Tommy Hart's Gold Star

Admiral Thomas Charles Hart already had a Distinguished Service Medal, ". . . for distinguished service afloat in command of submarines engaged in operations against the enemy" in World War I. Last week President Roosevelt personally pinned on him the Navy Gold Star, for ''exceptionally meritorious service as Commander in Chief, United States Asiatic Fleet."

Most interesting was the unusual citation's remarkable last sentence: "His conduct of the operations of the Allied naval forces in the Southwest Pacific area during January and February, 1942, was characterized by unfailing judgment and sound decision, coupled with marked moral courage, in the face of discouraging surroundings and complex associations." To many people these large phrases said smaller, more definite things:

> That President Roosevelt wanted the world to know that his friend Tommy Hart had not let his country down, even though he mysteriously resigned his command of Allied naval forces on Feb. 11, before the sea battle of Java.

> That Hart, knowing his fleet was adequate only for hit-&-run tactics, had left them to stand and fight because of the understandable desire of stubborn Dutch Vice Admiral C. E. L. Helfrich to keep the Japs out of the last bit of Netherlands Indies soil.

> That for the sake of diplomacy and international unity, the President had had to watch his beloved Navy lose many a ship, including the cruiser Houston and the aircraft tender Langley--without comment other than his citation of Admiral Hart.

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