Letters, Oct. 9, 1944

"Phooey!"

Sirs:

All this blah-blah about those nine WAC officers (TIME, Sept 11). Phooey!

We got a gal in the WAVEs, Lieut. Commander Tova Louisiana Petersen Wiley. She is in Washington running the whole show by herself. And she's better-looking than all those WACs put together. Why don't you give the WAVEs (and the public) a break and run her picture? We got her out of a big department store here in San Francisco, and she sure runs our outfit like a pants factory. [WAVE YEOMAN'S NAME WITHHELD] San Francisco

Boost

Sirs:

After our years of effort at morale building to boost production in our plants, TIME [Sept. 11] tops them all with its story on the Grumman Co. and the planes it builds. I'm sure that all of the 22,000 people in our organization have read this story, and that their pride in their organization has been given a real boost. Each one will work just a little harder to see that the Navy continues to get the planes they need—when they need them.

Please accept the thanks of all of us.

L. R. GRUMMAN President

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. Bethpage, L.I.

Furlough News

Sirs :

From Mayor Earl Riley, of Portland, Ore., we recently received the following communication: "This office has been advised by the Ninth Service Command that your son ... is expected home on furlough sometime this month. If at any time during his leave I can be of help to him or to you in making his visit pleasant, please let me know."

Is the Army notifying the mayors of the U.S. of the return of soldiers from combat areas? Why not write the parents direct? We have no interest in building up a political organization. . . . Having two sons, one in France now, and one just returned, it seems best not to sign this.

[NAME WITHHELD] Portland, Ore.

¶ When he reaches the U.S., the homing serviceman is given a card. If he chooses to fill it out, it is sent to his home-town newspapers and public officials as an announcement of his return. In no case is anyone supposed to be notified while the returning soldier is on his way to the U.S.—ED.

What to Do with Japan Sirs:

. . . Lest we have to fight two or three wars with Japan, why not take a leaf out of Cato's book and finish the job up now? We cannot sack Japan, destroy it, plow it up and sow its site with salt as the Romans did—so effectively that now after 2,000 years our boys fought over the site of ancient Carthage without knowing it had ever been there. But there is one thing we can do. We can take away from the Japanese every mechanical device of which they are possessed. . . .

Left to their rice paddies, their silkworms, and the abounding waters of their sacred islands, we can feel some confidence that they will not trouble us again, at least for another hundred years. . . .

E. WALLACE CHADWICK Chester, Pa.

Minor Leaguer?