A ROOM OF OUR OWN
Follette, Isabel B. La
A Room Of Our Own By Isabel B. La Follette MANY a pean of thanks have I given these past months for the long distance telephone. Although 1 have never had the thrill of a talk with my husband in...
...I know that George is terribly homesick...
...Of course it is the time-honored prerogative of the Army to grouse, and for the Navy to snoot the Army, and the Marines to snoot both...
...Even young women whose husbands have been gone 28 months, with babies the fathers have never seen, take pride in making the best of the situation with the attitude I heard one express recently of another, "She has done one of the best jobs I know of...
...An Army' wife remarked recently: "I'm scared to death of the politicians...
...Neither is it the duty of a small army of able-bodied men to go to combat when they hold war-created propaganda jobs in Washington...
...Then yesterday came a call from Frank Kluckhohn of the New York Times, telling me that he had seen Phil four days ago...
...I am dead against it myself because soldiers have plenty to worry about without worrying about their wives, but I found myself having a funny reaction to her attack...
...Lesson From Overseas The wanton slander by those in secure places of those on the firing line can never sit well with those who share the danger...
...I told her that I thought so-and-so was making a mistake but that this woman with her husband at home could never know what loneliness can do to one...
...She was raking so-and-so over the coals for going out to dinner with another man while her husband was overseas...
...After landing on enemy territory, in the face of enemy fire, Phil moved on with his assigned detachment, living in a dreadful jungle, sleeping in pools of murky water, and taking the worst the Japs could provide in the way of strafings and air raids...
...It almost made the Southwest Pacific seem a civilized distance away...
...I can't...
...Those of us at home whose loved ones are in the far-flung battle areas are painfully aware of the distance between us, of the impossibility of our sharing the same experiences, and therefore our inability to pass judgments on what goes on over there...
...MacArthur's staff is a harassing one which would drive most men into a loony-bin...
...He has made an outstanding record of accomplishment with a minimum of lives and materials, yet the controlled press is continually sniping at him from behind because the powers-that-be were afraid of competition in popularity with the folks...
...MacArthur's forces invaded Dutch New Guinea...
...I have never seen anyone who could do Phil's particular job better...
...MacArthur...
...LaFollette: "I am writing this letter to you with the thought that perhaps you and your children would like to hear a few things about Phil from one who has seen him practically daily for 20-odd months...
...Are we human beings secure at home going to admit to ourselves that we cannot meet the standards of conduct wrested from the hell of war experience...
...His particular assignment on Gen...
...His loyalty and faithfulness to his superiors have become a by-word in a headquarters where the deepest kind of loyalty is the ordinary thing...
...Most of us, however, feel in the position of a friend of mine who once remarked during a period of terrible personal stress, "A nervous breakdown is all right if you can afford it...
...What a pity," I thought to myself the other evening as I sat in a group of war widows, "that it takes suffering to develop understanding and tolerance and yet preserve one's own integrity...
...Last week came a call half-way across the continent from Phil's immediate superior officer, telling me that he was returning to duty in the Southwest Pacific, expressing appreciation of the fine work Phil is doing and of his being "a swell guy," and asking if I wanted to send any message by him...
...Before the invasion he lived for days under difficult conditions which taxed the endurance of boys young enough to be his sons...
...He is at his desk at 7 a. m. and frequently doesn't leave it until late at night...
...Although we feel frightfully apologetic when we consider what our men overseas are going through, there is no doubt but that the strain of wartime living produces its casualties among the civilian population in various forms and degrees of nervous breakdowns...
...Your husband, Mrs...
...Despite a harrowing experience of a kind that has made psychotics of men much younger than himself, Phil volunteered again and led another detachment into Tanahmerah Bay outside Hollandia when Gen...
...He is invaluable for his ability to unravel one problem and undertake another without a moment's hesitation...
...Giving the other fellow a lift" is part of it, be it merely a thoughtful note or a telephone call...
...I feel that the least I can do is to keep his mind as easy as possible, but I can understand how a lonely woman might feel justified in a little harmless entertainment...
...Phil brings to it a cool patience and a level understanding which make it a pleasure to deal with him...
...Nearly everyone I know is making a genuine effort to "keep her chin up" and "carry on...
...But when these swivel-chair political manipulators try to influence public opinion by playing off one against the other, they are playing with fire that will burn them plenty when the boys get home...
...One woman was describing a conversation with an acquaintance...
...The point is, though, that Phil chose to leave his family and his home to go overseas and to volunteer for assignments which may easily have cost him his life, while these other men chose to remain in Washington, and maybe Madison, to preach about preserving democracy by maligning men like Phil La Follette...
...Just another little lesson from overseas to put in our pipes and smoke...
...He's been gone 27 months but it seems to get worse with time...
...Phil is as good a soldier and officer as any man in this theater of war...
...Although 1 have never had the thrill of a talk with my husband in one of the overseas assignments where this treat is permitted, still countless of us "overseas widows" have had the joy of a call from men on leave who have recently served with our husbands, and their reports are the next best thing...
...I left the telephone thrilled and breathless, to receive the following letter, also from the Southwest Pacific: * * * A War Correspondent's Letter "Dear Mrs...
...Sincerely yours, Jack Turcott War Correspondent New York Daily News * * * Civilian Casualties From Strain Since during the long months countless other war widows have told me of like experiences of thoughtful-ness and loyalty from associates of their overseas^ husbands, I have naturally pondered a great deal on this aspect of human nature...
...Phil, a middle-aged man of middle-aged sedentary habits, asked to be permitted to accompany the First Marines when they made the perilous invasion of Cape Gloucester on New Britain...
...He reported Phil "looking fine" and spoke of Phil's kindness and helpfulness to him in his work as foreign correspondent in that area...
...Look what they've tried to do to Gen...
...La FoHette, is a good soldier and a good man...
...We try to concentrate on our responsibilities here at home where heaven only knows there is more than enough to be done than is our share...
...His reliability and his devotion to his work are nearly incredible...
...I mention these two invasions because it was not part of Phil's job to climb off a warship before dawn and ride ashore in a small landing-boat to assault a Japanese stronghold...
Vol. 8 • July 1944 • No. 30
