The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, February 26, 1945, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRF “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” SERIAL RECORD 1945 "mn 8] — e ——— ] VOL. LXIV., NO. 9895 MARINES PUSHING FORWARD Yank Infantry, Tanks' j’Red Army AMERICANS GET NEARER 10 INTERIOR! Approachmg Rhme, Ruhr‘Two Russian Forces Man-|Carrier- based Pianesi Valley-Duren Is Cap- fured on Sunday BULLETIN—PARIS, Feb. 26. —Cologne’s spires are in sight tonight as the assault front broadened by streams of tanks, self-propelled guns and fresh manpower advanced. The offic- ial bulletin says Cologne is only 13 miles away and the Yanks are within six miles ¢f Meunchen- | Gladbach. , | PARIS, Feb. 26.—American in- | fantry and tanks drove to within | 13 miles last night of Cologne. | In advances of three miles on the | broadening front, they are ap-| proaching the Rhine and the Ruhr | valleys. Twenty or more towns fell overnight in the 28-mile sector on the Cologne Plain. First Army troops of Gen. Court- ney Hodges surged the closest tol Cologne, a city of 768,000 and de- scribed officially as the most de- | vastated city in all the Rhineland. The nearest approach went beyondi the villages of Morchenick, Golz- | heim, Girblerath and Rommelsheim. | All were captured in.night attacks. Americans Pass- Duren The Americans are seven miles past Dyren, which they cleared out yesterday . and ~have swiftly ap- proached the Erft River. Tanks streamed across the Roer bridges for powerful attacks by the American: Ninth:iand First armies, which the. Germans $aid were using 40 givisions ormup to 600,000 men. Dusseldorf, with & population of | 540,000, is less than 20 miles from the Ninth Army. Shock Troops Active Gen. Simpson’s shock troops clos- ed within a mile of the heavily- | fortified communications center of | Erkelenz and nine from the fringe of the Ruhr industrial center of | Meunchen and Gladbach, a city of 127,000. The Americans fought 26 miles deep in Germany, to less than four ! miles from the Erft River, where (Continued on Page Two) { - —— The Washingion Merry Go- Rou«nd w SRITVENG. WASHINGTON —sRootin’ tootin’ | ‘ Joh Rénkin from' Mississippi has| introduced an interesting little resolution to drain away a small segment of the taxpayers’ money. It is’to pay a salary to draft- deferred Robert Stripling, Clerk of! the old Dies Committee, during a period when he was supposed to have been in the Army and at a time when the Dies Committee had ceased to exist. This climaxes a long series of draft deferments for the young| man who did so much flag-waving on Capital /Hill about un-American | activities. For some time, Stripling was de- ferred by his Alexandria, Virginia, draft board as an essential worker. Then last August the draft board decided he was not so essential after all, and put him in 1-A. In October, however, he was deferred again. Others around him, such' as the = 36-year-old nephew of -Gen. MacArthur, also living in Alexan- dria, fogether with- the 32-year-} old City Manager of ' Alexandria, were drafted. But 31-year-old Stripling was deferred. Finally on December 11, he was| slated to report to the Army at| 7 a. m., but once again he was given more time. This time the Virginia draft board refused to defer him, but Gen. Hershey’s Se- lective Service in Washington went over its head, at the request of wire-pulling Congressmen, and gave Stripling until January 4. Came January 4, and the young Dies Committee flag-waver got his fourth deferment. This time Con- gressman May of Kentucky went i AT, S R A (Continued on Page Four) | | gains (stronger than any | Wright 6%, JUNEAU, ALASKA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1945 MLMBI-R ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS Ready for Big Push euvering for Approach- ing Drive on Berlin BULLETIN — LONDON, Feb. 26.—Marshal Rokossovsky's Sec- cnd White Russian Army, scor- ing a deep new penetration, has reached Hammerstein, 51 miles from the Baltic. The German military spokesman said the armered thrust threatens to cut in two the 225-mile coastal cor- ridor. The German spokesman also says tonight the Nazi forces have been forced to retreat from captured Arnswalde to a line aleng Inga River. MOSCOW, Feb. 26 — Two great Russian Armies maneuvered for the |approaching drive on Berlin, while |other Soviet forces made important on the flank toward the |Baltic through Pomerania, and the flank in besieged Breslau, Silesia. All signs indicated the coming of- fensive against Berlin may be yet loosed by the Russians. the center sector, the one which may reach the gates of the {Nazi capital ahead of the rest, l‘thexe is no immediate indication 'when Zhukov’s First White Russian |Army, and Konev's First Ukranian Army will loose a twin-assault on Berlin. Before attacking, the Russians must smash or turn, at some points, the heavily-fortified Oder - Spree River Line. Widespread scouting: Operations by the Russians in this area suggested the zero hour may be near. MOUNTAIN TROOPS IN GAINS NOW “blasts are rocking Corregidor fort-' Impoflam Bolagna- v _PlstmfRoad ROME, Feb. 26 — Maj. Gen. George P. “Hays' U. 8. Tenth | Mountain Division consolidated their gains in the mountainous country around captured Mount Belvedere, west of the Bologna- Pistoia Highway. They won new high ground northeast and northwest of adja- cent Mount Torracia. A number of prisoners were taken in mopping-up enemy pickets and pillboxes .in this area. After German several savage | |counterattacks were repulsed yes- |terday, Tenth Division forces, | trained in the Rocky Mountains, overcame tough natural obstacles to gain the heights dominating the important highway. ’ The U. S. Tenth Division is com- posed of the Eighty-fifth, the| Eighty-Sixth and the Seventh Regiments. ‘The Eighty-Seventh spearheaded the Jand!ngs on Kiska in August, STOCK QUOTATIONS Eighty- NEW YORK, Feb. 26. — Closingd quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today. is 7%, American Can 92%, Anaconda 33, Beech Aircraft 123, Bethlehem Steel 72, Curtiss- International Harvester 79, Kennecott 39 North American Aviation 10, New York Central 235%, Northern Pacific 21%, U. S. Steel 61%. Dow, Jones averages today are as follows: industrials, 158.41; rails, 50.90; utilities, 28.06. e e FROM FAIRBANKS TOKYO HIT - TWO TIMES ON SUNDAY | | Bomb Capital in A M., MARINES CHARGE AHEAD | Superforts in P. M. By LEIF ERICKSON | (AP War Correspondent) | U. S. FIRST BOMBER COM- |MAND, GUAM, Feb. 26—(Via Navy | Radio)—Crewmen of B-29's, return- |ing to their Marianas base from the first daylight Superfort strike !in a “very large force” on the | (heart of Tokyo, report they un- |loaded bombs' by precision instru- | ments through heavy clouds Sun- |day afternoon. | The attack was made by more than 200 sky-giants and coordinated | with the powerful Sunday morning | 'blow on the enemy capital by Am- erican carrier-based planes of the! . Fifth Fleet. ' One B-29 unit leader, Col. Carl | Storey, of Denton, Texas, declared: | “That town (Tokyo) be burning tonight. We could not | see through the soup, but I'm sure | we must have laid some bombs in the main street.” Suporfort fliers could not see me results of the carrierbased plane‘ attack, but Superfort crews gen erally recounted they met no Japa- nese fighters and anti- aireraft | fire was light above the cloud layer. e Underground Battle Rages, (orregidor SeaI off Japanese Blow- . ing Themselves Up in Tunnels By C." YATES McDANIEL i (AP War Carrespondent) MANILA, Feb, 26—Undergrotind! | i |ress, indicating new self-destruction | 1on the part of the sealed-off Japa- | nese defenders. g This was reported as Sixth Divi- | sion Yanks captured San Isidro; Manila, | "Five heavy explosions ofourred | ‘P‘riday night deep under Corregi- idor’s Malinta Hill, on which the| 503rd Paratroopers Thirty-Fourth Regiment and the Third Battalion | had established”themselves. A spokesman said 200 Japanese | (fled from the portals of Ma!imu Tunnel - after blasts jarred the! island for the second straight night. | |All the Nippons were Killed. Gen. Douglas MacArthur is making no mention of Manila or Corregidor in' his communiques for the first time in many weeks. He reported steady pressure on the enemy on all fronts and air sweeps| _ against enemy installations, ship- ping and air facilities from For-| mosa to New Guinea, { A 5,000-ton tanker was set ablaze joff French Indo-China, a 7,000-ton transport damaged off Swatow,/ IChma, and a number of troop-! \laden barges and other craft were: {destroyed in various sectors. ————— —— | KEITH PETRICH 1§ AUTHOR OF ARTICLE WITH 7 PICTURES' | 1 | i | | In the February issue of Air Trails Pictorial Magazine is a two-page: spread of Alaska air transporta- | tion photos and a short article en- | titled “Bush Flying Is Dead”. Pho- tos and text by Keith Petrich, who is now. in the Navy. The story briefly, with seven pic- tures, tells of the advance of flying Mrs. A. H. Nordale, Fairbanks, is in Adaska, from the bush pilot to a guest at the Baranof. today's scheduled flights. really must | 4 Amflican Marines of the Fourth Division in full batue drcst chnr(e out of a w as they started their toughest fight in 168 years. Shells burst in the bac photographer, on assignment with (he wartime still picture poal. (AP W NBLOODY IWO JIMA FIGHT ln’L kground. “pielure was made by Joe Wosenthal, Assoclated Press |nphotn) LEATHERNECKS TAKE IWO PII.lWX Mondalban, in @ broad drive to| ” I¢lear the foothills east of uberatedV' ‘American Fourth Division Marines, invading Iwo Jima, dig in and awa almeost impregnable until the Leathernecks came along. Note man ap Associated Press phnlographcr on asslgnment with the wartime still p Insignia Butfon for Honorably Dismissed Has Set Vels fo Going | their honorable walking papers have | | applied for them. ‘The lapel insigna is a overstampel with a gold By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, Feb. 26. Thex"'; {2 mild little storm brewing, already | plastic | |clouding the horizon, in fact, which 1 bukon, may become one of those home front gales. It's over the discharge in- (signia button to be worn by vet erans who have been honorably dis- missed from the services, baut, Grosse Point, Mich., Democrat, of the button that less than 15,000 of the hundreds of thousands given' According to Rep. Louis C. Ra-| discharged veterans thinks so little| | colored alloy, so that it has the ap- | ‘p('u«mce of metal. Its only design _|is an eagle with wing-tips extend- |ed beyong the edges of the but- !ton. One complaint is that it isn’t | different from patriotic buiton§ which may be bought in stores. Another is that it is so easily counterfeited that if its use (Continued on Page Seten) novelty ! it orders after taking a Japanese pfllbox-hlockhousc which was con&ldertd parently dead in foreground. This picture was made by Joe Rosenthal, icture pool, who went ashore with the Marlnu on D- Day. (AP ercphobo) *INEWSMAN JUMPED, 'WITH PARATROOPS, RESCUE M MISSION 'Helped fo Release More | than Two Thousands Prjsoners of Japs o o o o 0 o VETERANS’' GUIDE Beginning today, the Em- pire is offering a new, timely and interesting Associated Press feature column entitled “Veterans’ Guide,” written by a War Veteran, Major Thomas M. Nial, designed advise returning servicemen regarding veterans' legisla- tion, which should appeal to veterans, their families and friends The column will appear in the Empire thrice weekly, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Pridays. Read it today, then every following column. | | | i | | | | | { o said, in a copyrighed story from | Correspondent Frank Smith, who ® 0o 0 0 0 0 o PSSP A | 11th Parachute Regiment, that they helped to recuse more than 2100 KIRCHHOFER HERE [civilian internees near Manila at. M/Sgt. Everett Kirchhofer paid the Japanese internment camp at a surprise visit to his parents and Los Bemos. friends here over the weekend. He | Smith said the first person he met has' been stationed at various basgs was Edward Girard, San Francisgo. to the Westward for the past thrée Girard said, “Let my wife know I'm years, all right,” 5 CHICAGO, Feb. 26—The Times, | jumped with the paratroopers of the. NIW0JIMA 13 Miles From Cologne |CAPTURE OF SECOND FIELD NEARING NOW | Devildogs Aided by Navy | Bombardment, Blast- ing by Liberators BULLETIN — NEW YORK, Feb. 26.~A Tokyo radio bread- cast picked up here late this afterncon by the FCC claimed the Japs have recaptured the summit of Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima, Previous enemy broad- casts never admitted losing the summit. The broadcast said the summit was taken after a “ter- rific counterattack.” There is no substantiation to the Jap claim. GUAM, Feb. 26—The capture of Iwo Jima's second airfield in the center of the strategic little isignd, is imminent, as three Marine divi- sions drove north with considergble air support «in.an.dntensified: push carrier-based fighter planes and Libertors which gave clne nlp'un to the.ground forces. : Jspmdmmumum-= z.&zz by noon Sunday. The Nip- ' ese garrison is estimated to have * n 20,000 on D-Day. The last report on American casualties is 5,372 dead, wounded or, missing up to 6 p. m. Wednesday. BOMBERS GIVE SUPPORT | U 8 PACIFIC FLEET HEAD- QUARTERS, GUAM, Feb. 26—For |the first time since the Central Pacific campaign began, heavy land-based bombers gave direct support to ground forces on Iwo |Jima yesterday, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz reports. Army Libertors pounded Japanese positions on northern Iwo Jima, | helping three Marine divisions. H e —— NIPS USE ROCKET ON IWO JIMA | Launching PlatformsProb- ably ‘Required for Missiles’ Use ABOARD ADMIRAL -nm.nns EXPEDITIONARY FORCE PLAG- SHIP, Feb. 26—The Japanése on {Iwo Jima are using for the first Itime a new weapon, described as ~— |being ‘& 1,000-pound rocket miortar, in their desperate fight for that island. This is confirmed by American gunnery experts who examined - the lmhmllex, which exploded on Iwo outheast beéach where Ma- rinen lanflod four days ago. The !shell is described as having ‘& nose fuse, and rocket mortar launching platforms are probably required for |these shells. They were probably (fired from the Yough terrain to the north of the island, which offers excellent cover. The appearance ,of |this new weapon emphasized . the |fact that Iwo Jima's defenses were first rate. ————————— HONEYMOON HERE: ENDS ° Mr. and Mrs. Ray Renshaw, iof {Ketchikan, Rave left for their home lin the Pirst City. During -their stay in Juneau, on their' honey- moon, they - were guests at - IM Gastineau Hotel. —————————— FROM SEATTLE Martin Jorgensen, Seattle, is a guest at the Baranof Hotel.