Viewing page 21 of 75
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
MITCHELL ATTACK ON ARCTIC FLIGHT PLANES IS BACKED --------- Loening, Designer, Admits Craft Were Unsuitable for Northern Trip. --------- CHALLENGE OF GRAVES' NOT UPHELD BY COURT --------- Trial Thrown Into Uproar by Reid's Heated Objection to Judge - Warned by Howze. --------- Complete indorsement [[spelling]] of Col. William Mitchell's San Antonio statement, in which he referred to the Arctic amphibian planes as having been designed for use in the tropics, was given the military court-martial this afternoon when the defense, cross-examining one of the prosecution's start witnesses, developed this fact, to the surprise of everybody. The witness was Grover C. Loening, the designer and builder of the amphibian, who was called to the stand to defend his plane against the attacks by Col. Mitchell. Making a valiant stand, the young designer succeeded in every purpose until Representative Frank R. Reid produced a letter he had written to Col. Mitchell, in which he said: "If you find it necessary to criticize the Navy on the Arctic flight, please state they were designed for use in Hawaii and the Caribbean Sea." Byrd Upholds Plane. The letter was written the day after the San Antonio statement of September 5 and said that the Loening Co. felt confident Col. Mitchell meant no harm to the plane which he had sponsored. Mr. Loening's appearance on the stand followed Lieut. Comdr. Richard E. Byrd, jr., commander of the naval aviation unit on the Arctic expedition, who vigorously defended the amphibian plane and lauded its qualities for Arctic work. Another flare-up between Reid and a member of the court-martial threw the trial into complete disorder early today and resulted in a direct challenge by the defense of the right of Maj. Gen. William S. Graves to continue as a member of the court. The challenge was not sustained by the court. The incident which threatened to wreck the proceedings for the day came about when Mr. Reid shouted a heated protest to the court at a remark made by Gen. Graves to the court law member to the effect that "this wrangling is disgraceful and it should be stopped." Row Creates Uproar. Coming in even more sensational manner than Mr. Reid's recent rebuke of Brig. Gen. Edward L. King for his "damn rot" remark during the defense counsel's cross-examination of another prosecution witness, the court was instantly thrown into an uproar, with Gen. Graves vociferously denouncing Mr. Reid's "lecture" and the Illinois Representative hurling back additional accusations. The storm broke during a tilt between Mr. Reid and Maj. Allen Gullion, assistant prosecutor, over a question put by the former to Capt. H. E. Yarnell, who was in charge of the naval air forces on the "Black" side during the mimic war maneuvers in Hawaii. Mr. Reid had asked the witness if the reason he had refused to join with the Army air force in attacking an enemy force on the Island of Molokai during the maneuvers was "because you wished to co-operate" with the Army flyers. Maj. Gullion objected to the question as unfair and it violated the rule for court-martial prohibiting "insulting questions of a personal nature during examination of a witness." Reid Overhears Remark. At this point Gen. Graves leaned toward Maj. Winship and made is audible comment. Mr. Reid instantly whirled to face Gen. Graves and shouted: "I have a right to conduct this cross-examination as I see fit, and I object to you saying it should be stopped." Gen. Graves, his face livid and his hands shaking with rage, shot back: "I claim I have a right to express my opinion to my fellow law member without being subjected to the criticism of Mr. Reid." "I say I object to you, Gen. Graves, talking while I am cross-examining the witness," defense counsel shouted. "I do not acknowledge the right of Mr. Reid to lecture me as to my duty as a member of this court-martial, and I object to it," the general retorted, with wavering voice and quivering lips. "I want to record to show that I was interfered with by Gen. Graves during my cross-examination of a witness, and was unable to continue my cross-examination on account of his talking to the law member," Reid replied, waving his finger at Gen. Graves. Demands "Showdown." "And I want the record to show that whatever Mr. Reid has said about my conduct in this court-martial is incorrect," the general shouted back heatedly, adding, "we will have a showdown on this!" "And I contend that I can cross-examine the witness without being interfered with by a member of this court," Mr. Reid returned. All of this had taken place so quickly that the other members of the court and, in fact, every one else present scarcely had been able to keep step with the developments. Gen. Howze managed to blurt out: "Let's find out what this is about. What was the objection?" The reporter reread Maj. Gullion's objection to Mr. Reid's question, but before anything further could be said about it Brig. Gen. Frank R. McCoy broke in with a request that the court be closed. Gen. Howze then ordered the courtroom cleared. The generals remained behind closed doors in an anteroom for about 20 minutes and then filed into the court with grave countenances. Reid Issues Challenge. Mr. Reid immediately was on his feet with his challenge, saying: "I hereby challenge Col. Graves' right to sit any longer as a member of this court for the reason that his actions while on this court show he is not impartial and that he has repeatedly interfered by his conduct with my examination of witnesses, and that in justice and fairness to the accused Gen. Graves should no longer be permitted to sit as a member of this court. I therefore insist on my right to challenge him." Gen. Howze replied that the court had an announcement to make which would not have any bearing on the motion of Mr. Reid, and the president proceed to state: "The court announces that the remark made by Gen. Graves to the law member of this court was as follows: 'This wrangling between opposing counsel is disgraceful and should be stopped.' He referred to both counsel for the defense and for the prosecution and his remarks were intended to uphold the dignity of this court and facilitate orderly procedure. Both Counsel Warned. "The court wishes to state that it has viewed with disfavor the constant bickerings [[spelling]] between counsel for both sides in violation of the court-martial manual ruling that all remarks should be addressed to the court. The court again warns counsel for both sides to address only the court during the reminder of the proceedings." Gen. Graves, who had somewhat regained his composure, then asked that the cause of the challenge be re-read from the record. The reporter complied and Gen. Graves then stated: "I have not repeatedly interfered with the examination of witnesses by counsel for the defense. I feel that I am perfectly impartial in this trial, and that there is no reason why I should not come to a proper decision in this case." Col. Sherman Moreland, the trial judge advocate, objected to Mr. Reid's challenge on the ground that it was predicated on events not directly related to the incident that had just occurred and stated further that any challenge at this time should not be addressed to the court, but to the appointing power. Holds Challenge Proper. Mr. Reid replied that his ideas regarding the attitude of Gen. Graves had existed from the outset of the trial and that happenings had "cropped up" time and again since the beginning of the proceedings to confirm his opinion. He insisted that his challenge was proper. Gen. McCoy then asked Mr. Reid to cite these occasions of interference referred to. "Day after day when I am examining witnesses and giving my opinions in this case," Mr. Reid declared, "Gen. Graves has interfered repeatedly. It is not only today that this has happened, but every day since the trial opened. I would not think of challenging his right to sit here on the basis of today's occurrence alone. He has made certain expressions and ejaculations time and again, and I can't tolerate any further interference. Even the official reporter is unable to get an accurate report of the proceedings because of this talking." Challenge Overruled. Col. Moreland insisted that there existed no grounds for a challenge at this time and Gen. Howze then ordered the court cleared again, with Gen. Graves remaining out of the executive parley. Upon returning to the courtroom Gen. Howze announced that the challenge made by Mr. Reid was not sustained and ordered the proceedings to continue. Gen. Graves here announced he would like to make a statement, but Mr. Reid interposed an objection to any such procedure "unless Gen. Graves wants to reopen this whole issue." Gen. Howze stated that he did not think the statement by Gen. Graves at this time would be proper and the cross-examination was temporarily resumed. The cross-examination had scarcely gotten underway, however, when Col. Winship requested that the court go into conference regarding Gen. Graves' request to make a statement, and accordingly the court again was cleared. A few moments later the jury of generals returned and announced that Gen. Graves' acquiescence in his suggestion that he not make a statement at this time would stand. The cross-examination of Capt. Yarnell then was resumed without interruption and later Lieut. Comdr. Richard E. Byrd, jr., commanding the naval aviation unit of the MacMillan Arctic expedition, was put on the stand by the prosecution. Capt. Yarnell Called. The prosecution called Capt. H. E. Yarnell, commanding officer of the aircraft squadron's scouting fleet and commanding officer of the black naval defending forces at the Hawaiian maneuvers, to refute testimony of the defense on lack of co-operation between the Army and Navy at the exercises last April. He was asked by Maj. Gullion if he knew Admiral George W. Williams, who died July 16, and if he ever heard him make a remark about aviation. "I heard Admiral Williams make a remark to the effect he distrusted the judgment of anybody in aviation," replied Capt. Yarnell. "This was intended - " but he got no further, as Mr. Reid objected. Maj. Gullion followed up the question by asking if Admiral Williams had made a later statement, and then Capt. Yarnell said he understood the remark to be a "joke." Capt. Yarnell explained later that Admiral Williams on a succeeding conference apologized to the airmen present for making that statement and said in the future he would "never attempt to joke in an assembly of that kind." Inclosures [[spelling]] Are Read. The mission of the black force was to search for the enemy fleet 150 miles out to sea and attack it, as well as guard the harbor, Capt. Yarnell explained. He declared, in his opinion, the co-operation between the Army and Navy was satisfactory to both sides, and in proof of this statement he produced letters he had received from the Army to this effect. They were examined by Mr. Reid, who said he had no objection as long as the inclosures also were ad mited into the record. The letter was from Maj. G. C. Brandit, air officer in direction of the maneuvers,who congratulated the part played by naval aviation and told Capt. Yarnell the air service would be pleased to serve under his command in the future. Mr. Reid forced Maj. Gullion to read the inclosures, which were in the nature of reports by Maj. Brandt and bore the outstanding statements: There should be a unified command in the air force at the maneuvers and the air force should be regarded as an entity; the Navy did not attack the Island of Molokai thinking its mission was elsewhere, which was understood from the Navy viewpoint but not from the Army; only fog could prevent the successful operations of the maneuvers; the Army Air Service is only 50 per cent strong; it is unthinkable that Pearl Harbor is not defended by pursuit planes, and in the maneuvers DH observation planes had to be used as pursuits; dry rot has attacked much of the wood in the DHs and it was necessary to take parts from 57 planes to make up 15; all the islands will have to be utilized by the Air Service in time of war, and "we should not be misled in believing the Air Service is adequate." Another inclosure signed by Maj. Brandt said he was surprised to learn reports that there was lack of cooperation between the two air forces, and he branded these as "erroneous." Capt. Yarnell said during the maneuvers Maj. Brandt came aboard the U. S. S. Wright, his flagship, and asked his opinion about an attack on the base which enemy planes had established on Molokai. Maj. Gullion endeavored to make the witness say that Maj. Brandt wanted the Navy to abandon its plans and primary mission to search for the fleet and attack the base on Molokai Island, Capt. Yarnell, however, declared Maj. Brandt asked only for his opinion on the advisability of such a proposal. Capt. Yarnell, under coss-examination, said he did not think unity of command of the entire Hawaiian maneuvers would have had any better effect on the on the results accomplished, adding that under the law there co8uld be no actual unification. Mr. Reid argues strongly on the point that Capt. Yarnell had refused to send Navy planes to rout the enemy aircraft, which had established a base on the Island of Molaki. Capt. Yarnell stoutly maintained he did not divert his planes from their primary mission of finding the fleet to attack the enemy on the island, because he had not been requested by Maj. BNrandt to do so. He said Maj. Brandt merely had asked his opinion on the proposition of attacking the enemy on Molaki, but had the Army, which held the paramount interest, made such a request, he was positive the planes would have been sent immediately. His Right To Sit On Mitchell Court Challenged [[image]] INTERNATIONAL NEWS REEL PHOTO MAJOR GENERAL W. S. GRAVES Member of the court-martial trying Colonel William Mitchell, whose right to sit as juror was challenged by Congressman Frank R. Reid, counsel for Mitchell, today. Reid asked that Graves be dismissed from the court following an inaudible remark made by the general-juror. The court overruled Mr. Reid's motion.
