The Press: Courthouse Lee's Retreat

To the ramrod-stiff soldier—Lieut. General John C. H. ("Courthouse") Lee —it was a rank case of insubordination. Last week, to show the Rome Stars and Stripes who was boss, he up & fired its publications officer, 35-year-old Major Hal Kestler. No Army regular but a country editor who had worked up from buck private, Major Kestler had talked back when the General called for censorship on the paper's. "Mail Call" column. And he had put his foot right in it by going over Lee's head to protest to Washington.

When they heard about his...