Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1947)
United States Faces Danger, Asserts Ex Air Corps Colonel By BARBARA HEYWOOD I've vowed to spend my whole life fighting Communism,” declared Joe, Gurley, perhaps the only American to live in both \ ugoslavia and Hungary after the iron curtain dropped. Gurley, a lieutenant- colonel with the army air force was sent as a member of the Allied Powers Control commission to Budapest, Hungary, to attempt to establish a bilaterally con trolled commercial air line from Vienna to Istanbul. The Uni ted States hoped to “plant one foot” firmly in Hungary, and grad ually progress to the bilateral agreement, said Gurley. “I was the foot.” Guns Bulge The atmosphere in both Hun gary and Yugoslavia is one of fear, Gurley said. “It was cops and robbers and bandit stuff all the time.” “I felt like Jimmy Cag ney dressed for a state banquet with a pistol bulging under my blouse.” Too, he said, sometimes 30 Hungarians a day were killed by the ricocheting machine-gun bullets of “playful Russians” tak ing target practice in the streets. “I wish I could describe fear to you,” said Gurley earnestly. “Imagine Eugene with platoons of foreign soldiers marching through the streets singing the songs of their fatherland,, not yours; chanting the name of the major, as Yugoslavian soldiers chanted “Tito, Tito, Tito." Imagine all your mail, your visitors, yotir conversations checked and record ed and filed. “Imagine having to carry a card saying you are a citizen of the United States, and having some one knock on your door in the middle of the night demanding to see the card. Imagine not knowing who is or is not police, and brother fighting brother for political in tegrity.” No Sympathy “It can happen here,” declared Gurley. “There was no great Com muist party in the countries now dominated by that doctrine. It 'was the minority who gained con trol. I have no sympathy for Rus sian and Communist apologists in the United States. They are Yank traitors.” Gurley said he feels that the United States is in extreme dan ger. and that the international sit uation is worse than in 1939. “There is no room for senti ment or honor,” he said. “Ameri cans don't realize the Russians are so simple. If they want to get from A to B, they will take any ruthless means to do it.” Anything the United States does is a matter of self protection, he went on. “He who gets in the first punch is better off. When I was in Yugoslavia the Russians need led us, drove us nuts, but the allies acted like so many nanny goats.” Protests which Gurley and his staff lodged with the state department were pigeonholed in Washington, he said, because the state and war departments were afraid of Russia. The press failed the American people, too, Gurley asserted, for the United Press was too interested in staying in Hun gary to send out more than in ocuous little reports. Therefore the American pople, who must pay for loans to Europe, never learn the true situation, he said. Gurley commented that it is his belief that at present the United States could not win a war with Russia. UNRRA Fraud UNRRA, at least in Yugoslavia, asserted Gurley, was a “fraud” Food, he said, was distributed on the basis of political belief, and “heroes don’t develop on an empty stomach.” Pie quoted these facts: eighty-five percent of the textiles went into military uniforms, while the people went shoeless and dress ed in rags. Tito’s government was supplied with 12,000 trucks, a 250 percent increase over'the countries pre-war needs. Approximatel 5000 of these went for military uses. UNRRA supplied1 Yugoslavia, a sugar-producing nation with enough sugar so that she could send her whole output to Russia. Complaints on this score were referred to the head of UNRRA, who was a Russian and a Com munist, as were several other heads. The complaints were ig nored, according to Gurley. Aids Escapee Gurley told the story behind a news -article of more than a year ago in which it was related that several Americans allegedly shot Gourley—Galley Two a Russian soldier and three of them were detained in the United States embassy for seven months. These men were under him, Gur ley said, and it was he who smug gled the man accused of the shoot ing from the country. The other three men were carefully kept at the embassy to save them from the fatal results of being brought be fore a Yugoslavian people’s court, Gurley related. This incident was brought up by James V. Byrnes at the Paris peace conference. Gurley, a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and Friars was WHAT'S YOUR CHOICE FOR FALL? Vrom these three ARROW sports shirts f or college men 1. CORDUROY — Soft as a rabbit’s ear. So nice you’ll wear it to bed. An Arrow ex clusive. $7.50 2. GABANAIRE —This washable rugged spun rayon wonder shirt comes in 5 fast colors. $5.95 I w ■ 3. FLANNEL —Arrow’s "Redpath Flannels” 100% pure wool. Solid colors, solid shirt. $7.95 All Arrow sports shirts for fall have the smooth fitting Arrow collar and expert Arrow tailoring throughout. PS—You’ll always get a good deal at your Arrow dealer’s. ARROW SHIRTS and TIES \ UNDERWEAR • HANDKERCHIEFS • SPORTS SHIRTS I ------- Homecoming chairman in 1941, the year he left Oregon. He is now finishing his journalism course. His Hungarian wife, “Chirpy” (the American pronun ciation is taken from a more com plicated Hungarian name) is here with him. She was associated with the Hungarian theater until the Nazis came. They were married in Bu dapest and spent a cold November honeymoon traveling in an open jeep to Belgrade. As Mrs. Gurley did not have papers, Gurley got them through by “wearing a 45 and passing out cigarettes.” Once when detained at a bridge by an unbribable guard, Gurley was forced to call the American embassy only to find it was closed for Thanks giving. The bilaterally controlled com mercial air line was never estab lished, and Gurley left Belgrade at the request of Tito in August, 1946. Copy Desk Staff: Dizzy Turnbull Jo Snilwar John Williams Bob Hemingway Roy Crowder Barbara Heywood, Editor FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH Bdwy. at High invites all University Students to its services university Class 9.45 a.m. , University Fellowship 6:30 p.m. Dr. Vance H. Webster will speak 11a.m. “The Church and Its Function" 7:30 p.m. “Christ the Deliverer from Power of Sin" PLAN A CAREER IN RETAILING One-year Course for College Graduates • Prepare to step into a responsible executive position in the retailing field: buying, advertising, fashion, personnel. Specialized training, exclusively for col lege graduates, covers merchandising, personnel management, textiles, store organization, sales promotion, and all phases of store activity. Realistic ap proach under store-trained faculty. Classes are combined with paid store work. Students are usually placed be fore graduation. Co-educational. Mas ter’s degree. Approved by Veterans Administration. Four full-tuition schol arships available. Limited enrollment, apply early.Write for Bureau Bulletin C. RESEARCH BUREAU FOR RETAIL TRAINING I UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH • Pittsburgh 13, Pi. PAUSE FOR COKE RELAXES GOLFERS mm PLEASE return empty bottles promptly BOTTLED UNDER AUTHORITY OP THE COCA-COLA COMPANY BY Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Eugene © 1947 Th. C-C Co.