National Affairs: Up the Marines

In the armed forces buildup, only the Marines had failed to get their expansion orders. Last week two ex-Marines, Illinois' Senator Paul Douglas and Montana's Representative Mike Mansfield, set out to remedy the situation. They introduced identical bills in the House and Senate, which would double the present Marine Corps (to 400,000 men in four divisions and four air wings) and make the corps commandant a full-fledged member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Forty-one Senators co-sponsored Douglas' bill.

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