THE LAST COLUMN
The Editor Reserves The Last Column ARECENT JOURNEY across a dozen or more states kept me aboard trains for five or six days. I spent most of my waking hours talking with, or rather listening to,...
...They admire, also, the fighting qualities of the German soldier, and incline to the feeling that if given a fair shake and a decent break, the German boy would share American enthusiasm for freedom...
...Changing Washington My journey took me to Washington, D. C. I found the city greatly changed from the Washington I saw last Summer, last Spring, and last Winter...
...As for postwar America, there is a growing suspicion that jobs won't be so plentiful and a feeling that "we may have to show 'em that we mean business...
...There was a great deal of hopeful talk, for instance, about the United Nations relief gathering at Atlantic City and how at last we were going to tackle the relief problem on a global scale...
...For whatever they may be worth, and whether I like them or not, here are the more general results of my private poll: The longing for home and normal American life dominates the thinking of American boys overseas...
...I was cheered most of all by the breathtaking response to our Christmas campaign for gift subscriptions...
...When I tried to bring up the problem of feeding the starving children of Europe today, and the hungry millions of India now, I was dismissed as a hopeless trouble-maker...
...Regarding the postwar world, there is a vague feeling that nothing that they have seen or heard thus far has opened up any vistas of permanent peace...
...As late as last July Washington was the capital of a crusade...
...They regard the war as a nasty job which has been thrust upon them, and not a crusade for the Four Freedoms or anything else...
...I spent most of my waking hours talking with, or rather listening to, soldiers and sailors, quite a few of whom bore the wounds of North Africa, Guadalcanal, or bombing raids over Europe, and were awaiting honorable discharge as they moved to or from hospitals...
...The developments of the past six months have disillusioned and embittered many a hopeful government official who had regarded the war as a crusade of liberation but who now is paying for that earlier excess of optimism with a severe case of cynicism...
...All of us were supremely happy, not only because the great flow of gift subscriptions meant needed financial support, but also because the response was such a heart-warming vote of confidence...
...They are determined to do their best because they want to bring the war to a victorious conclusion at the earliest possible moment, and not because they feel that Light will then prevail over Darkness...
...I don't pretend for a moment that these comments are typical or representative of American men and women in the armed services...
...My usual pleasure at getting back was heightened by the superb job the staff had done while I was gone—a fact which brought home again the comparative ease with which any organization can get along without its alleged top man...
...The boys feel in a general way that life has been fairly "soft" over here and that a lot of people are making "a helluva lot of dough...
...American troops who have met the Japanese on the field of battle tended to believe that while the Japs fought extremely well, it was less a matter of personal courage than religious fanaticism...
...Today it is the seat of cynicism...
...M.H.R...
...Washington needs new faces, new ideas, and most of all, a new spirit...
...There is much concern about the fidelity of wives and sweethearts left behind...
...They are harsh in their criticism of labor leaders, especially John L. Lewis, but those with whom I talked added, when questioned, that they probably had been given only one side of the story...
...Freedom From Want Many of my friends in the East feel that they must spend their time "reforming" me and getting me to appreciate the cosmic character of our problems...
...Washington today is too weary, too bitter, and too cynical to face the tremendous challenge of readjustment...
...They admire the British as fighters and are quick to applaud the daring, courage, and resourcefulness of the Tommies in battle while revealing a fairly robust suspicion of the Englishman's non-military qualities...
...Criticism Of Labor American soldiers overseas have the feeling that organized labor has been far too demanding...
...The results exceeded our most optimistic expectations...
...On behalf of all of us of The Progressive, I want to thank you for your heartening support and extend the best of the season's greetings...
...I do say that in a general way they represent the opinions of a hundred or more soldiers and sailors I talked with in coaches, sleeping cars, club cars, and dining cars during five or six days of traveling by train...
...I asked all the questions I could or dared and received some amazingly frank and revealing answers...
...A Traveler Returns I returned to Madison just before Christmas...
Vol. 8 • January 1944 • No. 1
