Truth and War News

Joseph Stalin said five weeks ago that the Russians had killed 4,000,000 Germans. Adolf Hitler last fortnight put his dead at 542,000. What was the truth? Citizens of the democracies could still read and listen to what both sides said, and draw their own conclusions. One conclusion has been that you cannot always trust army communiques--even from your own army.

Faced with the problem of reporting the true state of the battle while withholding facts which might comfort the enemy, few generals find it easy to state the bitter, unqualified truth in communique or other public utterance. One of the frankest admissions of modern times was Lieut. General ("Vinegar Joe") Stilwell's after retreating from Burma: "I claim we got a hell of a beating." Classic example of the frank general is the Greek Pyrrhus. Upon receiving congratulations on his costly victory over the Romans at Asculum (279 B.C.), he replied: "Another such victory and we are undone."

Generals and Yes Men. At their headquarters behind the front, modern generals must often rely on the word of their subordinates. With a half-dozen relayings, an official report may be progressively dressed up somewhat for the "old man's" benefit. When he found that Haig's Intelligence was overreporting German casualties in World War I, Winston Churchill stormed: "The temptation to tell a chief in a great position the things he most likes to hear is one of the commonest explanations of mistaken policy. Thus the outlook of the leader on whose decision fateful events depend is usually far more sanguine than the brutal facts admit."

How far, if at all, the Allied commanders of World War II have deceived and been deceived only history will tell fully. Some instances history may have a look at:

> The 60-odd Japanese ships sunk by Allied claims in the Battle of Macassar Straits was reduced by some observers to four.

> Fought in General MacArthur's territory chiefly by Navy ships outside his command, the Coral Sea battle was reported simultaneously from Melbourne and Washington. MacArthur's communiques hinted that land-based bombers had a big share in the battle that saved Port Moresby from the Japs. Navy men now say that not an Army bomb hit a Jap ship in the Coral Sea.

> After the battle of Midway, the Army Air Forces managed to give the public the impression that land-based aircraft had played the biggest role in routing the Jap task forces. Actually it was Navy carrier-based craft that did the most damage to the enemy.

Generals and Admirals. Much of the confusion in the public mind stems from Army-Navy antagonism, by now diminished, but still flickering. One day 13 months ago Secretary Stimson told the U.S. the reason for Los Angeles' air-raid alarm: "Enemy agents flew over in 15 planes." Navy Secretary Knox called it a false alarm.

Admiral Thomas Hart publicly implied that the Army withheld deserved glory from Naval forces in the Philippines. Army airmen said the same thing about the Navy's attitude toward Brigadier General LaVerne ("Blondie") Saunders' bombardment group in the Solomons.

The U.S. is more accurately informed today. Both War and Navy Departments have sworn that nothing would influence the truth and the whole truth of war reports except security--as defined by the military services. Henry Stimson keeps an eagle eye on the communiques issued by his field generals. After Eisenhower's February communiques failed to disclose the brutal details of heavy U.S. losses at Kasserine Gap, Stimson himself announced that the U.S. had taken a licking. And, say Washington reports, Stimson gave Eisenhower a going over.

Admiral King's Navy communiques remain conservative. But Admiral Halsey states in an interview, then reiterates, that he will lick the Japs this year, while General Arnold promises to be in Berlin by Feb. 14, 1944. That he does not share such optimism, Mr. Churchill made plain in his latest speech.

Generals and the Press. Worse offenders than the military on the side of overoptimism are newspapermen. Headquarters reporters with MacArthur and Eisenhower are sometimes prone to take the communique and dress it up for their readers. Press association reporters must hastily scan a communique and speed it to New York or London. The natural tendency is to grab at the best morsel of news for a lead. The search for vivid writing leads too often to "smash" and "pound," which also fit well into headlines where editors do the rest of the damage.

Most U.S. newsmen share with communique officers the early mistakes of inexperience with war. Today, communiques and news stories are generally sounder, closer in tone and fact to the situation. But any close follower of the news last week could still see room for improvement.

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