r Navy Asked To Reopen *Riot**Cases On Guam ■ LOCAL & NATL NEWS-lOc per copy “AND WORTH IT” ■ EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PHONE HA.0800 ^ "Largest Accredited Negro Newspaper West of Chicago and North of KC•_^ ^ ^ -c> _ , , .. .... _ _ __ , , Entered as 2nd class matter at Post-oftice. Omaha, Nebr., Under Act of Saturday, Nov. 24, 1945 Our 18th Year,—No. 42 ★ 10c Per Copy ★ March 8, 1874. Publishing Offices at £420 Grant Street, Omaha. Nebr. Lester B. Granger Gets Tirst Hand Information in 25,000 Mile Tour of Pacific Naval Bases Lester B, Granger, executive secretary of the Na tional Urban League and special Adviser to the Secretary of the Navy, has just completed a 25,000 mile inspection tour of Pacific Naval bases. He talked with ranking na val officers and with thousands of Negro sailors. In this way he obtained first hand, facts regarding the adminis tration of the policies of the Bureau of Naval Personnel on the level where the men are directly affected. Mr. Granger wnt aboard Navy ships like the USS BOREAS, which had in their crews Negro sailors with general ser vice rates (center photo). He visited with some 47 Nav al establishments stretching across the Pacific. In Ha waii he talked with Negro radiomen handling fleet com munications, men who work on the docks and those who man small craft (photos on left). In San Pedro Bay off Leyte, P. I., and at Saipan he saw the men of Navy log istic support companies (lowest center and upper right „ I photos). In addition to Navy line personnel, the Special Adviser inspected Seabee Special Battalions, some quar tered on Navy APL’s or floating hotels (lower right) and Marine AAA Battalions on Eniwetok and Guam (top cen ter photo). This was the third inspection tour Mr. Gran ger has made at the request of Secretary Forrestal. The J first two Covered Naval establishments in the United | States. (Official U. S. Navy Photograph) Call National Emergency Meeting on Jobs and Security Nineteen joint sponsors. among i them Bartley C. Crum, Mrs. J. Borden Harrlman, Phillip Murray, Rev. Daniel Poling. Bishop Bernard J. Sheil, Walter White, A. F. WThit ney and Rabbi Stephen S. WTise. announced the calling of a national emergency meeting on jobs and se curity to be held o December 7th in Washington, DC. "America is in Danger,” the call to the meeting states. "Millions of her citizens face unemployment throughout the coming year. But the majority of Congress has re fused to provide for the human side of reconversion and lay the basis for a national economy of full pro duction and full employment. "We the ■ undersighed, subscribe ( to the minimum program outlined l>v President Truman in his Septem j her 6th message to Congress. We 1 are convinced that unless it is sub I stantially enacted soon the country j is headed for a more serious de pression than we have ever before ! experiencd__ "We are calling this meeting to! stimulate action and not for the passing of resolutions." Organizations in\-ited to send rep resentatives to the conference in clude church groups, labor unions, Negro professional, consumer, vet erans, farm an long a time. They have thought so often that they would never see home again 'ou pass will ask you tne same questions. What outfit are they calling now? How long have you been here? Where do you live? How many points do you have? Day after day, the same questions from different men. They carry no longer the faces men who killed the enemy, with hate in their hearts; they are no longer the men who braved the jungles of India and Burma, fight ing for their very existence; they are no longer the men who did dirty, sweaty, and bloody work, cursing the heat and the rain, as they built the Ledo Road. They carry smiling faces, young and hap py again, talking about their sweet hearts, wives and families; about school and jobs, some about fish ing, hunting and vacation!^. All have their dreams they wrtw ful filled, thinking of them a million times a day. Across the road is just the be ginning of their long way home. Many days must be spent in the air, or on the train taking you to the ship. Days going back will not be like the silent, mysterious days we traveled coming over. There will be much joy in the sea sickness this time and no longer will we envy the sailor who must Stay on the ship. 1 know what these men want be cause dreams do not vary much with men over here. They want it not only for themselves, but for the rest of the world as well. Men endured beyond their own belief of endurance, and they want sus tained those dreams they have been dreaming when it was impossible for their fulfillment. Each sold ier has his own dream tucked away in his heart, and all he asks is ful fillment. We are thankful that find saw fit that we would survive. God was our life, our strength, our courage. Through peaceful and quiet prayer, God gave us a faitii which many of us have never known. The brave soldiers that gave their lives so that we can say, “I am coming home,” shall never be forgotten, an one forget a man that gave his life so we could live? We’ll never forget and the gener ations to come shall always remem ber too. The millions of soldiers returning shall pledge their lives, to insure that those who gave their lives shall not have died in vain. SUN, BRIGHTEST IN THE EARLY MORN, CLOUDS. HIDE SPLENDOR NO MORE SUN, I NOTICED YOU NOT BEFORE_ YES, GLAD THAT I WAS BORN. I am a poet and don’t know it. Thanks for reading, S-SGT. LAWRENCE P. LEWIS, 3107th QM Service Co. APO 620. C/O Postmaster NYC.,’ N. Y. » ’ This means the expenditure of many millions of dollars in the next year. MUSTERING OUT PAY Returning soldiers and sailors must have a stake to start again in civilian life. The law provides up to $300 per man. If our reduc tion in armed forces goes as per schedule, this item adds up to more than $2,000,000,000 in the next year. (The E-Bond quota of the Victory Loan is just $2.,000, 000,000.) RECONVERSION War contract terminations in volve an estimated 4 or 5 billion dollars. This must be met before orderly reconversion can take place. Reconversion means jobs. INFLATION Apart from the need of money to finish the job of paying f0r the war is the^ danger of inflation. I American workers will have earn ed more than $150,000,000,000 during 1945, of which $20,000,000 1000 will go for personal taxes. Consumer goods and services a vailable during this period are a round $100,000,000,000. The dif i ferences of $30,000,000,000 must i be absorbed by savings, or com petition for available goods will push prices through the ceilings, | which would mean inflation. Dol New York—A request that the Navy Department reopen the case in which 46 Negro Navy men were convicted following a ‘■riot" in De cember, . 1944, wag made last week by Walter White, NAACP Secret ary, who was present in Guam when the men were tried, and who acted as defense counsel at the in vitation of the island commander. White’s letter to H. Struve Hen sel, Acting Secretary of the Navy, asked not only for a reopening of the case, but for permission for NAACP counsel to examine all per tinent records. It has been the contention of the NNACP that the court-martial on Guam failed to take Into consider ation the long series of attacks which had been made on Negro pemonnel by white Marines and others and th« failure of whit- of ficer* in charge of the Negro units to take any steps to protect their men. These circumstances created such a feeling of desperation am ong the Negroe* that they broke In to a supply depot to secure weap ons and ammunition with which to defend themselves. The NAACP contends that the court-martial concerned itself sole ly with the incidents of December 24 and 26. 1944 "nd like so many military courts, adhered strictly to incidents at hand and the part icular violation of regulations charged, with no attention to the factors of prejudice, unfairness and color discrimination known to exist ‘‘Prior to the so-called disorders of December, 1944" the NAACP let ter said, "there had been a series of unprovoked, unchecked and un punished anacks on Negro service men on Guam, particularly Negro Navy Bus*- Company personnel, by white servicemen, chiefly by white | Marines. These acts of agreBSlon had consisted of the throwing of mlsiles, including empty beer bot tles, stones, pieces of coral and up on two occasions, han was the Marine who threw the smoke bomb. Apparently no pun ishment was given the other Mar ines on the truck with Mariott. at least one of whom, If my memory serves me correctly, also confessed to throwing a missile at the Negro servicemen. “Yet the record ghowg according to the report of the Island Comm ander, that "approximately forty men’, all Negroes, were tried, con victed and sentenced to prison terms because they defended them selves against attacks when they had reason to believe and did be lieve that they would be afforded no protection by the responsible authorities, including their own officers, on the Island of Guam.” Mr. White observe^ that when he was requested to act as defense counsel he consented to do so on condition that no legal right of any defendant would be jeopardiz ed because he (White) was not a lawyer and that the court permit the introduction of background ma .terial. However, Mr. White point i ed out. he wag not given access to j the secret, confidential and r. strict I ed Navy records nor did he have I any investigator to dig up m&ter | ial for him. On the contrary, the 'Judge Advocate who prosecuted the men did have these facilities. Iar3 saved now will protect the value of future dollars. INVESTMENT For every American. U. S. Bonds are the world's finest, saf est investment. oFur dollars Come back to you for every three dollars in E. Bonds held to matur >ty. PARTNERS IN GOVERNMENT The needs of the Government are plain. There are other needs. During this war 85,000.000 Amer icans have bought partnership in Government. People just folks .. .who never before saved for a rainy day have, through War Bonds, established a new habit a habit of savings. They have bought a share in our Govern ment. They should continue in this sense of partnership. It has meant during war. .UNITY,