Merrill's Marauders
Sir:
As a former president of the Merrill's Marauders Association, I wish to thank TIME for its excellent tribute to our late commander, General Frank Merrill [Dec. 26]. General Vlerrill's name will be proclaimed in military history not only for his military accomplishments but also for the affection borne him by his "boys." No army commander was ever better loved by his troops.
I resent your closing statement about the 'inglorious" end of the Marauders. As one of the medical officers, I can vouch for the undying bravery of every Marauder in Burma. In a conversation with the late General Merrill, the former commander of the Japanese forces opposing him in Burma stated that the Japanese so respected the Marauders that they decorated the graves of the American dead with flowers.
A. LEWIS KOLODNY, M.D. Baltimore
Paintings for Christmas
Sir:
Your stunning Christmas cover [Dec. 26] is probably the loveliest and most tasteful ever to grace a magazine.
ERNEST MEZO San Francisco
SIR:
DECEMBER 26TH ISSUE CROWNING CONTRIBUTION OF THE CENTURIES TO THE CAUSE OF CHRISTENDOM.
GEORGE TRUMAN CARL PASTOR
THE METHODIST CHURCH PARK RIDGE, ILL.
Sir-
Your Fra Angelico--a bright miniature, somewhat lacking in composition and perspective. Have your writer read the tribute Pius XII paid the angelic Fra back in April. Angelico was more than a luminous knothole on the renaissance or a polychrome peephole on the Gospel. He was a window on Heaven. TIME brought us to the window, but a murky pane gave us a dim view of the wholeness, harmony, radiance beyond.
THE REV. L. C. McHuGH, S.J.
Georgetown University Washington, D.C.
P: Opening an exhibition in Rome to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Fra Angelico's death (TIME, May 2), Pope
Pius XII called him "an outstanding painter characterized by deep spirituality, an innovator, sympathetic, effective, sincere, perfect. The picture world of Fra Angelico is truly the ideal world, whose atmosphere glows with peace, holiness, harmony and joy, whose reality is in the future, when finally justice will triumph on the new earth and in the new heavens."--ED.
Sir:
The reproductions of the paintings by Fra Angelico are beautiful beyond description.
JEANNE H. BEDINGER Sioux City, Iowa
A Place in the Sun (Contd.)
Sir:
Just a note to tell you how proud I am of the wonderful article in TIME [Dec. 19] and how grateful I am.
This article, I know, will prove extremely helpful in getting the story of the real Florida to the people all over the world.
LEROY COLLINS
Governor Tallahassee, Fla.
Sir:
Your article quoting Gov. Collins--"Florida stands on three sturdy legs. Tourism. Industry. Agriculture"--brings to mind a conversation with a Florida taxi driver. He said, "Florida has three assets. Oranges. Alligators. Tourists. And by gosh, we skin 'em all!"
C. R. METCALF JR.
Dover, Mass.
Labor's Words
Sir:
The words spoken by A.F.L.-C.I.O. President George Meany in his recent New York speech [Dec. 26] were comforting. There are still men in responsible positions who are not blinded by wishful thinking.
Seldom has anybody stated in so few words the true essence and danger of Communism.
A. ESTLA Montreal
China's Stand
Sir:
From those who saw it as a moral question from the first, the back of the hand to you for your faint praise of China's stand in the forlorn hope of right v. expediency in the U.N. [Dec. 26].
Will we never learn that Soviet ultimatums and "inflexible positions" are no more than bargaining points, always successful against craven expediency, but vulnerable to an equally inflexible insistence on right and morality ?
J. C. THOMPSON Arlington, Va.
Sir:
Chiang's "righteousness" would be amusing if the world weren't aware of the fact that he is responsible for the death of untold millions of Chinese peasants who refused to yield to his secret police and to the corruption of his government.
Let's face it: Chiang will never again set foot in China. The Communists are the regime in control. We deal with the Russians; we deal with Franco, Rhee, and numerous other dictatorships. Why go "moral" at this late date?
GEORGE GATI
La Crescenta, Calif.
British Aircrafrmcmship
Sir:
The writers of your article "Brochuremanship in Britain" [TIME, Dec. 19] might have taken the trouble to get their facts right.
Great Britain has a pure jetliner capable of flying around the world to a regular timetable. In 1958, or soon after, we shall have the Comet IV, capable of flying regularly and economically on both transatlantic and Commonwealth routes. The R.A.F. has the Comet II in use as a regular military jet transport . . .
Your article gives belated praise to the Viscount and to the Rolls-Royce Conway and Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire jet engines. But what about the license agreements in the U.S. for eight other British power plants ? . . . Your article does not mention the hundreds of smaller feeder aircraft. It is silent on the many military aircraft that have been supplied in a steady stream to our own R.A.F. and foreign air forces throughout the world.
Your comments on "skimped" prototypes ignore the fact that five prototypes and 20 pre-production prototypes of the English Electric P. 1. have been ordered by the government, a laudable change in policy.
The R.A.F. possesses only two F-86 Sabre Squadrons and does not, as your article states, rely "on U.S. F-86 Sabre jets for much of its first-line defense."
E. C. BOWYER Director The Society of British Aircraft
Constructors, Ltd. London
P: The facts remain 1) as recently as the Korean war, the British had no operational military aircraft capable of standing up to the Russian MIGs, and 2) Britain still has no transatlantic airliner in scheduled commercial operation.--ED.
Courtesy for Courtesy
Sir:
I am one of those who closely watched the American and British reactions to the speeches our Russian guests Messrs. Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev made throughout their tour of the Indian Republic recently. I really do not understand why suddenly there should be such a lot of unfair and unfriendly criticism of a country which only returned courtesy for courtesy.
To be plain and simple, we are not camp followers and we do not want to side with any of the parties in their quarrels. But we are always ready to do our mite in the cause of peace. Only understanding will bring understanding.
The wave of criticism that appeared in the American press is something that I am afraid may undo the efforts of men of good will and tolerance in this country to promote better understanding with the democracies of the West. India is charged for having invited the Russian leaders and provided the platforms for their speeches. It does not mean that either the government of India or the people agree word by word what the Russian leaders uttered throughout their tour. But is it not proper and natural that we should honor our guests who honored our Prime Minister when he had been there?
M. MUTHUSWAMY Madras Medical College Hostel Madras, India
Sir:
One fact was overlooked in your Dec. 5 article on the visiting Russians: the conception of Indian hospitality. Nehru received such ovations in Russia that all Indians would be ashamed if the Indians would not return to the Soviet leaders a hundredfold what Nehru received in Russia. What can a host do ? If the guest of honor at your cocktail party gives a hearty belch, would you immediately kick him out?
By the way, India's foreign policy was recently illustrated by a cartoon [see cut]: a rather small Nehru walking between a big Eisenhower and a big Bulganin, having his right hand in Eisenhower's and his left hand in Bulganin's pocket, and captioned "Economic Coexistence."
JOST PRUSSING
Bombay, India
Kicking the Goals Around
Sir:
Who is qualified to analyze objectively the "relative importance or practicability" of the 14 educational goals listed in the White House Conference report [Dec. 19]? Naturally, Chemist Joel Henry Hildebrand insists that mathematics and science are the most important. Yet nothing is either practicable or important if never used. Those who bemoan declining registrations in high-school math and science courses should first survey the extent to which these subjects are subsequently used.
ERNEST W. MANDEVILLE Allenhurst, N.J.
Sir:
Your Dec. 19 education section quotes Joel Henry Hildebrand, who sounds as though he knows what he is talking about, and a school superintendent, John Milne, who appears to know how to act upon his beliefs and produce results. Why doesn't somebody get behind these and other such men and put some substance behind the White House Conference on Education?
DENIS E. COGGIN
Westfield, Mass.
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