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Show pation, be given the same status as the man in uniform. It could be done by Presidential decree and some sort of insignia established. establish-ed. Thus, when the war ends this deferred man will be publicly recognized re-cognized as one who has done his bit, and have the same status as the man who wore a uniform." We heartily agree with Mr. Slne, and in so doing hope that none of our readers will gain the impression that Mr. Stone or ourselves our-selves are unappreciative of the heroism and sacrifice of our boys on the fighting fronts. We believe, be-lieve, however, that just as boys in the football line are entitled to their school letters, the boys in our production line in this War J game axe entitled to due recognition recogni-tion for the essential part they are playing in the war effort. Football And War By GEORGE PECK It's the running back who carries car-ries the football who gets the cheers of the crowd, the plaudits of his fellow-students and the headline econiums of the newspapers. newspa-pers. His team-mates in the hue who do not carry the ball but) who mow down the opposition, open up the holes for the backs to dash through,, and block off interference; get no applause, scarcely any public recognition. Yet, they are as important to winning that football game as their more spectacular mates in the backfieJ.d. It is small wonder that most boys when they go out for foot- V,nll TT.ftf rs r,lav in f.hp hflP.k- dio but I won't be able to get in the Legion and I'll be explaining the rest of my life.' "We probably have fifteen just like this chap of a total group of perhaps thirty-five who have been bitten by the same bug. The efficiency effi-ciency of these men is impaired because they are mentally harassed. haras-sed. I believe that the vast majority major-ity of the truly indispensable men of draft age in industry, outside of the highly skilled technicians, are going to be found in the laboratories labor-atories or in inspection or installation install-ation supervision of highly technical techni-cal equipment, and I feel serious consideration should be given by the Government to establish the status of such men. "I respectfully submit that any man of draft age who has been deferred because of his occupation occupa-tion and as long as the said man is deferred by reason of his occu- uaiL wniii, w " field. It is only human that they want the acclaim of their fellows. : But the coach (the Commander-in-chief) of the gridiron team, has to have 7 men in the line and but 4 in the backfield. He finds certain of his enlistees best fit-j fit-j ted to play in the line and thus ' make the greatest contribution to a victorious campaign, even though they could creditably hold down one of the backfield positions. During the playing season, the fellow in the line wears the same kind of a uniform as his teammate team-mate in the backfield, and when the season is over, the school athletic committee gives both of them a same identical school letter let-ter in recognition of the valuable contribution each has made to the team and to his school. But righ now, America is playing play-ing a much more serious and important im-portant game than football. We have a War Team in the field to ' lick the Axis. As in football, in this war game, we have to have running backs, fellows to carry the shpt and shell to the enemy; and we must have a line to produce pro-duce armaments for the backs to carry. In this war game, as in football, both are essential to ultimate ul-timate victory for the team. As in football, the backs in the War ' Game are getting the cheers and industry is finding great difficulty in holding badly needed men in the production line. J. McWilliams Stone, President of Operation Manufacturing Company, Com-pany, St. Charles, Illinois, is up against this problem. He has written writ-ten us as follows: "A peculiar psychological reaction reac-tion has come to the surface in our business here amongst a group of draft age men in our laboratory. Perhaps this reaction, which will increase in tempo with time, may be nationwide and, in my humble opinion, will prove to be a serious impediment to the war effort. "Let me give you a typical example. ex-ample. We have in our employ, a Junior Engineer, age 27 one of a small group of men who must be deferred if we are to do our job for the U. S. Navy. He knows that. At least he knows that this management, the Navy and the Local Draft Board feel that way. Without going into detail, his work is vital to the Navy. Periodically this young man decides he is going go-ing to enlist. But it is not just a case of itching feet. As he puts it: 'It's my social life after the war that bothers me. Sure I know I am doing vital work but who else will when the war is over? When my friends come back from overseas, they will ask what I have been doing. My answer will be that I was working for Opera- |