Gen. Marshall Advises Congress to Extend Active Duty Terms

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Globalization41
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Gen. Marshall Advises Congress to Extend Active Duty Terms

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Post by Globalization41 » 08 Jul 2004, 09:36

Washington, Associated Press, The New
York Times,
Sunday, July 13, 1941: General
George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, has
advised Congressional leaders, it was learned
today, that the Army cannot man outlying
defense bases adequately unless selectees
are held in service beyond the present limit
of
one year. ... A member of Congress said that
General Marshall, in conferences last week
with Speaker Rayburn and other legislators,
emphasized, too, the need for speedy
enactment of legislation which would make
selectees liable for additional service and would
permit the retention of National Guardsmen for
more than their projected year's active service.
... In that connection General Marshall was
quoted as saying that unless additional service
was authorized a large number of troops would
have to be brought back from Hawaii in
August because of the approaching expiration
of their year's service.
... The necessity of
mustering out guardsmen and selectees and
replacing them with newly inducted men, he
was reported to have said, would require the
Army to maintain a virtual "shuttle" service
between the mainland and offshore defense
bases
for months to come. (General Marshall
reported to Congress recently that on July 1st
the Army had 116,700 men garrisoning
outlying bases. Presumably this number has
increased since then.) ... Despite General
Marshall's outline of the necessity for the
legislation, there was general talk at the
Capitol of working out some compromise. ...
Senator McNary of Oregon, the Republican
leader, said there would be strong opposition
to the bills. He predicted that if the measures
finally were passed, a provision which would
permit the President to send troops out of the
Western Hemisphere would first be stricken
out. ... On the other hand, Senator Gurney,
Republican, of South Dakota, a member of the
Military Affairs Committee which will consider
the bills this week, said he thought speedy
enactment was necessary. ... "I am
convinced," he told reporters, "that it will be
impossible for the Chief of Staff to man our
outlying bases with trained men without being
able to keep our National Guard, reserve
officers, and selective service men on active
duty for more than a year."

Helsinki, Finland, Associated Press, The
New York Times,
Sunday, July 13, 1941:
Narva, Estonia, between Lake Peipus and
the Gulf of Finland, is being besieged, the
newspaper Uusi Suomi reported tonight, and
Finns predicted that the Russian forces in
Estonia soon would collapse.
... The word
was hailed throughout Southern Finland
because daily Russian bombings that have
devastated coastal communities have been
conducted from Estonian bases. ... The
Finnish city of Porvoo was reported hit hard
in a raid on Saturday, with many buildings
demolished. Five Russian planes were
reported shot down. ... As German troops
press northward against the Russian Baltic
Army in the Estonian coastal strip, Finns
expect the bombings to diminish. ... However,
the radio at Tallinn, Estonian capital,
continued to broadcast on behalf of Russia.
... The municipal council of Viborg, which has
been in Helsinki since the Russians took
that Karelian Isthmus center from Finland
in 1940, was preparing to return home soon
behind the Finnish Army. [Tallinn is on the
northern coast of Estonia. Almost directly
north, 50 to 60 miles across the Gulf of
Finland, is Helsinki on the southern coast of
Finland. To the east about 160 or so miles is
the Karelian Isthmus and about 70 miles
further to the east is Lake Ladoga. Viborg is
on the northern end of the Isthmus. Leningrad
is about 75 miles southeast of Viborg, at the
southern end of the Isthmus.]


Vichy, France, Wireless to The New
York Times,
Sunday, July 13, 1941: It
is understood that the delay of one month
accorded Jews in the unoccupied zone for
registration and declaration of all their
possessions is about to be extended. The law
in question was issued June 14. ... Thousands
of applications have been received for
exemption from the other law issued the same
date that excludes Jews from various
professions, as well as from state employment.
These applications are based upon war service
or other service to the state. The Commissariat
General for Jewish Questions
makes it clear
that such applicants must nevertheless register
as Jews.

[Stay tuned for late breaking war bulletins.
... Globalization41.]

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