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Show .i i m By Gen. EMMETT ("Rosie") rc warn " iv- w v uiiirrwx ""U'lii'l'HJ!!! ! yd tu O'DbNNELL, JR. U.S.A.F. (Ret.) Gen. Emmett O'Donnell, Jr., West Point 28, is a veteran of military aviatiorifrom flying the mail in the early SOs to commanding Flying For tresses n the Philippines at the time-e- f the-- J ap anese attack in 1U1. He led our first 9 attacks on Japan in 19U and commanded the 15th Air Force during the Korean War. He retired last of the July after serving as commander-in-chiForces. Air General O'Donnell is now a Pacific member of Louis Marx Co., New YorUflvatumal chairman, campaign committee of the U.S.O.; and chairman, businessmen's committee of the U.S. Olympic Committee. 1 B-2- ISC ef A condenser blows in an SAC computer in Omaha headquarters, sending American nuclear bombers to wipe out Moscow by accident. These are the basic plots ol two motion pictures "Doctor Strangelove" and "Fail Safe" which tens of millions will be seeing all over the world in coming months. The measure of their success is the host of imitative science-fictio- n scare tales which leave you almost believing that the United States is bent on triggering a doomsday war. (It's never the Russians who play the heavies in these melodramas. Isn't that curious ?) The pseudo documentaries (like the g books they are based upon) will amuse some, excite others and terrify many. By current standards, they are entertaining, but unless put in perspective, they could drive a damaging and unwarranted wedge between the people of this country and the military who serve them. Ordinarily, American militarv men are ac customed to being portrayed as dazzling heroes -during wartime and boobs or maniacs during peacetime, but in these troublesome days anything that breeds distrust among Americans or might break down national unity could be dangerous. That's why I'd like to set the record straight by pointing out whatris fact and what is fiction. Once the truth is known, I think you'll enjoy the fiction without being duped by it. Fiction: In the book, "Fail Safe," a single un- identified flying object sets SAC bombers off on a course to Moscow. Fact: Our warning systems frequently have registered single and multiple unidentified flying objects headed for the U.S. sometimes during international crisesrWere bombers lor missiles x FU" Ag Strangelov-'recen- American Suicide or erates the world. uswuit) !MoV Warheads carry seriocQmiciiwcriptiofa in. "Dr. strategic air command general goes berserk and orders United States bombers to Russian targets, triggering a nuclear holocaust that incin- A 7 , -- movie with a t H-Hnm- war-by-accid- plot. ent is- Here is an Independence Day message from a famed Air Force general about the movie and book fiction which suggests we face a threat from the very people defending us attacking us? Within seconds, long before even our fighters could scramble, our experts had the answers. Once it was an airliner blown oft course; another time it was a freak disturbance caused by reflections off the moon. The idea that a sin- best-sellin- gle unidentified flying object could instantly send six bombers on an attack course is nonsense. In fact. SAC has never yet felt the to launch its ground bomber force in earnest. Fiction: In "Fail Safe," apparently a single - condenser in a complicated "activating" system fails. Nobody realizes it, and the defect causes the bombers to continue on an attack course even after the flying object has been identified. Fact: Our defense system is indeed a complex mixture of men and delicate machines. Both make errors. But-on- e reason for the system's complexity is to double-chec- k every' bit of information and weed out errors instantly. It's unlikely, but even if all systems failed simultaneously at one base, similar systems at other bases would note the error and provide correct information.. The concept that nuclear bombers are controlled by one machine or by machines cross-checki- ng at all is as much a fiction as the idea are controlled by one man. that they Fiction : "Fail Safe" is predicated on the idea that our nuclear bombers on an attack course will proceed unless recalled by specific automated command and that a communications malfunc tion would make it impossible to recall them. Factriust theopposite is true. The Air Force's plan of "Positive Control" requires a crew to return unless it receives specific, verbal orders to attack.- If a communications breakdown did occur, our bombers would turn baw;lc7 not proceed. Our concern should not be about accidental war, but whether the. free world has imposed so many safeguards on its defense that in case of actual attack - some-- enemy targets might Hbrtft"unr touched "by mistake." It is a calculated risk we Americans are willing to take, yet the world is presented with a picture of Americans as trigger-happ- y bunglers blowing the world to smithereens. Let's take "Doctor Strangelove" next. It has virtually the same plot idea but is played for laughs, a kind of sick joke in which tens of millions die. Yet for all its satire, "Strangelove" has . (Continued on page 6) - " r COVER: A picnic, on the Fourth of or any time, is still one of the best ways for a family the This out-of-doo- rs. July to, fun-lovi- enjoy ng Z group was caught by Phoebe Dunn. W&cJdy June LEONARD S. DAVIDOW President and Publisher C. DREYFUS Associate Publisher PATRICK E. O'ROURKE Excait ice Vice President 28Wt WILLIAM V. HUSSEY Advertising MORTON FRANK Viet i President. ERNEST V. HEYN Editor-in-ChiBEN KARTMAN Executive ef WALTER and Advertising Director Manager Publisher Relations Advertising office: 179 N. 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