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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1945)
Yanks Encircle Shuri Trapping Main Force of Japs on Okinawa Overwhelming Blows Prepared apital Journal Big 3 Meeting Held Essential To Settle Issues Marines Use Flaming Oil in Enemy Caves Japs Driven Into One Square Mile Area Close Fighting Rages 57th Year, No. 121 Entered lecond elui matter at St I em, Ortvon Salem, Oregon, Monday, May 21, 1945 Price Five Cents Against Japan Truman Presents Medal To Soldier at Joint Session of Congress . Washington, May 21 (Pi A ramrod-stiff G.I. sergeant from the shrapnel-splattered battle fields of Europe stood before his president and the congress to day to receive the congressional medal of honor. The sergeant, slender black haired Jake W. Lindsey of Lucedale, Miss., was the 100th infantryman to receive the cov eted award, highest in his coun try's gift. Senators and representatives cheered and applauded a few with excited yells as the tech nical sergeant bowed his head to receive the blue-ribboned war trophy from President Truman. Presented by President "This is a proud and moving occasion for every American," the president said in remarks broadcast over all major net works. "It follows the complete vic tory of the allied forces over a powerful enemy in Europe. It finds us striking devastating blows in the Pacific. We are preparing to strike them later in overwhelming force." Mr. Truman joined In the ap plause as the young Mississip pian, accompanied by Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall, accepted the award and stepped from the house dias. Badly Rattled Once during the applause Gen. Marshal was overheard saying in an aside to Sgt. Lind sey: "Give "em a bow, give 'em ufa bow." ' The soldier who bravely fac ed overwhelming odds in battle ' found the occasion almost too much for him. He swallowed several times and his features never relaxed from their stern Immobility, except when he shook hands with the president. After the ceremony Sgt. Lind sey was the guest of honor at a private capitol luncheon At tended by President Truman and congressional leaders. Rep. Colmer (D., Miss.), the young sergeant's ' congressman, was host at the luncheon.y Speaks to Congress Mr. Turman told the congress: "Before . the battle against Japan is won, we shall have other men to honor men whose deeds, like those we celebrate today, will have brought closer our Inevitable victory." Lindsey is the 100th infan- tryman to receive the nation's Highest award for valor in bat tle and the president, in making the presentation personally be fore a joint session of congress (Concluded on Page 7, Column 6) Army to Lose Men Aged 40 Washington, May 21 (U.R) Army enlisted men aged 40 or older were made eligible today for discharge on their own ap plication. The ruling applies to all such men whose service record is 4inonorable. This represents a lowering of the discharge age from 42 years, which became effective last April 17.. The reduction of the GE brai uets affected about 30,000 en listed men in the 40 and 41 year age groups. When the military situation permits, a further reduction will uc lllduc III uic tifie Mlllll, the war department disclosed. These discharges are separate from those made on the point system which applies to all ages. The new policy Is also appli cable to enlisted Wacs 40 and older who have served for one year or more. Eight thousand enlisted Wacs are eligible to apply under this policy. i Commanders will be permit ted to retain for 90 days any eligible man who applies for discharge under this policy for whom a replacement is not im mediately available. The Weather (Released by the United States Weather Bureau) Forecast for Salem and vicin ity: Mostly cloudy tonight and Tuesday with scattered light rains tonight and occasionally Tuesday. Continued cool day time temperatures. . Minimum tonight about 48. Conditions Tuesday morning will be favor able for dusting. Max. yester day. 65. Mln. today, 49.' Mean temperature yesterday, 54. which was 3 below normal. Total 24 hour precipitation to 11:30 a.m. today, .01. Total precipitation .lor the month. 3.99. which is 2.52 inches above normal. Wil lamette river height, 6 ft. Tito's Troops Withdrawing From Austria Trieste, May 21 (Pi Yugo slav forces which penetrated into Carinthia and Styria began moving out of Austria in force today in trucks provided by (he British eighth army and are expected to be outside the border by tonight. At the same time a Yugoslav-controlled newspaper here adopted a conciliatory tone to ward the message of Marshal Sir Harold Alexander to his troops on Trieste, although a confused situation of dual oc cupation still prevailed here. Marshal Tito's Yugoslavs be gan moving out of Austria af ter an officer of the third Yugoslav army conferred with Gen. Keightly of the eighth army's fifth corps and told him he had been ordered to with draw below the Austrian bor der. The Yugoslavs had infiltra ted into Austria after advance parties of the eighth army en tered, and at Kalagenfurt seized the local newspaper plant be fore a guard could be placed over it. An allied military govern ment had been placed in opera tion throughout the zone of Austria occupied by the British despite the Yugoslav action. The ' Y u g os 1 a v - controlled newspaper II Nostro Avvenire published the text of Marshal Alexander's message to his troops, giving Trieste citizens and Marshal Tito's troops here what probably was their first news of the gravity of the si tuation. Russians Train Czech Army London, May 21 (P) The Czechoslovak news bureau an nounced tonight a new Czecho slovak army to be trained and equipped by the Russians will be built around the Czechoslo vak army group which was formed in Russia during the German occupation of the home land. . A spokesman explained that re-establishment of a modern army would follow the pattern adopted after the first World war when the Czechs turned to France for aid and equipment. At that time a large French mil itary mission with headquarters in Prague helped organize an army of 40 infantry and four motorized divisions. Now, said the spokesman, new Circumstances and the mutual assistance pact with soviet Rus sia make it desirable to request military assistance and advice from Russia. Czechoslovak units trained in Britain will be absorbed and retrained in the new army. Russia has agreed to receive a number of young Czech offi cers and enlisted men at all so viet military schools for train ing. After receiving the same training as red army men they will return to the homeland. Nazi Governor Jailed London, May 21 (U.R) Copen hagen dispatches said today that Werner Best, former nazi gover nor of Denmark, has been turn ed over to Danish authorities after his arrest by allied troops. British Labor Breaks Away From Churchill Government London, May 21 (U.R) The labor party decided today to break away from the coalition government and force a British election, despite an urgent plea from Prime Minister Churchill to put off nnlitirs until .Innan f ripfpatpri Meeting at Blackpool, the la bor party rejected Churchill's proposal to continue the coali tion government and offered to go to the polls any time. The step meant the death in a short time possibly next month of the government Churchill formed five years ago to guide Britain to victory in Europe. In a last-minute maneuver Churchill suggested that an un precedented national referen dum be held on whether the 10-year-old parliament should con tinue in office. Deputy Prime Minister Clem ent R. Attlee and Home Secre tary Herbert Morrison, in a press conference at Blackpool, Single Aircraft Sinks Convoy of 5 Jap Vessels Manila, May 21 (Pi In one of the war's outstanding aerial feats, a single Philippines-based navy patrol plane destroyed an entire Japanese convoy of five ships, totaling 17,000 tons off Formosa Saturday, Gen. Doug las MacArthur reported today. The largest ship, more than 5,500 tons, was a troop carrier, judging from its numerous life rafts. A total of 369,818 Japanese have been killed and captured in the seven months' Philippine campaign, 14,408 of them in the last fortnight, MacArthur an nounced. Japs Weakening Japanese forces driven north of Davao into a succession of defense lines on Mindanao isl and appeared to be weakening. A U.S. 24th division column which speared up the coast, throwing a flank threat at stout ly defended Sasa airfield, did not meet resistance until the end of a full day's advance. At nightfall, it overcame strong Nipponese positions 3,000 yards northwest of Ipil village. Other elements of the 24th knocked out strong Japanese re sistance around Tugbok on the main Japanese escape route into the mountains. Sayre Road Opened One corasany beat off four counterattacks by a single Ja panese platoon one night. The Sayre highway on north central Mindanao was opened to the Yanks as far as Dalirig vil lage as the 40th and American divisions drove south. Advanc ing northward toward a junc ture, the 31st bucked sniper fire to reach within 11 miles of Mal aybalay, provincial capital of Hukidnow. On Luzon, where fog and rain added to the toughness of the fight, Yanks cleaned out resist ant pockets in the Balete Pass of the northern sector and in the Ipo pocket east of Manila. Chinese Capture Second Port Chungking, May 21 (U.R) Chinese troops have recaptured Hochih, 90 miles northwest of the former 14th U. S. air force base at Lichow in Kwangsi prov ince, a communique announced today. Hochih had been the western most Kwangsi base of Japanese troops since they were driven back from Kweichow province last December after a thrust ot ward the American air base at Kweiyang, 180 miles south of Chungking. On the Fukien front, victori ous Chinese troops drove to wards the sea today along both sides of the Min river from the recently recaptured inland port of Foochow, 25 miles from the east coast. One force pushed 15 miles along the right bank of the Min to capture the river port of Di ongloh. Another column occu pied the Pagado anchorage of Mamoi, 18 miles southeast of Foochow. Another force, pushing north, had reached the vicinity of Lien long, 22 miles north of Foo chow. saia me party oenevea tne eiec tion should be delayed until au tumn, but was ready for it in July the, earliest possible time. Churchill made his proposi tion in a letter to labor party members. He acknowledged the need for expression of the nation's will to vote, but urged that for reasons above party lines the coalition government stay in office. .Attlee and Morrison pointed out that the end of the Japanese war was indefinite. They said that they felt the election should be put off until autumn. They believed that one was necessary in the relatively near future to renew the life of the par liament elected in 1935. In; Aim French Turn on Their Would-Be Conquerors W) German Frenchmen as the enemy was rounded up at Jouy-en-Josas, capital was liberated last August. Censorship just released Dan Grossi, with wartime still picture pool. County War Bond Sales Reach Total of $645,740 Total war bond sales in the seventh loan drive barely skinned by the $600,000 mark Monday with a total reported of $645,740 out of which individuals sales were $515,026 and these Included "E" bond sales of $337,195. Employes of the Western Paper Converting company were latest reported by Industrial Chairman Eisenhower Used Double Paris, May 21 (P) A Chicago lieutenant colonel was used as a double for Gen. Eisenhower last December after the Germans voiced threats against the su preme commander's life, it was disclosed today. Supreme headquarters said, however, that the plot was a hoax-i-a .i story the Germans spread to heighten their armies' morale. The double, Lt. Col Baldwin B. Smith of Chicago, was placed in Eisenhower's four-star auto mobile on journeys between St. Germains and Versailles. Smith volunteered for the role "of decoy when the army clamped an iron-tight curfew on the Paris area and set up the most elaborate machinery of the war to prevent possible destruc tion of supreme allied headquar ters and assassination of the commanding general. The similarity in appearances of Eisenhower and Smith is so striking that they frequently are mistaken for each other. "When Smith sat in the gen eral's car, you couldn't tell the difference," commented Lt. Al bert Buonnano of Cranston, R.I., "their smiles are identical and from the rear they look exactly alike." Lt. Col. Otto Skorzeny, aide to Gestapo Chief Heinrich Himmler and reported to be leader of the picked assassins directed to kill Eisenhower, was captured by the U.S. seventh army last Thursday. Censors then permitted release of the plot story, one of the top mili tary secrets of the European theater. First Imperial Wizard of KKK Dies Atlanta, May 21 fP) William Joseph Simmons, first imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan or ganization which was revived throughout the south 30 years ago, is dead. Death in a hospital here last Friday of the man who directed the Klan In the years when it wrote a stormy chapter in the pages of American history was disclosed by friends today. His wife survives. Simmons had been in failing health for the past four years. Since eclipse of the Klan, he had been in retirement, devoting the past few years to writing and occasional lectures. Hitler's Photographer Taken Rosenheim, Germany, May 21 (P) Heinrich Hoffman, Hitler's personal photographer, was captured by the seventh army a week ago. He registered a double complaint from his pri son cell today: (1) He had had no " mpagne for a week, and (2) all his negatives were de stroyed In the bombings of Berlin. IT" 1 1'A&H: ft vt 4". Dent Reed to eo over the toD among local industrial firms having passed their quota of $10,125. Keith Building & Sup ply company and Chemical Con struction company are other plants which had previously ex ceeded their quotas This brings the total of subscriptions for industrial plants up to $66,533 for employ subscriptions. Added to the list of awards for war bond holders is a four piece bedroom set valued at $100 and donated by Woodry Furni ture company. This brings the total of such awards up to 81 and others are expected.' Gene Vandenynde, c i t 1 e s chairman for the campaign, has reported heads of drives in out side communities with their quotas, these all being filled with the exception of Jefferson, (Concluded on Page 8, Column 6) Hungarian Gold Cache Found Paris, May 21 (Pi The state treasure of Hungary, including the total gold reserve behind all Hungarian currency in circula tion, was uncovered recently by the U. S. 80th infantry division on a rocky, pine-covered crag high in the Austrian Alps. The treasure trove, hidden at the ancient mountain village of Pital Am Pyhrn, was unearthed by Hungarian-born MSgt. Wil liam J. DeHuszar of Chicago, 111. It Included 4.000,000,000 pen gos ($130,000,000 at the present rate of exchange), 29,000 kilo grams of gold bullion worth $30,000,000, complete sets of Hungarian bank note plates for printing all Hungarian cur rency, plus other wealth repre senting most of the capital in terest and individual deposits of Hungary brought from Buda pest before the Russians captur ed that city. Also in the mountain top chapel cellar were more than 1,000,000 reichsmarks, $159,000 in American currency, six cases of priceless Hungarian art treas ures, including historical 14th century illuminated manuscripts belonging to the ancient Magyar kings, and 20 cases containing jewels and other valuables once the property of the royal Hun garian court. This wealth in money, art and jewels was watched over by the pro-nazi president of the Royal Bank of Hungary and some 500 financial experts, clerks, bookkeepers and other employes, guarded by 200 pick ed Hungarian gendarmes. Easing Promised in Civilian Lumber Seattle, May 21 (U.R) Sup plies of lumber for civilian con struction will be eased during the last months of 1945, the army-navy lumber information committee said today. The committee emphasized that the supplies will be tight ly controlled for army and navy needs in the war against Japan for the next four months. r ..0 a -w '.rr- AP:-. ' v M X CI aE',...is..,,,.,,t... .v.aii troops run from kicks and blows of near Paris, about the time the French this picture made by AP Photographer Budget Law Suit Dismissed A suit by Oregon Business & Tax Research, Inc. to invalidate the 1945 legislature's local bud get law was dismissed today by Circuit Judge George R. Dun can. The firm, which has head quarters in Portland, is expected to appeal to the tate supreme court. It had asked for an in junction against Secretary of Slate Robert S. Farrell, Jr., to restrain Farrell from including the measure, known as house bill 403, in the published ses sion laws. The suit has delay ed publication of the laws. The firm charged that the bill, as finally signed by the governor, did not include amendments which had been passed by the legislature. But Judge Duncan, citing a well-established rule of law to the effect that the official leg islative journals are the only records on which courts may re ly, said the official journals show the bill was properly en acted. The bill would permit tax levying bodies to set up a cash working account for use be tween the time taxes are author ized and until they are collect ed. The suit was filed only last Thursday, and argued in court the following day. Admiral Sallada Heads Air Bureau Washington, May 21 (P) President Truman nominated Rear Admiral Harold B. Sallada to be chief of the navy's bureau of aeronautics with the same rank. Admiral Sallada will replace Rear Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey who has been chief of the bureau of aeronautics since August 6, 1943. Ramsey's new assignment was not announced immediately. The president also nominated Monnett B. Davis of Colorado to be minister to Denmark. Davis is now a personal representative of the president in Denmark with the rank of minister. French Senegalese Fire On Lebanese Creating Crisis Beyrouth, May 21 (U.R) Disclosures that French Senegalese troops fired on Lebanese demonstrators and killed several of them yesterday brought a new middle-eastern political crisis to a head today. (A Cairo dispatch said clashes in Syria and Lebanon had put the whole middle-east on edge over French policy in the Levant states. . A Lebanese legation official said 17 persons were wounded when Senegalese troops dispersed crowds in Da mascus.) The shooting climaxed a se ries of incidents provoked by troops in Syria and Lebanon and brought these rapid devel opments: 1. Syria and Lebanon re solved jointly to refuse to ne gotiate with the French on the question of landing additional troops in the two countries. The decision was designed to place the blame on France for any further clashes. 3.olems of Frontiers, 6? Criminals Assum- ng Crisis Proportions fBy th Asufwtdtd Pr.Mt Europe's vexing problems of frontiers and war criminals spurred new demands today for an early meeting of the Big Three. The British press warned that some of the issues already were beginning to as sume proportions of "interna tional crises" as tension height ened in the dispute over the Adriatic port of Trieste. Moscow commentators in creased their demands for swift trial of captured nazi big shots by the Americans and British and asked why other Hitlerite leaders had not been captured. Opposed to Doenitz Apparently no nearer settle ment was the Polish govern ment question and there were signs of Russian disagreement with Anglo-American methods of treating the Doenitz admin istration. Hunger began to make itself felt in Trieste. Associated Press Correspondent Lynn Heinzer ling said Yugoslav military au thorities were reported io have made overtures to allied au thorities for shipment of food to Italy but the Italians were confronted with the problem of feeding thousands of displaced persons of their own. The allied military govern ment, which apparently would be in position to alleviate the food shortages, remained out side Trieste and there was lit tle prospect it would act as long as Marshal Tito's troops contin ued to control the port. The Yugoslavs gave no sign of evac uating the city. War Criminals While the discussion of how to proceed against war crimi nals continued, occupation troops rounded up another Ger man leader, Field Marshal Fer dinand Schoerner, commander of the hold-out troops who re sisted the Russians in Czecho slovakia for several days after the nazi capitulation. Schoerner was turned over the U. S. 42nd division by a German army com mand post to which he had fled in disguise. The manhunt for Gestapo Chief Himmler continued. A British military govern ment officer announced a plan for ultimate decentralization of the German government under allied-supervised local mayors. Sought for the job were "worthy burgomeisters." Refugees to Return German refugees in London will return to the reich to help carry out the program. But a Russian commentator said pub lic opinion demanded "an im mediate stop" to allied collab oration with "the Ersatz govern ment of (Grand Admiral Karl) Doenitz." The American military gov ernment put a freeze on Ger man bank accounts, limiting nazi leaders to $30 a month for living expenses and an nouncing that all whose funds were so restricted also were subject to arrest. Other Ger mans will be limited to $100 a month for expenses. King Leopold 111 London, May 21 (UR) Radio Brussels quoted a statement from the Belgian premier's of fice yesterday that King Leo pold III, who was liberated in southern Germany, suffered an acute heart attack last week and was unable to be moved. 2. The Arab league, power ful union of middle-eastern countries, called on diplomatic representatives of the big pow ers, Including France itself, to express regret over the situa tion. 3. U. S. Minister George Wadsworth conferred with Leb anese leaders. 4. The Iraq government con tacted the Egyptian government in an effort to coordinate their policies in the event of new developments. The fatal shooting occurred near a French co-operative store in Beyrouth. The Sengalese troops were guarding the stores and opened fire when the dem onstrators approached. Guam, May 21 (U.R) Marines and army infantrymen on Okin awa battled to complete the en circlement of Shurl today In drive that threatened to trap the main strength of the Japanese garrison in a one-square-mile area. ' The Tenth army sent strong patrols Into Yonabaru on the east coast today while marinei used flaming oil to drive Japa nese defenders from formida ble' fortifications guarding Shuri, front dispatches reported. Fleet on the Prowl The Domei (Japanese) news agency said an American fleet again was "on the prowl" off southern Japan. It appeared to be approaching Kyushu for new attacks on the Japanese home land. Close-range fighting of un surpassed Intensity in the Paci fic war raged among the ridgei and caves outside Shuri and Yonabaru. Army patrols, dispatched by Maj. Gen. John R. Hodge of the 24th corps, penetrated Yonabaru and found but few Japanese. The enemy apparently has been moving out of the town during daylight hours when American artillery spotters are overhead. Oil Poured Into Caves The First marine division one of the three enveloping Shuri blazed a fiery path to ward the ancient stronghold which the Japanese were de fending with do-or-die despera tion. Front dispatches said leather necks poured fuel Into coral caves and hill-side fortifica tions, igniting it with exploding grenades. Sheets of flame shot skyward, casting a pinkish glow on Shuri, directly ahead, and killing or routing the defenders. Anti-tank gunners used their big weapons like rifles, firing them point-blank at slits in cor al pillboxes. Heavy Bombardment ... Savage ground fighting pro gressed under cover of the heav iest land, sea and air bombard ment of the Pacific war. It appeared the heaviest ground assault was being directed at Shuri. Except for patrols, the 96th division has not yet entered Yonabaru in strength. Final at tacks against Naha, rubble heaped west coast port and capital of Okinawa, apparently were being held up. pending completion of the Shurl eam paign. Young General Sniper Victim Manila, May 21 (IP) Brig. Gen. James L. Dalton, 35, one of the youngest generals In the army, was killed by a Japanese sniper near Balete pass on northern Luzon Island, Gen. Douglas AacArthur announced today. Dalton, whom MacArthur re ferred to as "distinguished and intrepid," was killed May 16. MacArthur announced the young officer's death with '.'great sorrow." Dalton, whose widow and two daughters live in Kennebunk Port, Me., was assistant 25th di vision commander. His body was buried yesterday in the Santa Barbara army cemetery near Binaionan, 100 miles north of Manila. Dalton commanded the 161st regiment, formerly part of the Washington state national guard, through the Guadalcanal and New Georgia campaigns in the Solomons, and on Luzon in the battle of San Manuel where the main Japanese tank strength was smashed. " He was killed while inspect ing a front line ravine which formerly sheltered the enemy command on that front. Dalton was the second gen eral to be killed on the front lines of Luzon, principal island of the Philippines. Maj. Gen. Edwin D. Patrick, commander of the Sixth division, was killed March 15. New Street Bus Deliveries Detroit, May 21 (Pi Six of 34 buses ordered by Oregon Motor Stages probably will be deliver ed the last quarter of 1945, and six the first quarter of 1946, the General Motors truck and Coach division, Pontiac, said today. The rest of the delivery is in definite, General Motors stated.
