"The Mindszenty Treatment"

"The Mindszentry Treatment"

The Navy seemed unable to silence truculent Captain John G. Crommelin, but it could at least slow him down. Airman Crommelin, told to stop denouncing unification and the "Prussian-minded" Department of Defense, had disobeyed. Last week Chief of Naval Operations Forrest Sherman ordered him placed on indefinite furlough at half pay, beginning next month. The order, by stripping Crommelin of his flight pay and allowances, will reduce his monthly paycheck from $1,041.75 to $334.87. Obviously the Navy hoped Crommelin would take the hint and leave active service: he was eligible to retire at $452.08 a month, based on his 27 years of service.*

But Captain Crommelin, as defiant as ever, would have none of any such suggestions. "If I ever start to quit," he declared dramatically, "you will know I have been given the Cardinal Mindszenty treatment."

*As a much-decorated combat veteran he would be eligible to retire with the rank of rear admiral (but with captain's pay), a special provision which only the Navy & Marines enjoy.

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