Men of the Year

Sirs:

For the Man of the Year: General Sir A.P. Wavell. He did so much, to so many, with so few.

M.W. STINEHOUR

Whitefield, N. H.

Sirs:

You will find the portrait of the Man of the Year in your issue of Nov. 17 on page 28 [see cut].

Lois DAILEY

Elmhurst, Ill.

> The picture is that of a nameless, captive Russian soldier, surrounded by Nazis as he is being questioned by Herr Goebbels. Several TIME readers wrote to say that they found the picture one of the most moving of the war.--ED.

Sirs:

For Man of the Year I nominate the Bald Eagle of the Steppes, Marshal Semion Timoshenko....

RENE C. CHAMPOLLION

New York City

Sirs:

My nomination...is none other than Westbrook Pegler, who has defended democracy with greater vigor and efficiency than any other contemporaneous American....

LLOYD MCKINLEY HARMON

Chief Gunner

U.S. Naval Air Station

San Diego, Calif.

Sirs:

...Man of the Year: W. Churchill.

R.G. LINDSAY

Belmont, Mass.

> Reader nominations for TIME'S Man of the Year are now closed. Latest tabulation showed President Roosevelt in front, with Comrade Stalin second and Columnist Westbrook Pegler third.--ED.

Overdue

Sirs:

Let me be one of the first to congratulate the writer of the Colonel McCormick piece in the Dec. 1 issue of TIME. This was not only excellent writing but it was a highly justified portrayal of a journalistic nincompoop for whom an adequate cussing-out has been long overdue....

TED HARTMAN

Kenmare, N. Dak.

Sirs:

In the W.G.N. handbook referred to in TIME of Dec. 1, telling how Homer, Dickens, Kipling, Mark Twain, et al. would have liked to work on the Chicago Tribune, I might also mention a couple of chaps who doubtless would have felt right at home on the Tribune staff: Ananias and Baron Munchausen.

RILEY P. MARTIN

(Tribune ex-reporter)

Rockford, Ill.

Astounded M.P.

Sirs:

ASTOUNDED GARBLED INTERPRETATION HURRIED INTERVIEW REPRESENTATIVE TIME ACTIVITIES OXFORD GROUP MOVEMENT FOR PROMOTION INDUSTRIAL PEACE. NEVER DERIDED EFFORTS MADE SUCCESSFULLY TO CREATE UNDERSTANDING AND INTENSIFY PRODUCTIVE RESULTS. USE OF EXPRESSION SORDID MEANS UNWARRANTABLE. AM ARDENT SUPPORTER ALL ORGANIZED ENDEAVOR STIMULATE SPIRITUAL OUTLOOK NATIONAL LIFE....

PATRICK HANNON

House of Commons

London

> Sir Patrick Joseph Henry Hannon, industrialist, M.P., did give TIME a hurried interview but TIME did not garble it. A stanch Roman Catholic, Sir Patrick disclosed that he cooled off on the Oxford Group when he found that Roman Catholic representatives were not included as signatories to a Group press manifesto concerning "religious freedom." Sir Patrick added that on investigating Group claims to have forestalled work stoppages in the Midlands, he had found they had actually been avoided by "sordid means" --he used the phrase with a twinkle in his eye--"like better pay and better hours."--ED.

"I Am Sinking"

Sirs:

Suggest you place copy International Code of Signals (Hydrographic Office Publication No. 87) on your reference files to avoid further errors in reporting the historical accomplishments of the U.S.S. Omaha.

TIME, Nov. 24, under "What is the Willmoto?" says: "...and hoisted the flags N (blue & white checks) over O (yellow & red diagonal fields): 'I am sinking; send boats for passengers and crew.'" The signal the Odenwald hoisted was F over M which has the above meaning. The signal N over O means "Fire is gaining rapidly. Take off passengers and crew."

JESSE DON LOFTON

JOHN P. O'NEILL

CHARLIE R. JONES

VERNON V. LEGG

EUBIE E. COTTON

ALVIN W. HAYES

EDWARD C. MIROSLAVICK

FRANK T. TALLUER

GORDON R. MONTAGUE

ROGER E. PRENTICE

JOSEPH F. DIGGINS

HARRY H. ADAMS

MERLE L. TRAVIS

ROBERT F. BIDWELL

MAURICE F. MILLER

U.S.S. Omaha

> A rap on the knuckles to TIME'S expert in charge of marine signals.--ED.

No More Defense!

TIME'S mail last week brought the first intense reactions of readers to the war. A few examples, not necessarily typical, are printed below:

Sirs:

Defense! Defense! Defense! Red-blooded Americans are fed up with the word and its implication of pusillanimity. Shades of our revolutionary forefathers!...

Let's go! No more defense, please....

H.L. GUEYDAN

Barksdale Field, La.

Sirs:

Looks like Kurusu tried a quarterback sneak for his "touchdown try."

Wonder if he has ever heard of the Statue of Liberty play.

HAROLD R. SLAGH

Midland, Mich.

Sirs:

The suddenness of this whole thing makes it almost inconceivable....

This is ironically illustrated by what happened at the local Army camp on the lake front. As the radio flashed that Pearl Harbor was being attacked by the Japanese, cracked one soldier: "Orson Welles is drunk again."

BYRON L. LEVY

New Orleans, La.

Sirs:

...Let us not be bloodthirsty, but let us be realistic and merciless until the end....Let us not hamper our military and naval leaders by sentimentality if they bomb the cities of Japan in order to win this war.

JIM LUCAS

Berkeley, Calif.

Sirs:

...We are not fooling any more, and our enemies have indicated that they want to play rough and dirty. Unless we (American and British) forget "the playing fields of Eton," and the "Rover Boys," we are walking around with our chin hanging out.

...Pollyanna is swell at a strawberry festival, but this is war!

R. E. MICHAUD

Brunswick, Me.

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