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Enlisted Men Lauded• I fcrl that the exploits of the officers inthe Navy, and probably the other branches of the service, have been over-emphasized, when in reality it is the enlisted men who do all the real work and deserve the major portionof credit '*The above striking statement was made by Lieut. Irvin McPherson, holder of the NavyCross and a presidential citation for gallantry in action at the Battle of Midway last year,during his speech before the Navv Day banquet meeting here Wednesday night. Lt McPherson went .on to explain that the officers were the “glamour boys.” but that it was the enlisted men who made their deeds possible; and m citing his own experience he declared that an aircraft carrier was only as efficient as its plane handling crews, the latter made up of enlisted men.Pilot of a torpedo plane, one of six which returned from the attack on the Japanese fleet at Midway, Lt. McPherson is well qualified to speak of the work of the enlisted man, and he gave full credit to his crew in helping him extricate his plane from the almost-position in which they found themselves while attacking the Jap ships.The Naval hero probably could have talked for hours about the inferno he went through during the attack, but he passed over it lightly with the cryptic remark; “We knew it was practically suicide to go in, but the Japs had to be stopped, so we went in.” That is the type of men we have in our armed services today, and as long as such men make up our fighting branches, we need have no fear the outcome if we but get them the tools withwhich to do the job.Honored as he has been by his government, Lt. McPherson might be forgiven if he werea trifle conceited; but the very opposite is true. The large crowd that heard him speak was truly amazed when this heroic officer began to speak, not in praise of himself or his fellow' officers, but of the men in the ranks,and to give these enlisted men the praise thatis rightfully theirs.Too often, as Lt. McPherson pointed out,only the heroic deeds of the officers are recorded, and the work of his fellow' crew members in the plane and the ground crew of the ship are often forgotten, hut they play a vital role in the success of the mission. They are the men behind the scenes who fail to make the headlines but do the real work, as do thelinemhn on a football team.In the present war, as never before, teamwork is an essential of victory, and Lt. McPherson's praise of the men in the ranks stamps him as one who knows that only by realizing the other mans contribution, whether he be an officer or enlisted man, can the vital teamwork be developed. True teamwork of himself and his crew also might explain why he was able to get through the hell of Jap anti-aircraft fire at Midway, deliver his torped6, and get out again.
Newspaper Details
Anniston Star
Anniston, Alabama, US
Fri, Oct 29, 1943
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
WI, USA 12 Aug 2020
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