Show I 1 Is this where we came in war department thinks not by analyst and commentator just now washington as warlike as it sounds the emphasis is on defense not offense however there are conflicting views on what wo we ought to do that sentence just about reflects sentiment here us as I 1 write writa these thesa lines a sentiment that has changed rapidly in the last few weeks days hours and may change still more before these lines are printed that tha t sentence also reflected the sentiment ment in washington eight years ego ago 1 I found it among my clippings of 0 the column f which appeared early in october ot of 1940 1 I had just jt come i back bach from the war department which then was located on constitution a IF v e nue there any pentagon building then en I 1 had been inter vowing an officer on the subject ot of our new citizen army according to many letters letter I 1 get 1 I wrote what a bot ot ot of people want to know Is why we need a citizen army in peacetime 7 A lot ot of people are asking ask rig that question again today the tha answer which I 1 reported to you in tills th is column eight years ago was this speed Is what counts in an army today we arent callane callin g out cut these boys to tight fight anybody we are calling them out to train them so BO bo be ready if we ever need them the tha united states can always raise a big arm army if war Is declared hat but neither we nor cor any other country can raise a trained army overnight and a lot can happen in the night these days what we want to do Is to train these men for or a reserve I 1 it was a year and three months af alter to r I 1 wrote those words that something did happen not in the night but in the early morning over pearl harbor we t start it the japs did the deciding they decided that we had to go to war the lessons over no tinte time for recess today tod ay we have more to say we have learned a great deal s since ince december 7 1941 we have learned how bow to tight fight a global war and win it the question la Is will we do the things which will prevent a global war that will be something it we do 60 meanwhile the wheel see seems ms to have made the circle and some of the boys who were learning squads right in 1840 1040 are wondering it if this Is where they came in I 1 had a chance to think about that on another trip back from the war department recently or I 1 should bay ay the de department art ot of national defense its a longer journey now than it was to the old temporary world war I 1 building on constitution avenue the pentagon sprawls geometrically over acres across the potomac in virginia the message I 1 brought back was very much like the one I 1 reported eight years ago it was a reassurance that the request r for or three billion more dollars for or national defense Is what nhat the military men say Is the minimum peacetime expenditure to prevent present war in other words defense not offense it was pointed out that it if it were necessary now to prepare I 1 or actual conflict the cost would run closer to CO 50 billions than three I 1 was most heartily assured that the united states did riot not want war that no encouragement whatever was being given those few persons who urged preventive action with less certainty but advanced as an honest opinion was the statement that russia did not want war either there is oo no reason as far as we know now one official told me why war cannot bo be avoided av 0 aided provided a reasonable balance Is established between the military forces of the two countries now we are in imbalance 11 it was noted that russia and her satellites now have under arms nearly twice the number which this country and the anti communist countries ot of western europe could put in the field it is well to remember too that the russian red army is mobilized it is largely concentrated in eastern europe whereas american troops are thinly scattered over the whole earth russia has never really de mobilized the she has more combat planes and men to man them the has a greater land force a numeric cally superior artillery we are strong in bombing bombin g planes but she has a stronger defense in tighter fighter and interceptor planes she is believed to be producing from to planes plane a year we produced 1100 1700 military planes of nil all types last year but our biggest shortage is in equipment said a veteran officer one might go on at great length len I 1 wont I 1 have rehearsed the sad story ot of redeployment ever since gince I 1 first heard it from a generals secretary vho aho like most ot of the rest ot of us thought it ws was re employment in case you have forgotten the united states army the tha greatest military machine in hl history story was re deployed out ot of existence and under such pressure from mothers and wives and at such a breakneck speed that la in many cases it leave a pile pila ol of scrap behind it to mark the spot whence it melted and dribbled away the red army deploy re it Is still largely deployed and so here we are panicky outlook Is not justified one might become exceedingly pessimistic one might grow panicky but as I 1 think over the interviews as I 1 recall thi the faces aces of those men charged with our nations defense as ai I 1 ponder the words the tone of voice I 1 must say the net impression of the tha contacts is to make make me feel than I 1 had felt before k ir ft I 1 i it was only three years ago in april 1315 1915 that this hi high gh point paint of 0 russian american camaraderie was vas readied reached when alaj gen emil r reinhardt ot of vie US first army greeted the major general commanding the russian infantry division at a meeting a 0 I 1 american and 11 russian units at the elbe river in germany I 1 rhad had been pretty depressed when I 1 began the round of ct calls in the various little cells that open onto the endless corridors of the pentagon offices large and small with maps on the walls walla the men in uniform m or civilian clothes at desks when I 1 left I 1 hao had the feeling that here were men who were looking at the task before them coolly and calmly neither obsessed with a 0 certainty that they were moving into another inevitable c conflict nor indifferent to the possibilities that such might be the case we anticipate no belligerent or provocative move on the part ot of the russians we dont pretend to be able to say what their plan Is or whether they have one in any case it Is not our move whether there Is to be peace or war depends upon the men in the politburo we have no way of knowing what their next step will be we doubt if they have made up their minds and then one official came back to the remark I 1 quoted before IF personally erso nally he said 1 I do not think R russia la wants war I 1 am certain that wo we do not As I 1 say I 1 went out past the reception desk through the high doors and out to where the quiet river holds the city in its tranquil embrace it looked no more turbulent no less peaceful when during the war years I 1 used to come out that same door with my notes interpreting the latest strategic war in normandy the breakthrough at st lo 10 the ba battle atle of the bulge pattons Pat tont tons tactical miracles cles washington is calm cairn the other day as I 1 opened my closet door I 1 noticed my trench coat with the laded faded blue patch with war correspondent on the shoulder it give me a turn urn after all we have just won the greatest victory of its kind in histo rythe completion of the plan to aid europe that and a few blood bloodless le as steps which caution and not desperation dictate I 1 are enough for or now even clergymen are ble able al to think fast in a crisis even though those who are crone prone to sleep through inter interminable sermons may be inclined to doubt the assertion but up la in cambridge mass a policeman was waa induced to tear up a speeding ticket when a clergyman he had stopped explained you have to be ba fast these days day if you want to save souls soula june la is the dew month in japan in this country we insist every month is due |