Army & Navy – DEMOBILIZATION: They Want to Get Out

Said an ex-overseas soldier, after weighing the gripes of G.I.s clamoring to get home from France: “Not even Christ could satisfy them.” Most professionals quailed before their continuing outcries. But a few spoke up last week:

¶ General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, after wondering, “Are we going so far in weakening ourselves in Europe that we are going to abandon unfulfilled the purposes for which we fought?” declared: “If our strength in Germany is cut below the point [370,000 occupational troops] where we can do our job, then we had better get the residue out as quickly as possible.”

¶ Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King confirmed the fear that the Navy has become so disorganized that it could not fight a first class battle today.

¶ Air Force General Carl (“Tooey”) Spaatz, dreading “a rising curve of flying accidents due to loss of experienced ground personnel,” attributed the deterioration of the Air Forces to “hysterical demobilization.”