Show 4 M R Army A E Exiled XI I e. e d' d Men for Calling Er Error Eor By By DREW PE PEARSON WASHINGTON WASHINGTON One N-b N One e of tt the e most tragic blunders of t the w war r was a. a the shooting down daWn wn ot of American r an p paratroopers allied gunners over Sicily After losIng los los- Ing lug 23 U U. S. S transport pl planes nes loaded with paratroopers on July ty i 13 1943 94 4 w- w we wc lost os 21 planes loaded with almost men men on oh July 14 U chIefly 14 shot hot down by byl allied l fed gunners Although this column published published pub pub- 1 some of th the f facts at the time p part rt of ot the story atory of th this tragic loss Ipsa was WM hushed up by y wartime censorship I. I Last ast week however Stuart I Symington secretary for tor air proclaimed t that at he ho wanted no brass braM hats hath protected when it ame came rt ftp shenanigans inside the theair air corps Actually if It all the truth came out regarding g certain air corps op operations it it would hit v very ry rynear near to some of ot Symington's own close ai air corps friends Nevertheless with the thc army tryIng try try- ing tag t to get get compulsory compulsory military training adopted for the first time In peacetime history it is important that military blunders r bc graft be carefully s And And one one danger of ot military mill mili tary conscription is Ls that that- peacetime peacetime peace peace- J. J time time militarism prevents their discussion even during peace How flow Ho tyrannical a military system can be and how tow ow it jt can crack cri k I down on anyone who I w wants to o expose mi mistakes takes is illustrated not merely by the Cener l Meyers scandal but by th the s sc of the wantonly m murdered paratroopers rs o 0 over v e r Sicily Tried to b to Tell Tell Tell-In In the case of General Meyers this column has already told fold how Meyers deceived deceived de de- de congress and the WhIteHouse White WhiteHouse House on n airplane production production- and how other brass hats hatz condoned condoned con con- it But in the case of ot the needlessly killed paratroopers one man who tried to prevent future tragedies of this Kind kind kind-i Lieutenant Colonel David Laux was was exiled to the army's annys Siberia One day after he urged the secretary of w war war-to r to invest gate failure to protect paratroopers paratroopers para para- paratroopers troopers Laux was flown to toNo No Nome e Alaska nearest American point to the real eal Siberia to sit st there i Idle le for the duration of the war Another 0 officer f f i ice c C r Brigadier G General er Ray Aloysius Dunn Dun who protested against failure to safeguard paratroopers over Sicily was broken to the rank I of colonel and sent to the Pacific i 1 Burned to Cinders Cinders He He wasn't w wan wanted a n t e d ci around Washington where he might talk to newspaper news news- paper The whole tragic I story of ot army anny revolves around the he fact act that a small group or tried trieu to get paratrooper transport planes equipped with a armor armor- rom rm o 0 r plate around the pilots pilot's seat and with self scaling gasoline t tan tanks a n k s. s Without t self-sealing self tanks a bullet penetrating the tr trans transports transport's trins- trins ns- ns ports port's gas tanks caused it to burst Into flames The paratroopers paratroopers para para- troopers Inside w were re burned to cinders lnders before they h hid hd d half halfa a a chance to bail baft out Efforts to get this thi protection on transport planes were Increased in increased in- in creased after the Sicilian trag trag- edy It was wa well known wn that come day D-day with thousands of U. U S. S paratroopers flying over Normandy more men might be I lost unless their transports were equipped at at least with self self- self seal ealIng eal- eal ing tanks This paratrooper protection was approved by Major General P. P L. fL Williams and by Colonel Ralph Bagby chief chic of staff of airborne e. e J fan in n the MedI edi order was written and Ben to 9 q General ne Bennett charge of f. f 1 cu inen g He Heas was a to ins tall paratroop transports transports' n p r i j r But e dragged dragg d j Th cross channel rc s 1 t invasion o O anC Iw w g s com coming ng nearer But still ap- ap pone p- p in 11 1 ii 1 one one o oth p fl et n nm m men n Sov ar Sicily sat satto teia l r to to Seer cc t Arid And to o make Ii hi t tit it Laux took t W. W Better Jc t t ns n's hom l ani p ally to ally r. Mrs n Fg t f P n next mor w s' s oh d to Nome Nom Alaska jr Secretary of War Stimson however merely referred this lett letter r to one of the officers who who had opposed ed t tanks Barney Giles Giles' and later In n the day Colonel Laux a the m man n who dared correct a abad abad abad bad army blunder found himself himself him him- self flying g to Nome Alaska with no ord orders rs other than to tp sit there for forthe the wars war's dur duration If If Secretary of Air LAir ton ton really wants to to clean up hat brass-hat blunders he might call caU Colonel Laux to get the full story If It not U the e rest of ot the story atory will be told in this column shortly Copyright 1947 1047 Bythe By the Bell Syndic Syndicate te Inc Inc |