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Original scanned September 27, 2002. Reduced print - for full-sized print, see Davis Box 163, Folder 3 

[[page from newspaper]] 
[[boxed]] 
Contribute To 
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38 E. 57th St., New York 27, N.Y.
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[[/boxed]]

The Journal and Guide 

[[boxed]]
NATIONAL EDITION
[[/boxed]]

VOL. XLVI No. 26 NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 1945  PRICE 10 CENTS

Bomber Group Morale Boosted by Change In Command..... ^[[June 30 1945]]

COL. DAVIS REORGANIZES 477TH

Ask Funds to Liquidate FEPC

[[top center]]
New Deal for Airmen is Announced
[[photo - 4 men in uniform in front of airplane]]
  Lieutenant General Ira C. Baker, Deputy Commander Army Air Forces, addresses [[obscured line]] newly activated [[next 3 words?]] June [[21?]] at Godman Field. He announced that Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., former command [[obscured]] and [[?]] of the [[332nd?]] [[obscured]] to Italy, would be [[obscured]] [[?]]. Brigadier [[obscured]] Benjamin O. Davis, of [[obscured]] Inspector General's office [[obscured]] [[?]] Theater of Operations and [[name - Tr?]] H. Gibson Jr., civilian Aide to Secretary of [[obscured]] standing at left [[obscured]] Colonel Davis, commander of the reconstituted 477th Composite Group.
(Army Air Forces Photo)
[[/top center]]

[[column 1 top]]

Georgians Urge Aid For FEPC
200 Of Both Races Sign Petition To Truman, Congress
By Associated Negro Press

ATLANTA, Ga. - Members of the United States Congress and President Truman have received a petition signed by more than 200 leading Georgians of both races urging them to fulfill their party pledges by giving full support to S-101 and H. R. 2232 setting up a permanent Full Employment Practices Committee.

The petition pointed out that "the South has experienced the unwholesome consequences of discrimination and that a large segment of our people held at a low wage level has depressed the income of all and has stunted the progress of the area."

"Today," the petition continues, "two schools of thought are in conflict: democracy with its philosophy of individual rights and dignity; Fascism with the ideology of force. With all this discrimination against racial and religious minorities. Such discrimination has no place in American life, by its very nature [[? ?]] Yet such discrimination [[?? words before the world.
"It has handicapped us by lacking [[?]] war graduation.  It has been used effectively in the propaganda of our conditions.  If continued it will weaken our leadership in the council of [[?]] It will [[?]] the [char??]]
(See SOUTHERNERS, F. 3)
[[/column 1 top]]

[[column 2 top]]
Denied Right To Vote, Nurse Sues for $5,000
Additional Cases To Be Filed In Louisiana And Other States
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., (ANP)
A suit asking $5,000 damages a declaration of rights and an injunction restraining the Jefferson county board of registrars from alleged hostile discrimination, was filed in United States District court here June [[10?]] by Registered Nurse [[name?]].

Named as defendants in the suit were Chairman J. B. Hines, [[B?]],Ala. B. I. Creel, [[Route 11?]], [[W-?]], Ala., and Mrs. [[name?]] M. Whitfield of the board of registrars.

The plaintiff alleged that on Apr. 10, she applied for registration, showed her tax receipt, read correctly the constitution and performed the other registration duties but was refused. Her complaint brought under the 14th, 15th, and [[?]] amendments of the federal constitution was [[?]] as a 'class suit' on behalf of herself and [[all?]] other [[Negroes?]] [[next three words?]] to register [[next three words?]] in Jefferson County. 
  The document listed [[number?]] grounds and further charged that Negro applicants were subjected to unreasonable tests not required of white [[?]]. It asked that the case be
(see DENIED VOTE, Page 2)
[[/column 2 top]]

[[column 1 middle]]
To Insist Upon Colonial Rights
NEW YORK--In an effort to safeguard the rights of minorities in the International Organization formed at San Francisco prior to the adjournment of the conference Tuesday, the NAACP sent a wire to Secretary of State Edward B.  [[Ste?]] Jr., chairman of the American delegation, urging the right of petition by dependent peoples, the right of the organization to investigate and remedy [[their?]] complaints, and insisting on independence for colonists.
  Not satisfied with the [[next 3 words?]] ... for dependent peoples which was adopted by the United Nations [[?]] Committee, June [[1?]], the NAACP through its secretary, Walter White, [[?]] to [[next 3 words?]] to Mr. [[?]].
NAACP MESSAGE
  "We have read with interest [[next 2 words?]] June [[19]] [[?]] revised draft of section [[?]] Charter dealing with [[next 2 words?]] system [[planned?]] for colonial people.
  "May we strongly urge American delegation to [[?]], even if other nations disagree, on [[?]], right of written or oral petitions by dependent peoples to international organization for 
[[/column 1 middle]]
[[column 2 middle]]
redress of inequities, second, authority of international organization to investigate and rectify inequities, and third, insist that dependent peoples be promised independence.
  "American public opinion and that of many people in other countries will support such a stand by the American delegation which will give hope to many peoples who now are skeptical."

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"Squeeze" Drink Kills 5 Persons
GADSDEN, Ala.--(ANP)
--"Squeeze," a drinking mixture made of denatured alcohol and other ingredients, [[brought?]] death in five persons here last week, according to [[?]] Cox, county coroner.
  The dead are Mrs. Hanna Blunt, [[34?]], and her husband John Blunt, [[43]]; Charles Burton, [[30]]; [[Wilson, Wilton? surname, age?]]; and [[Burt Beaton/Deacon? age 4?]]. An unnamed sixth person is reported in serious condition.
  The lethal concoction, said Chief of Police [[Fay Bruman?]], was made of denatured alcohol [[?]] in the thinning of paint and [[?]] toilet water. The first "Squeeze" victim died within 24 hours. 
[[/boxed]]

[[column 1 & 2 bottom]]
Ga. Att'y-General Will Aid Registrar in Primary Suit
By Associated Negro Press
  ATLANTA, Ga--Though the Georgia Democratic party has insisted all along that it was a private organization, with no connection to the state, Atty. Gen. T. Grady Head has offered his assistance to T. E. [[Sutter/Suttles?]], Fulton county registrar, who is a defendant in a suit filed in federal court by the Georgia Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 
  The suit seeks to [[?]] Registrar [[as above - Sutter/Suttles?]] from omitting the [[?]] of Negro [[?]] at the polling places during primary elections and would secure a declaratory judgment [[eliminating?]] the practice of [[barring?]] Negroes from participation in the Democratic primary elections.
MAKES OFFER 
  Atty. Gen. Head made his offer after Gov. Ellis Arnal suggested that the attorney general provide [[as above - Sutter/Suttles?]] with such aid as "the [[proprietary?]] permit."
  The suit was filed last week by Atty. A. H. Walden, counsel for Prof. Wallace Van Jackson, head librarian at Atlanta University and secretary of the [[Chi-?]] Democratic Club of Fulton county. A similar suit filed at Colombia is already pending in federal court.
GOVERNOR'S LETTER
  "I understand that another civil suit has been filed in the
(See PRIMARY SUIT, Page 3)
[[/column 1 & 2 bottom]]

[[column 3 middle]]
Liberia To Open Legation In Washington
By Ernest P. [[Johnson?]]
For Associated Negro Press
WASHINGTON, D. C. -- The government of Liberia will shortly open a legation here and for the first time establish diplomatic relations with this country. It is learned upon unimpeachable authority.
  Papers covering the transfer of property to house the legation have already been drawn and the parties to the deal are prepared to enter into the final [[?]] of the transaction. Whereas the exact location of the delegation was not disclosed, the information given was that  it will be somewhere on [[?]] street not far from [[?]] street.
  Nor has the value of the property been disclosed either.
PERSONALITY UNKNOWN
  The state department is not aware as yet who the first Liberian minister to this country will be. Persons recently returning from Monrovia have not been able to throw any more light on the subject either. One person of this group said that the only name he had heard mentioned was that of Charles T. O. King, son of a former president of Liberia, C. D. B. King.
  That Liberia would open a legation here was first indicated two years ago following the visit of former President Edwin Barclay. It was realized then, however that the cost would be exorbitant. President W. V. S. Tubman, who accompanied Barclay at the time, told this reporter that the [[?]] of [[?]]
(See LIBERIA, Page 2)
[[/column 3 middle]]

[[column 3 bottom]]
Offers $250 Race Relations Award
  LOG CABIN, Ga--(ANP)
Announcement has been made by George Gordon [[Battle/Buttle?]], New York City treasurer for the Advancement of Negro Country Life, Inc. of the establishment of an annual prize award of $250 for outstanding and [[meritorious?]] achievement in improving interracial understanding.
  The prize is made possible through the interest and generosity of Mrs. [[Harry/Henry?]] Hodge, a native of Savannah, in an effort to improve human relationships in farm and small town communities in the [[southland?]]. Herschel V. Jenkins, president of the Savannah Morning News and Evening Press, has been asked to serve as chairman of a committee of judges to select the annual prize-winner.
[[/column 3 bottom]]

[[column 6 top]]
House May Vote On $125,000 To End Work
Chavez Attempts to Save Agency By Senate Amendment
BULLETIN
  WASHINGTON, D. C. --
The House Appropriations Committee on Monday recommended an allowance of $125,000 for the liquidation of the FEPC after July 1. Administration pleas for extension of FEPC's life have failed to produce any signs of speedy compliance by Congress.
  Senator Bilbo of Mississippi threatened to lead a filibuster against any Senate attempt to extend the life of FEPC beyond July 1. Senator Johnston, Democrat, South Carolina, agreed.
[[line]]
Staff Correspondence
WASHINGTON, D. C. --
Senator Dennis Chavez, Democrat of New Mexico, served notice last Wednesday that he intends to [[obscured]] [[next line?]]
he may offer an amendment to the national war [[?]].
(See SEN. CHAVEZ, Page [[?]])
[[/column 6 top]] 

[[middle center]]
Heroic Chaplain Recalls Bravery Of Stewards
Franklin Men Dared Fire And Death To Save Ship
By Associated Negro Press
  WASHINGTON, D. C. -- The bravery of Negro sailors aboard the stricken carrier USS Franklin was recently told by Father Joseph T. O'Callahan, ship's chaplain.
  Father O'Callahan, himself hailed as a hero that fateful day when more than [[850?]] men were killed by an explosion resulting from a direct bomb hit. He served as a Navy chaplain for more than five years.
  Describing his own aid which has been hailed as the highest example of courage, Father O'Callahan suggested that the definition of bravery be redefined. He told of how faith in God inspired a frightened Filipino lad to lead 50 men in fighting the explosion flames.
  'Perhaps this example from
that terrible March 19 will show what I mean," he said. "There was a group of steward mates on board and their reaction was even more striking than that of the Filipino boy whose story I have just told. These particular steward mates were Negroes and every one of them who remained aboard (remember that many were blown overboard) did a really magnificent job. I knew personally that each one of them was as frightened as the Filipino youngster, and remembrances rushed through my mind that day of the many cartoons I have seen, jokes I have heard, about how easily Negroes scare, but this group overcame their natural fear like real heroes." 
  Negro sailors saved the ship's executive officer by a towline
[[column break]]
from the Franklin to the cruiser Pittsburgh.
  "The towline was a terrific weight. There the gang was lined up shoulder to shoulder, officers and men, black and white, sweating and straining, and all afraid. The towline was not to be budged. I have read about things like this, and been rather [[?]] and skeptical, but there on the deck of the Franklin that afternoon, it really happened.
  "All of a sudden, uncertainly and slowly at first, but gathering volume until it pierced the roar of flames, these Negro men started an impromptu chanting, making up the words as they went along. It was almost a Negro spiritual [[?]] as the rhythm of their voices found certainty, the rhythm of the gang's muscles and [[?]] started to work together, and that heavy towline we hadn't been able to budge, started to move, how God alone knows; but it
(See WHITE CHAPLAIN, P. [[2?]])
[[/middle center]]
[[bottom center]]
To Stand Trial Saturday
[[photo - 3 men in uniform]]
These three officers are still confined to their barracks at Godman Field more than 80 days after they were arrested at Freeman Field, Ind., in connection with the officer's club "incident." They will be tried Saturday of this week. The officers are, left to right: 2nd Lts. Marsden Thompson, Los Angeles; Shirley Clinton, Camden, N. J.; and Roger Terry, pilot, Los Angeles. 

Davis Names Top Bomber Officers; Gleed May Get Post
Staff Correspondence
GODMAN FIELD, Ky. -- In the initial phases of the reorganization of the 477th Composite Group, Col. B. O. Davis Jr., new commanding officer; Captain C. I. Williams of Lima, O., was chosen commanding officer of the [[?th]] Bombardment Squadron and Captain Elmore Kennedy, of New York City, will command the [[619th?]] Squadron.
  Captain Charles [[R.?]] Stanton of Portland, Ore. was chosen operations officer of the group with 1st Lt. Daniel James of Pensacola, Fla., as assistant operations officer. Captain Stanton's appointment is probably temporary as Col. Davis brought Major Edward Gleed, the [[332nd's ?]] operations officer back with him. It is believed Major Gleed will get the top operations post when he reports to the group following his furlough.
  [[1st?]] Lt. [[H?]] James, of Jamaica, L. I., is mentioned as [[?]] operations officer.
  Whether or not any of these appointments will remain permanent is not known.
[[/bottom center]]

[[top right]]
Bomber Group To Fly From Okinawa Says General Eaker
Davis Replaces Selway, Who Was Blamed For Racial Friction and Arrest of Officers; Group To Pacific in Fall; Whites Removed
By Lem Graves Jr.
Journal and Guide War Correspondent
(Copyright Reproduction Forbidden)
[[photo - headshot "GRAVES"]]  
GODMAN FIELD, Ky. -- Air Corps personnel is not generally given to emotional reactions but emotionalism was thick enough to eat around Godman Field last Thursday morning when tall, slender Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., alighted from a from a converted B-25 carrier in front of base operations and was almost immediately introduced to 4,000 officers and men of the newly reorganized 477th Composite Fighter-Bomber Group, as the unit's new commanding officer.
  Fully aware of the special significance of the occasion--probably one of the most significant in the history of the Negro's participation in the armed forces of America--these Negro men looked with intense pride at the commanding figure of their top-ranking Air Corps officer and felt a flood of uninhibited happiness that their branch of service had not only seen fit to correct, in such obvious fashion a long standing practice of unfairness on the part of the previous command but also in the fact that their race had produced a man who could step into such a command without apology. 
  In the few minutes it took for this change of command to be accomplished, spirits rose a full [[?]] per cent and a disgruntled and demoralized air corps group was transformed into an organization of proud [[obscured]] who were [[obscured]] the group one of the best in the Air Forces.
  Col. Davis spent his first three days reorganizing the former four-squadron bomber group into a new two squadron bomber unit, to which a fighter squadron will be added later.
(See fuller reorganization story elsewhere on this page).
UNUSUAL CEREMONIES
  The unusual aspects of the ceremonies did not escape these men. They knew that the acting commanding general of the Army Air Forces does not usually preside at a routine change of command at the level of a colonelcy. They knew that such a change of command is seldom attended by such a large assemblage of news reporters, cameramen, and advance press notice--all of which was [[sponsored?]] by the War Department.
  They knew that officials of the War Department seldom made special trips to inaugurate a new command of a unit
(See GODMAN FIELD, Page 2)
[[boxed]]
Replaced
[[photo -- Colonel Robert W. Selway Jr.]]
Col. Robert W. Selway Jr., former commanding officer of the 477th Bombardment Group and storm center of the controversy over the use by Negro officers of an officer's club at Freeman Field, Ind., who was recently ousted to make way for Col. B. O. Davis Jr., to assume command of the 477th Composite Group of Godman Field, Ky.
[[/boxed]]
[[/top right]]
[[bottom right]]
To Try Arrested Officers At Once
  Staff Correspondence
  GODMAN FIELD, Ky. -
Nearly three months have passed since three officers of the 477th Bombardment Group were placed under arrest by order of Col. Robert Selway at Freeman Field near Seymour, Ind. They are still being confined to their barracks although they have not yet been tried by court-martial.
  A Washington source revealed early this week that the trials have been set for Saturday at Godman Field.
  Arrested along with a total of 162 officers for entering an officers club which the white command had set aside for the exclusive use of white officers--in contradiction to a specific War Department directive prohibiting racial discrimination in the use of post recreational facilities--and for declining to ban a discriminatory circular which set aside buildings and areas which were to be used by these men. The three men were held after the others were hastily released.
  They are charged with "jostling" a military police officer who sought to restrain them from entering 
(See OFFICERS, Page 2)

Col. Davis Must Start Anew As Commander of Bombers
Staff Correspondence
  GODMAN FIELD, Ky. -- If you've been envying Col. B. O. Davis his recent assignment to command the 477th Composite Fighter Bomber Group, forget it. He has one of the toughest assignments any officer ever assumed and it is a tribute to his splendid record as an Air Corps officer that the high command had enough confidence in him to give him the post.
  When Gen. Ira [[initial?]] Baker, deputy commander and acting commander general of the Army Air Forces said, in the course of his initial speech from the reviewing platform in front of base operations at the field last Thursday morning that "It was on my personal recommendation and insistence that he is to take command of this group." He was paying Col. Davis a well deserved tribute and at the same time placing a difficult responsibility on his shoulders.
  In the first place, Col. Davis is a fighter pilot and a fighter group commander. His previous contacts with bombers have been limited to looking down on them while escorting the big [[ships?]] on bombing missions. He was usually flying at about 30,000 feet and the bombers were almost a mile below him most of the time. He starts from scratch as a commander of bombers and as a bomber pilot, which he must become.
  In addition, he knows nothing about the organization of this bomber group
(See COL. DAVIS, Page [[?]])
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