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YANK The Army Weekly February 18, 1944
MAIL CALL
Veterans' Organizations
Dear YANK
Contributors to Mail Call in YANK are doing all GIs a real service by taking a few pot shots at the Legion and VFW. Local surveys have shown that most soldiers recognize that the veterans of the two wars are definitely out of step The Legion did not make a very good impression upon men in foreign service when it missed the boat by refusing to take a stand in the recent fight to enact Federal legislation which would make soldier voting simple and easy. Surely YANK must know that the Army is making every effort to keep the man in uniform better informed by well-organized orientation programs. It must then follow that YANK is no in the dark about the amount of interest that is being shown in the soldier vote. Let's get the record of those men who are or will soon claim to have been our friends. We could stand a little more information of the progress of democracy's fight on the home front.
-Sgt. STANLEY MIKELK
Newfoundland
YANK queried Warren H. Atherton, national commander of the American Legion, for the Legion's views on the soldier-cote bill when no reference to them could be found in the daily press. Mr. Atherton replied as follows:
In the heat of current discussion the fact is generally overlooked that pending "soldiers' vote" legislation is aimed simply to effectuate and implement a Legion-supported act, passed after endorsement by our national convention of more than two years ago. The act gave all the members of the armed services the right to vote. What remains to be done is the setting up of appropriate machinery to effectuate the purpose of the act. We are for any legislation which will accomplish that end. We have no particular preference as to method so long as the fundamental requirement of universal opportunity to vote is given every qualified member of the armed forces. The exercise of suffrage is as basic a duty of citizenship as bearing arms and should be afford equal consideration.
Airborne Bonus
Dear YANK:
A recent issue of Yank had such a personal interest to me that I decided to take a chance and spill an old crime. Ever since I played Joe Winocki in "Air Force" and fired a .30-caliber machine gun by hand, I've been hounded by "experts"-mostly armchair generals-who've insisted that it couldn't be don. The picture [in YANK] of Sgt. Grover K. Herren, however, shows him handling the gun in the same way. Now that I'm convinced it can be done. As a matter of fact, it was a real .30-caliber machine gun that was used in the motion picture, and the entire film was made under the direct supervision of the Army Air Forces. The movies frequently deal in the improbable, but a boner like that would be hard to get through in these days of technical advisers. Nevertheless, some critics used the scene as an excuse to attack Hollywood war pictures. But now I can refer doubters to your publication. Thanks to Sgt. Herren,
and thanks to YANK.
-JOHN GARFIELD
Burbank, Calif.
The picture referred to by actor Garfield is reproduced below. It appeared on the cover of No. 24, Vol. 2, of the U. S. Edition of YANK. 
Wacs-Pro and Con
Dear YANK:
When I saw the picture of Pfc. Billy Coira in YANK I vividly recalled how wonderful she was here at Fort Devens, Mass. After working hard all day she would take time to run over to the hospital and pass a few cheery words with the fellows and go on errands to the PX for the patients. Her arrival was always like getting a letter from home, and that is about the highest compliment a GI can pay to anyone. Have you any other pictures of her?
-Cpl. DONALD F. O'HAGAN
For Devens, Mass.
In the photo below, Pfc. Coira is shown on a truck-repair detail at Fort Ethan Allen, Vt. 
Dear YANK:
Why we GIs over here in the Pacific have to read your tripe and drivel about the Wacs beats me. Who in the hell cares about these dimpled GIs who are supposed to be soldiers? All I have ever heard of them doing is peeling spuds, clerking in the office, driving a truck or tractor or puttering around in a photo lab. Yet all the stories written about our dears tell how overworked they are. I correspond regularly with a close relative of mine who is a Wac, and all she writes about is the dances, picnics, swimming parties and bars she has attended. Are these janes in the Army for the same reasons we are, or just to see how many dates they can get? We would like them a hell of a lot better, and respect them more, if they did their part in some defense plant or at home, where they belong. So please let up on the cock and bull and feminine propaganda. It's sickening to read about some doll who has made the supreme sacrifice of giving up her lace-trimmed undies for ODs. 
-Sgt. BOB BOWIE
New Habrides
Dear YANK:
After reading your article about the Wac who was awarded the Soldier's Medal for saving a GI from possible death by fire I must bow my head in shame. I remember how I squawked about the Wacs, and I remember my general disrespect to all members of the feminine branches of service. I guess actually I should put on a dunce cap, and I sincerely apologize to all of them. 
-Pfc. R. H. FANNING Jr.
Alaska
Dear YANK:
I was disgusted when I opened the pages of a recent YANK and saw some silly female in GI clothes. I detest the Wacs very thoroughly and I hope I never meet one. That is also the opinion of all my buddies.
-Pvt. WILLIAM J. ROBINON
New Zealand
Post-War America
Dear YANK:
Maybe the average soldier wants his “old job” back after the war, and maybe he doesn’t. Personally, I don’t. Of course, I’m prejudiced. Before getting into the Army I wasn’t a $200-a-week executive. I was a lousy $16-a-week factory hand. And I think it is a pretty sad commentary if all our country has to offer the returning serviceman is his “old job back” or “another one just as good.” My dreams of home and the pre-war days are just as rusty as the next guy’s, but