tells of a narrow escape of a Flying Fortress crew set adrift for a week on a four-person raft somewhere in the South Pacific after being shot down. The seven survivors told of having their floating island of salvation nearly torn apart by sharks before the curse of the albatross claimed two of their number to the depths. They had no kind words left for their flying coffin left behind in pieces: "Spider" they had dubbed it, for its being hinged together by string, one of the first of the Flying Fortresses produced.

And as a Labor Peer from the House of Lords called for immediate action in aid of Russia, FDR dismissed with a wave of his hand, as so much rhetoric he didn’t even bother to read, the entreaties of his "emissary" Wendell Willkie, of late urging from Moscow and Chungking the immediate opening of a second front by the British and Americans.

"The Denial", in the editorial column, ponders this seeming two-faced attitude of the President toward his former Republican opponent in the 1940 general election, who had nevertheless been personally briefed by FDR before undertaking his mission abroad, labeled and assumed by the press to be for the primary purposes of fact-finding and cheerleading among the farflung allies, with Willkie dubbed FDR’s unofficial personal ambassador. Now, it appeared otherwise, that the President was deliberately distancing himself from the entire matter.

Or, had Mr. Willkie simply gone beyond the limited scope of his mission and was using his apparent official imprimatur to attempt to effect policy from abroad? Was he trying to upstage and undermine FDR’s authority, using the trip for his own future political advantage, if not to become the Republican nominee in 1944, at least to be perceived as a viable Republican for appointment as Secretary of State in a Dewey Administration?

Or, as the editorial hints its own belief, was it simply another example of FDR’s acute political sensibilities coming to the fore to stage-manage a production, with Willkie the unfortunate marionette of the piece?

Not considered by the editorial, was the matter instead a stage-piece meant to confuse the enemy? One meant to show the Russian and Chinese allies the face of good will and cohering of supportive public opinion within the United States while giving the Axis a sign that the Allies were instead in disarray and disunity on the issue of opening a second front, all as the invasion of North Africa was being planned behind the scenes to be rolled forth in just over another month.

"No Paradise", from The New Yorker, reports of the harsh conditions on Guadalcanal, a steaming cauldron of jungle, dense forest, and rugged mountains, populated by tree rats the size of rabbits, and, at least forty years earlier, a hungry cannibal population ready to feed on what was dubbed "long pig", or European flesh. If the enemy didn’t get them, the soldiers could meet their end from the malarial conditions prevailing or other pervading natural menaces, only to face the prospect of then having their earthly remains devoured by tree rats or natives.

"V"--for volunteer immediately, young patriot. Serve your country in the Pacific and experience in the bargain the high adventure of your life, away out in the mysteriously enchanted lands of the South Pacific embraced by their gentle breezes, swaying palms, cocoanuts aplenty, and sultry island girls in their shimmying grass skirts.

During our stay, the bush was thoughtlessly set on fire by some of our people, and continued burning for several days, until nearly the whole island had been passed over; the long dry grass and dead trees blazing very fiercely under the influence of a high wind. At night the sight of the burning scrub was very fine when viewed from a distance, but I did not forget that I had one day been much closer to it than was pleasant--in fact, it was only by first soaking my clothes in a pool among the rocks, emptying the contents of my powder-flask to prevent the risk of being blown up, and then making a desperate rush through a belt of burning scrub, that I succeeded in reaching a place of safety.

–from Narrative Of The Voyage Of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By The Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During The Years 1846-1850, Vol. 1, by John MacGillivray, F.R.G.S. Naturalist to the Expedition

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