The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold R. Stark, last week contributed a pithy catch line to naval preparedness: "Dollars cannot buy yesterday." More important to the Navy was a joint announcement by Secretary Knox and Admiral Stark. Their announcement: that the Navy needed $300,000,000 to improve its warships' protection against aircraft. Observant citizens immediately recalled what onetime Secretary Charles Edison had had to say about anti-aircraft protection last May, recalled also that very little had been done about it.
Charles Edison was never very happy either as Assistant Secretary or Secretary...