Show NEWS THIS WEEK by LEMUEL F PARTON consolidated features release KJ EW YORK news of our participation in the egyptian offensive against rommel has not been highly personalized but an occasional pass general brereton ing men tion 11 on of 01 supplies complete maj gen diamatis dramatis Dra matis personae lewis H brereton n makes up for the general lack of a dramatis diamatis dra matis personae hes a whole cast of characters all by himself as he commands our air operation cooperation co in the attack with the widest and readiest grin one of the stiffest wallops and unquestionably the most flexible vocabulary in the army he T swears in four languages with rare improvisation and in a rasping voice which is said to be miraculously effective in hopping up fighting men he is the commander of the USA middle eastern air forces transferred from india last july one might call him the larry macphail of the army as he is both zestful and exultant with a fight on or the chance tor for a fight anywhere in the offing he particularly ticul arly seemed to enjoy commanding americas first offensive in the war in the he far east that was on april 2 heading the bombing mission from india to the japanese held andaman islands he jockeyed his B 17 right into the thick of the fracas and by all accounts had the happiest day of his bis life as the jap anese were given a handsome handsom pa pasting sling he hit ane road to 10 glory atter a stiff jolt he had just been trans berred to the command of dark clark field in the philippines when the japanese came with no time to get things air shape the blasting of his planes and men in the hopelessly uneven contest was terrific and general era macarthur ordering no more sacrifices sent him to australia with his air force and then to india from his new base he swarmed all over the battle area fighting with general aults flying tigers an and all in all made a magnificent comeback from pittsburgh he went to the naval academy in 1907 and transferred to the signal corps our fledgling air service service a year after his graduation in 1911 ile he fought in the air at verdun was shot down at st mihiel and came out of the war with the distinguished service cross the purple heart the legion of honor ribbon and the croix de guerre last september in honor of his exploits in the pacific there was added to these tb the distinguished flying cross PAUL C SMITH quitting the to join the marines hits this enterprising ter tir outfit with a fast running start and should catch their cadence balleys halle Hal leys comet of gayous he is the young speed ball vou now leatherneck newspaper careerist of san francisco a west coast marvel of the last few years who not only supercharged the san francisco chronicle as its general manager at the age of 29 but outshone many of the graybeards of the town in labor mediation civic enterprise and battles for the public weal in general ile he joined the in december 1941 and became chief of its news bureau last august it was to be expected that he would join the marines he saw many of the global aspects of this war long before it started the marines go places globally and always his bis big idea mr smith the balleys Hal leys comet of recent newspaper decades never went to college from his hii takeoff take off at seattle his bis home town he worked in lumber camps coal mines and on farms in the northern united states and canada and later formulated and applied much of this experience peri ence in newspaper work in 1928 when he was 20 years old he made a few cautious plays in the market did well enough and ventured into investment ba banking n kin g in san francisco ananew yo york rk T this his turned him toward financial finan cial writ writing ing and his hi first connection with the san francisco chronicle he beca became in e i ita to financial editor and its s general man ina ager gerin in 1937 |