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South Pacific Theatre in January, 1945, he was essigned to duty as Staff Officer in the Logistics Section of the 3rd Marine Air Wing. His experience as superintendent of shipping for American Air Lines, prior to entering the service, served him in good stead in this post where the Air Wing served as a supply and replacement organization for all Marine aviation units in the Pacific Theatre.Holder of the Bronze Star Medal for outstanding work in Logistics, Lieut. Johnson returned to the United States December 1 and is now on terminal leave.The following is the first in afrom home; they are anxious to search out the reasons, the remedies for and the results of their positions. They have astonishingly articulate ideas on every possible subject: international relations, our own government, labor and management, veterans’ rights, the support of the people at home, planning for peace, and a hundred other things.As a lieutenant in the Marine Corps I talked to hundreds of men in every branch of the service. I talked to them in the Solomons, Marshalls, Gilberts, Mariannas, Philippines, Japan, China and an assortment of odd islands and I resolved that if I returned IFlowersFor Your ValentineWin her heart with flowers — beautiful blossomsthat will tell her more eleaantlv than words thatalcanai ana JNew trumea, on tne bloody beaches of Normandy, in the mud of Italy and on the lonely sands of Pacific atolls, can be expected to have firm and aggressive views on our participation in world affairs. They are impatient and ofttimes enraged by the complacent, let-George-do-it attitude that they find at home. Fired by days and nights of endless discussion, when discussion was their only pleasure, they find the average American citizen perfectly content to allow the foreign policy of the United States to be established and administered by a small governmental inner circle with no apparent regard for the wishes of the people who, by the laws of the land, are the source of all governmental authority.The most maddening result of the whole war to many veterans is the apparent lack of coordination between our tremendous moral, economic and industrial war effort and the leadership that is demanded of us in foreign affairs as a result of our victory. We have bought at the cost of one million American casualties and a staggering national debt the right to uphold the principles for which the struggle was waged. However, for some unaccountable reason, we have yet to raise our voice when the same principles for which we fought are violated.We fired the hope of oppressed nations everywhere when we signed the Atlantic Charter, but we have yet to raise our voice in blunt outspoken protest when one of our Allies violates every provision guaranteed by our victory.The first nation to oppose the might of Nazi Germany was Poland. Its gallant, but futile, resistance perhaps saved Europe, by giving England time to assemble the woefully inadequate forces with which she held the Nazis at bay. The Polish government in exile fought with every weapon at its command the Fascism that had conquered its homeland. But when the victory was won—did Poland once more raise her free head amongst the nations of Europe? No! BetrayedLee Allan Swem, chairman of the American Legion Public Speak-Contest which will be held in the Bronxville School auditorium on February 19 under the sponsorship of the Leonard Morange Post.by side with a man gives you the right to question him bluntly when you find his hand in your pack.The United Nations Organization has been established to preserve the peace that was so grue-somely purchased, but mere membership in such an organization does not relieve any nation of the moral responsibility of raising her voice loudly and incessantly in defense of the freedoms she has sworn to uphold.Not long ago the Acting Secretary of State, Joseph Grew, in a Washington press conference said, “We are bending over backward to avoid offending Russia.” Why should this nation, committed to a policy of upholding freedom and the rights of man, bend over backward to avoid offending any nation that threatens this freedom? It makes no difference whether that nation is Russia, England, China or any other country of the globe. Our policy should be the same.The outspokenness which characterizes our commercial activities in world trade should also characterize our activities for world peace. But for us to be outspoken in the family of nations, we must have a clear, concise policy in foreign affairs. One that is open and above board, honest in its criticism, prompt in its approval and relentless in its pursuit of the principles that we have sworn to uphold.There should be no need for secrecy between the State Department and the people of theYet they were daily laced with j indisputable evidence that their efforts were being betrayed in the fields of international poli- ' tics. They watched with bitter- * ness our appeasements, our si- 1 lence when we should have roar- • ed with national indignation, our \ wavering and our lack of diplo- }matic strength. What does it avail us to pour the wealth of t our youth, our factories and our i farms into a bloody assault on , a foreign shore if we abandon ( it to a new form of tyranny over ^ a conference table? jThe men with whom I talked -lt; knew that the guilt lay not with those whose leadership had failed j us, but on the shoulders of the , people who were unwilling to as- ( sume the obligations of victory ( as they had assumed the obliga- -tions of war.There is a tremendous debt to be discharged to those who will never return. The price is the constant vocal participation of every American in the function of his government, to demand that the freedom so bitterly purchased be granted to every corner of the earth.People all over the world look to us for leadership. The Chinese, the Pole, the Hindu, the Moslem, the Jew, all know us as the symbol of the freedom they seek. Our dead will have spilled their blood in vain if we drift back into our selfish complacency and allow new shackles to be forged upon half the peoples of the globe.-R-BUY OR SELL IT WITH A REPORTER CLASSIFIEDRemember . .LORAY. . For Fine Fabrics9 Fourth Ave.Mt. Vernon N. Y.
Newspaper Details
Bronxville Reporter
Bronxville, New York, US
Thu, Feb 07, 1946
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Dustin J.
USA 05 Jun 2023
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