The La Crosse Tribune from La Crosse, Wisconsin • Page 5

Monday, February 19, 195! The LA CROSSE TRIBUNE. La Croat, Wisconsin PbgtS Hal Boyle: Poor Man's Philosopher A High Tribute To American 'Shoestring Army' In Korea NEW (JP) American eighth army In Korea today rates man for man as the equal of any this country ever sent overseas. It is fast, powerful and well disciplined. Under Lt Gen. Matthew B.

Ridgway it is showing a fine ability to fight two kinds of war- breaking up North Korean guerrilla bands in its rear at the same time it it smashing back head-on drives by massed Chinese troops. The eighth army is a mature army now. But those who served under it from the start will always remember it best for the days of its youth. It was known then as "the shoestring army" and its performance in the first deadly dangerous weeks stand as an enduring monument to the chunky little tank expert who led it into late Lt. Walton H.

Walker. In Japan the army had deteriorated sadly BOYLE from the dry rot that has afflicted all occupation armies in history. Walker had been given the task of cleaning it out and putting it back into shape. That job was under way but still incomplete when the Korean emergency forced him to take it into combat last summer. -tt -ir THE ARMY WAS SHORT of everything from canteens to tanks and new type bazookas.

It had too few field trained officers, too many overage, overweight sergeants. It had too many young privates psychologically unprepared for warfare. They bad joined up for to fight. That army had to be fed into action fast as it could be ferried across the sea of a rough, sea- foe that in some battles outnumbered it five to one. The enemy held a big edge in tanks as well as manpower.

They knew the hilly terrain. And they could take the terrible heat better than the Americans. For more than 10 weeks the eighth 'army bad to meet a fresh erislc every day. No wonder they nicknamed it "the shoestring It fought battle after battle without having a single platoon in reserve to call up. Its stubborn holding of the Naktong line was one of the most brilliant defensive stands in the annals of America.

The Pentagon expressed confidence there would be no Dunkerque in Korea, but many a commanding officer on the scene felt there would have to be. -h -ft "THE HOLDING OF. THAT line was a rare combination of good luck and damn fine skill on the part of General Walker," recalled one staff officer. "Militarily, we had no right to' expect to hold it with the force we had. It was 120 miles long, and we didn't have the men to up a continuous line.

Some divisions were holding on a 25-to- I0-mile is theoretically impossible." How was it done? By setting up a series of strong points. Whenever enemy pressure became too strong at one point, Gen. Walker would thin out his troops from another sector and shuttle them over to the danger zone. That meant taking terrible gambles. "To do it Walker had to figure out in advance where the enemy would hit next and in what we could know what of our own line we could risk weakening," said the staff officer.

The situation became so bad that at one time it was estimated a force of 1,000 guerrillas could have filtered down from the hills and wiped out the eighth army's own headquarters. The army was slowly growing in power. But so was the enemy. And in early September, at the peak of the Red drive to slash through to Pusan, Walker had to make his boldest gamble. He had to pull 23,000 marines out of the line so they could load ship for the Inchon landing.

ft "IT WAS AN UNBELIEVEABLE situation" said the staff officer. "We were planning to go on the offensive at the same time It looked like we were going to be forced off the peninsula altogether." The meager line held off the Reds in a miracle of fighting. As one officer commented, "just how they did it we don't know yet." Then the marines and the seventh division landed behind the North Koreans and drove on Seoul. That changed the picture. Although he still had as many troops against him as before, Walker immediately attacked.

There were only 850 feet of bridging equipment in the entire theater. Walker used 625 feet to cross the Naktong. His engineers improvised bridges across the other In less than two weeks the eighth army shattered the surprised Red forces and linked up with' the American landing force at Inchon. The desperate shoestring days of the army were those were the days that forged it into a great YOU HEARD SANITONE DRY CLEANING i Means AND Fast Service true! Let us show you how SANITONE dry cleaning gets out more dirt, freshens colors and puts new life into drab fabrics. And as a friendly reminder, let us urge you to gather together your spring dry cleaning now for prompt, thorough service.

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XXI 'FINISHED -THE Foreign Affairs Churchill Leads Heavy Attack OnAttlee's Socialist Rule By DEWITT MACKENZIE (AP Forelcn Affairs Analyst) Four times this month British Prime Minister Attlee's Socialist government has avoided, by a slim majority, a parliamentary defeat which woold have forced its resignation. Underlying this touch-and-go conflict with the Conservatives in commons, in the view of many British political observers, is lack of public confidence in government policies. These experts go even further and say that if there were a new gen- MacKENZIE era! election now the Conservative party would win. WHY? WELL, FOR ONE thing it wooldn't be surprising if Mr. Attlee had run into some very tough luck.

Like a lot of other countries, Britain has been hard hit-economically by the ramifications of the cold war between Bolshevism and the democracies. There is a shortage of many foodstuffs, including meat. There is a bad shortage of coal, despite Britain's great resources underground. And many other essentials, not to mention luxuries, are scarce. Moreover, a large section of the public isn't happy with the nationalization scheme of the government.

Naturally Winston Churchill, leader of the Conservatives, has capitalized each item of public discontent The old maestro on Feb. 1 led the charge in commons against the government's landling of the coal situation, and the government survived a vote of no-confidence by a margin of 11. CHURCHILL FOLLOWED on Feb. 7 with an assault on steel nationalization and the government pulled through with 10 votes. Next came the ticklish subject of the meat shortage, when the government had a majority of only 8, and this was followed Feb.

15 by the vote on Winston's charges of mismanagement of the defense program, the government winning 21 votes. Nothing daunted, Churchill wound up last week's attack by filing another motion of censure which is scheduled for debate Tuesday. This has to do with the government's so far for raising peanuts in Africa to get food fats. Thus the government's fate again will be in question. If Attlee survives, Winston undoubtedly will return to the attack with something else.

He never will say die, though many British observers figure that the government isn't likely to fall in the immediate future. The Haskin Service: Answers To Questions A reader can pet the answer to any question of fact by writing The La Crosse Tribune Information Bureau. 316 Eye St, N. Washington 2, D. C.

Please enclose three (3) cents for return postage. Q. Is Germany producing as much coal as England and France? D. S. A In 1948, Germany produced 294.41 millions of short tons of coal; France 49.75 millions; Great Britain 233.44 millions Letters to Us column dlscnsstnt nut- ten ot general Interest ere welcomed.

They ibonld not exceed 400 words, the right betec referred to condense and eliminate, or to withheld (ram publication entirely. or rellfiou eon- trorersles and support of political eandt- datea will not be nsed. and ad' dresses or the author moat letters, bat may be withheld upon request. In which caae a pen name ahonld be crren. However, in ease of persons, organizations of causes mentioned, those directly affected are entitled, neon re- Quest, to the author's name.

'UNEQUAL PENALTIES' Editor Tribune: I was guilty of speeding at 6J miles per hour after dark. I paid my fine of $10 plus cost and hope to be a more careful driver in the future. But why should I be socked $10 and cost, when several others were socked $5 and cost? One man on the same date had two violations, speeding and no drivers' license. In fact he hadn't had one for about five years. He gets $5 and cost on speeding and $1 and cost on no drivers' license.

Where is the justice supposedly meted out by a judicious court without rancor or bias? Is it that I live outside La Crosse county and am therefore considered a who is it to be "shook down?" If a "culprit" squawks or says anything to his royal majesty on the throne of justice, he is immediately penalized a few more dollars or turned over to the keeper of the bastion for mental and physical examination and safe keeping. It's high time that "our em- ployes," all elected officers from the lowest to the highest level, get off their high and mighty thrones, do some honest to goodness self investigation and realize their attitude toward the "hoi poloi" or common man. Just remember that some day all of you will have to come before your judge, the electorate. "A CULPRIT" Q. Where did seltzer water originally come from? C.

S. B. A. The original seltzer water is the spring water of Nieder- Selters in southwest Prussia, Germany. Q.

What is the size of an individual letter in skywriting? B. T. A. There is some variation. According to one authority pilots make their letters a mile in length and half a mile in width.

To produce a letter E' the pilot has to travel about miles. Q. May an American soldier be court-martialed and executed on foreign soil? H. F. W.

A. There is nothing in the Court Martial manual that limits the place of execution of the sentence of a court martial. During World war II, 70 men were sentenced to death by courts martial and were executed in the European theater. Are men in the merchant marine exempt from draft? W. H.

G. A. Employment in the merchant marine, in any category, does not grant immunity from the draft. Q. Does the government of South Korea draft men for military service R.

L. A. The Korean Affairs Institute says the South Korean govenment drafts men into its army. Doyle Speaker At Democratic Meeting Here James E. Doyle, Madison attorney and prominent in the Democratic party, will be the speaker at the regular meeting of the La Crosse county Demoi cratic Organizing committee 1 Tuesday at 8 p.

m. at the Hotel Stoddard. Officers for 1951 will be elected. Doyle, who has been active in the state Democratic party for many years, received his BA degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1937 and his bachelor of law degree from Columbia university in 1940. In 1941 he became law clerk for former Supreme Court Justice James F.

Byrnes. After a three-year tour of duty in the navy, including service at sea, Doyle served in the office of war mobilization and reconversion and in the department of state under Byrnes. From 1946 to 1948 Doyle was assistant U. S. attorney for the western Wisconsin district.

Since 1948 he has been engaged in the practice of law with Philip F. La Follette at Madison. He also has served as state co-chairman and state treasurer of the DOC. Doyle will speak on "American Foreign Policy" at the meeting here. Missed School ETTRICK, Wis.

(Special) Ettrick pupils who attend high school at Galesville did not get to school Friday, as the school bus did not make the trip due to the icy condition of the highways. The Ettrick grade school was dismissed at 1 p. m. to permit the children to go to their I homes and there was no Greyhound bus service through Et' trick Friday. Mrs.

Helen C. Laird (above) of Marshfield, has been named to the University of Wisconsin board of regents to suceed Walter J. Hodgkins of Ashland. She is the mother of state Senator Laird, Republican of Marshfield and is prominent in civic affairs. (AP Photo) Doctor Writes Case History Of Own Disease ST.

JOSEPH, A doctor who started out a year ago to write a case history of his own incurable disease Saturday finds himself studying some 300 Other cases as well. It all started by newspaper reports of Dr. Edward F. Higdon's determination to record the progress of the paralyzing disease on his own body. He hoped the information might be useful in developing a better treatment and eventually a cure for the malady known as myasthenia gravis.

The disease begins with a fatigue of the voluntary muscles of the face, tongue and throat. It spreads to the respriatory system and the heart. But the job he set for himself mushroomed. Hundreds of letters poured in concerning others who were suffering from the disease. Now his room looks like an office with filing cabinets of data lined against the wall.

He is diligently recording all information in the letters that he believes might be useful. Dr. Higdon, who served 16 years a neuropsychiatrist at veterans hospitals before he was forced to retire from practice, says he believes he had learned much-about the disease. Recently he bought a tape recorder. His idea is not to prescribe treatments but merely to record his suggestions and experiences with the disease.

But his voice is failing fast. He doesn't think he can keep up voice recording very long. Much rest is essential to those suffering the disease. Be Sure Europeans Will Fight With Us, Tree' Mac-McCarthy GREEN BAY, Wis. It would be a mistake for the United States to send one' man to Europe to fight communism unless the manpower there is used to fight side by side with American troops, Sen.

Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis) said Saturday night. Speaking before a Lincoln day gathering of about 400 Brown county Republicans, McCarthy also urged that the hands of "one of the greatest soldiers the world has ever untied." "Let Gen. MacArthur hit the Chinese Reds whenever, wherev- TODAY'S BIRTHDAY By AP NcwsfcofufM SIR CEDBIC HARDWICKE, born Feb. 19, 1893, at Lye, Stourbridge, tershire, England, son of a physi-s cian. Stage and screen actor, he was knighted in 1934 for his contribution to the drama in England.

He has played more than 100 roles divided about evenly be-' tween the stage and films. Critics praise his versatility and interpretations. Attends Navy School Reading, writing and arithmetic, navy style, is pretty much the curriculum for Lieut, (jg) William Willard Koepcke, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Koepcke, of 2415 Loomis street, now enrolled as a member of the 1951 class at the naval general line school, Monterey, All of the students are former naval reserve officers who have transferred into the regular navy as a career.

The 10-month course, under the Holloway plan, is designed to give them an education in naval subjects along the lines of the U. S. naval academy curriculum. Tribune Want Ads er and however he wants to and he can win in Korea." McCarthy claimed that Nationalist China had more than one half million men available and willing to fight with the United States in the Pacific but could not do so because the state department said no. Spain also has offered a million men to help fight communism, he said, but the state department won't have it.

"Western Europe is long on manpower and willing to fight if we will give them the weapons," he said. McCarthy reiterated his often made charges of Communist ties in the state department and once again asked for immediate dismissal of Secretary of State Acheson and other of the "moU ley Yalta group." The senator stated the senate judiciary subcommittee set up to keep tabs on subversive activities had received new evidence from China that would result in immediate criminal action against at least one state department employe. He did not reveal the nature of the evidence but said that it now was in the hands of Sen. McCarran (D-Nev), chairman ot the committee. STANLEY MCDONALD AGENCY Serving You for More Than 37 Tsars ROBERT D.

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