A ROOM OF OUR OWN

...I don't know how clear I have made this, but what I am trying to say is that MacArthur has found ways and means of adapting his forces to the elements in which they must fight, and has done so in order to win victories, each one of which fits into the others, and so is marching step by step on the road to complete victory...

...So, too, in the domestic field I have thought through ideas which were not fully crystallized when I left...

...I am just tickled pink with the whole job...

...Time and again in the past two years MacArthur has struck when the enemy had larger forces available to him, but not at the point where MacArthur hit him, and the terrain, the jungle, and mountains made it extremely difficult if not impossible for the enemy to get re-enforcements to his troops under attack...

...Anyhow, I hope Hunt's article gets good distribution, as it will be interesting reading and will at the same time make clear MacArthur's determination not only to win victories, but to win them at the lowest possible cost in human lives...

...It should give everyone an enormous lift and a sense of leadership and direction...

...Like so many, many other things, I wish I could have been there, not alone for your company, but, as you have so often pointed out, to share in these experiences with the kids...

...And yet I sometimes wonder if the press and others at home may not have given the impression that MacArthur was talking about resources so that he, personally, could win victories...

...You must think me hipped on the subject of the out-of-doors, but in my life I go from the extreme of sitting at a desk day after day, to suddenly putting on a field pack, living with combat troops, sleeping on the ground, etc., and at other- times living outdoors 'somewhere in New Guinea' though not roughing it like being with troops...

...That is another thing (amongst a million others) that I owe to you...

...The Japanese have had a certain kind of indoctrination...

...And all this is done at the minimum cost in lives and resources...

...This business, from the time I came out here 19 months ago to now, has always involved risks, and as I have told you before, one becomes very fatalistic about it all...

...I was delighted you took the kids to see Walter Hampden...

...We have been very fortunate in our blessings...

...And today there were weather 'fronts' —miles and miles of great billowing clouds, some of them rising to 20,000-30,000 feet...

...If we keep our pledge to the Philippines, defeat the present rulers of Japan, then I think we have laid the foundation for an extraordinary relationship for ourselves in the Far East...

...If we can drive from power in Japan the military-naval clique that has taught these doctrines, and enable the setting up there of a progressive government, there are great possibilities for our future relations...

...Thus far during the many months I have kept in good health and good spirits, although with the passing of each month I become even more anxious for a glimpse of you, Bob, Judy, and Sherry...

...I must confess, however, that when one has been at a job for 18 months without a break, and not-more than six half-days off in the entire period, there are times when he gets a bit fed up, but that is only natural...

...it has set up certain standards and mores which are entirely different from ours...

...My own hunch is that with perspective I'll appreciate that all in all I have been very fortunate...

...It is an excellent job, and puts down in plain, simple English the General's concept of this type of warfare...

...It will explain a lot of things if it is published,—how and why the General has made the moves he has and perhaps even more important, how the General has achieved as much as he has with so little comparatively in resources, and how he has attained so much with such relatively small losses in casualties...

...And that announcement of the writers that are going to write on postwar problems is magnificent...

...Flying Over The Owen Stanleys "I ARRIVED today back up north—'somewhere in New Guinea.' I had two long plane rides over the 'hump'—the Owen Stanley Range...

...Perhaps what I am trying to say is that when a deep emotional stir works itself out constructively we call it 'righteous indignation,' and when it is frustrated and stupid it becomes 'hate.' But without emotional drive, without the will to batter one's head against apparent stone walls, we wouldn't get very far in the right direction...

...I hope you know how much you are in my mind and heart both for your birthday and on our wedding anniversary...

...Background For Peace "I CANNOT agree with all of William Henry Cham-berlin's article (in the Mar...

...Again look at Bougainville: the mountains and the jungle are fighting the Japs there, perhaps more effectively than our own troops...

...And when one remembers that the victories in the Pacific are being won at the same time that the Pacific area gets the small end of our resources, while Europe gets all of Russia's and Britain's plus the lion's share of our own, I guess it speaks for itself...

...I didn't realize how hungry I was for good music...

...All respectfully submitted...

...and the mountains—into a weapon which he uses to aid him and his troops...

...Their military and naval leaders have preached too long that we were decadent, unworthy, etc., and the only way that that impression can be corrected is the way we are doing it now out here in the Pacific...

...It was in the Fall of '42 when I first crossed the Stanleys...

...I suppose when this is all over and we 'vets' begin the never-ending-story-telling, I'll be as talkative as the next...

...My com-ment should emphasize again the different environments we are living in...

...There may be considerable delay in my mail for the next 10 days or so, but do not be worried...

...6 issue) on the Japanese...

...Tell Morris the whole darn issue was superb...

...Doubtless Morris featured it on Page 1 of The Progressive because of situations you see there at home., I, in turn, reacted to it in terms of the atmosphere in which I am living and working...

...The big task ahead of us (on this particular phase of the problem) will be to route this emotion into constructive channels...

...But I think we must remember that righteous indignation on issues has been an important factor in what progress the human race has made, and that without deep convictions (and we are apt to call our beliefs 'convictions' and the other fellow's 'intolerance') the heavy tasks would never get done...

...MacArthur's Military Technique "WHEN the strategic and tactical picture of the Pacific war is clearer, one of the outstanding features will be how Gen...

...That made a deep impression on me, and my many subsequent trips have not in the slightest degree diminished my respect and awe for them...

...And as I say, I didn't realize how much I had missed music until I began to hear some again last night...

...When the time comes, I think I'll have a few ideas to put into the hopper...

...This region has an enormous future, and I not only have had time to think, but I have been thrown in with men who have studied this region for years and who are really masters of their respective fields...

...I am not sure that I agree with your column on tolerance...

...Until you forced me into going to concerts and listening to good music I was 'too busy.' But during the past years I got into the habit of tuning in on the good programs—especially those on the University-state station— while driving along the road, and in the process I learned a good many fine works fairly thoroughly...

...There happened to be a program of Tschaikowsky on, and I listened to my heart's content...

...MacArthur has turned the most difficult feature of this area—the jungle...

...Risks Always Involved "I READ the April 3 issue of The Progressive, and I think that Milton Mayer's job is one of the best I've read since the war started...

...The Pacific, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand— this vast region is going to be more important to us than Europe...

...It is all a part of this whole experience, and as I watched today I suddenly realized that I had been around this particular area a long while...

...That is one of the biggest tolls for soldiers—to be deprived of the experience of seeing one's children grow to maturity...

...However, his basic premise, that human beings the world over are not as different as some would have us think, is essentially sound...

...Watch for an article I've just read by Frazier Hunt, who is here...

...The weather has been described by Gen...

...As I have written before, it is an awe-inspiring sight to see those great mountains with their gorges, sharp steep jungle-green valleys...

...Time spent here has been valuable in terms of the future...

...I get the impression from what I hear from home that many people have never understood that when the General and others out here have been fighting for just a little more in resources, they have been fighting to save lives...

...I spent last night at a spot 'somewhere in New Guinea' and am scrawling this while waiting for the plane en route to another place...

...I had hoped to be able to send you a cable yesterday but was on my way for another ride over the Owen Stanleys...

...I shall be intrigued when I get home to see if I can still make a speech, and especially whether I can meet the challenge of times, tempo, and conditions, because that is what it is: a challenge...

...However, there will be no firm, peaceful relations between the Japanese and ourselves until they have been properly licked...

...But when that has been done, there will be a basis for mutual respect, for no one who has fought the Jap has any question as to his courage, endurance, etc., though he is not original in his thinking, and when caught off balance is easily rattled...

...I am not taking issue with you, of course, on the desirability of racial and religious tolerance— that is obvious...

...Kenny as 'our worst enemy.' It is treacherous, and the experienced and smart pilot watches it like a hawk...

...Having seen the beginning of Papua (Buna) personally, and then followed it almost minute by minute from dispatches, and then having seen Gloucester, etc., I can visualize what additional equipment, supplies, and resources mean in terms of economy of life and time...

...I shall write you notes at every opportunity...

...It has power and punch and supplies the very quality I am sure our readers will get a terrific kick out of...

...If our kind can't do the job, someone else will...

...He carries on the finest traditions of the theatre and does it in fine tone...