| THIS WEEK IN WW-II |
 January 20, 2011 By Tom Gribble |
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 Jan. 16, 1941 (Thursday): President Roosevelt proposed the making of 200 cargo ships and asked Congress for $350,000,000 to do so. Six years later President Truman announced an agreement had been reached by Army and Navy leaders to join forces under a new Department of Defense. Both would retain subordinate t Departments within the organization. The agreement would also create a new and equal Department of the Air Force. Just recently, a proposal to make the Marine Corps a Department level service has made the rounds. Though I am an ex-Marine (if there is such a thing - once a Marine, always a Marine) with five years active "duty, I am opposed to Department level status for the Marine Corps. The Corps was founded on Nov. 10, 1775, nearly eight months before our Declaration of Independence. The Corps served aboard ships and made its first amphibious landing on March 3, 1776. The Marine Corps, a component of the Navy Department, was officially established by Congress on July 11, 1798. While article II, Section 2 of U.S. Constitution makes the President the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, Article I, Section 8 says only Congress may declare war. With this, I feel quite strongly that the President does not have the authority to send our armed forces into foreign combats without a Congressional Declaration of War. I n defiance of this, every American war since the end of WW-II has been begun by a sitting President: Korea, Vietnam (including Cambodia and Laos), Grenada, Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Kuwait/Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, and Afghanistan. Eight full-scale wars that were, contrary to our Constitution, not declared by Congress. How many Americans paid in blood? I have been able to locate reasonably accurate numbers for four of those wars: Korea, Vietnam, the 1991 Gulf War, and the 2003-2009 Iraq War. The total comes to 117,175 dead Americans. Another 288,582 wounded. Casualty numbering for the ongoing war in Afghanistan is difficult to quantify. The number of dead and wounded is given by the month, but seems to be published only sporadically, so totals by the year – or so far into the war – are not readily arrived at. Rather than making the Corps a Department level entity, I would propose the Marine Corps be made the President's Own. The President would be able to use only the Corps at his/her discretion without a Declaration of War by Congress. This will allow a President to quickly dispatch armed forces to trouble spots for the protection of American lives and property, but would prevent him/her from getting us entangled in multiple full-scale undeclared wars. To avoid massive wars, such as we have seen during the last sixty years, the size of the Corps should be limited during peacetime. The Marine Corps has on active duty three Divisions along with three supporting Air Wings (plus one of each in the Reserves) equipped with fighters, fighter/bombers, and transports, including air-to-air refuelers. This is more than sufficient for limited engagements. I do respect and admire those who have served and are now serving in these wars. I am merely against undeclared wars. If a war is worth fighting, make it Constitutionally correct. T he Marine Corps Band, by the way, is called the President's Own. And do you think it odd that Article II, Section 2 has not been amended to include the Air Force? J an. 17, 1941: Rear Admiral Richard K. Turner, Director of the U.S. Navy's War Plans Division, informed Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations -(CNO), that the U.S. Navy could be able to perform transatlantic escort-of-convoy missions from North America to Scotland by the first of April, provided plans for this duty were immediately worked out. Six years later President Truman clarified yesterday's announcement by saying only the Secretary of Defense would be a Cabinet level official; the Secretaries of the Army and Navy would not have a seat in the Cabinet, nor would the new Air Force Secretary. Monday, Jan. 17, 2011: Born on January 15, 1929. Shot dead on April 4, 1968. Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Jan 18, 1941: Six years later (1947) Pope Pius said, "The tyranny of Communism succeeded the tyranny of Nazism." I wonder how many surviving European Jews would have agreed with him. Jan. 19, 1941: Hitler summoned a "shaken and humiliated" Mussolini to Berghof, his villa above Berchtesgaden, for a two-day conference. II Duce thought this would be 4-8 hours of rebuke and chastisement. His son-in-law, Count Galeazzo Ciano, saw Mussolini "frowning and nervous" as he boarded the train. Turns out Hitler was in an expansive mood and treated his guests graciously. General Alfedo Guzzoni, then Chief of Staff, was with Mussolini, as was Ciano, Italy’s Foreign Minister. What Hitler wanted to discuss was his plans for helping the Italians in their war on Greece. Hitler also told his allies, "I don't see great danger coming from America even if she should enter the war. The much greater danger is the gigantic block of Russia. Though we have very favorable political and economic agreements with Russia, I prefer to rely on powerful means at my disposal." However, he did not elaborate, nor did he mention his intended Russian invasion. Six years later (19-47) French forces began attacking Viet Nam troops in Hue. I wonder if anyone in America took notice. I would have just turned 13 years old. I did not take notice. Jan. 20, 1941: Fifty-eight year old Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in for his unprecedented third term as President of the United States. S ix years later the U.S. signed World War Two peace treaties with Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Rumania. That's 20 months after the end of hostilities in Europe. Actually, quite quick work for diplomats. Not until 1951 did the U.S. sign formal peace treaties with our major foes, Japan and Germany; the first on Sept. 8, the latter on Oct. 19. Jan. 21, 1941: Once again Yosuke Matsuoka, Japan's Foreign Minister, chastised America for "interfering" in Asian affairs. In a related action, the U.S. announced it was ending the prohibition of exports to the U.S.S.R. The ban had been a part of our so called "moral embargo." In North Africa the British and Australians penetrated the Italian lines at Tobruk on the Mediterranean Sea coast in northeast Libya. Six years later General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff throughout WW-II, was appointed U.S. Secretary of State. He will while in that position do" wonders for Europe, and especially so for Germany. Jan. 22, 1941: The fighting for Tobruk ended with the capture of 25,000 Italians. Compare that to the less than 400 Allied casualties. "Shoot all the blue jays you want," Atticus tells Jem, his not quite teenage son, "if you can hit 'em, but remember, it's a sin To Kill A Mockingbird." Mockingbirds eat weed seeds and insects we don't like, often picking the bugs out of car and truck radiators while the vehicles are parked. But, there's more to them than that. As Calpurnia tells Scout, Jem's younger by four years sister, "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin To Kill a Mockingbird." We have wandered into the little town of Maycomb. We are going through our darkest years of our deepest depression. But, at their last convention the Democrat's sang "Happy Days Are Here Again!" And during his inauguration our new President told us, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." For some, perhaps, in Maycomb County. If you're white and own the land the sharecroppers work. Or, should you have a small business in this tiny county seat. Should you be born black, though, through no fault of your own, happy days are few. You work" for The Man you fear. You live in the shack The Man provides on his place. Perhaps someone will teach your kids how to read and write. But it won't be in a school. And if a young white girl like Mayella Ewell says a black man like Tom Robinson tried to rape her, the all-white jury will believe her. Regardless of the lack of evidence. Or faulty testimony. (Her face had been badly battered on the right side. Tom's useless left arm dangles at his side. He can use only his right arm. Mayella's dad, Bob Ewell, is left-handed.) The jury spends more than eight hours in deliberation. All 12 members know Tom is innocent. But this is Alabama. And this is 1935. Tom's wife, Helen, will be a widow tomorrow. |
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