THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday,' Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME. 1 ALA SKA
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W. A. Boucher.Owner-Publisher
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943. at the postoffice
•t Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Nome, Alaska. Wednesday, August 16. 1950
DEFENSE BY ASSUMPTION
It seems to us that the responsible officials of the
United States, familiar with the facts after studying the
world situation, should have known for the past two
years that Russian aggression was a possibility almost
any time. This being the conclusion, it follows inevitab
ly that there was no excuse for the policy of economy
in connection with our preparedness for war.
Apparently, the defense of the United States was
resting firmly upon an official, but erroneous, conclu
sion that no great war was imminent.
In support of the economy program, launched by Sec
retary of Defense Louis Johnson with the approval of
the President, officials gove out optimistic statements
as to the national defense.
On March 3rd, the President was quoted as saying
that ‘never in the history of the United States have its
defenses been in such good shape except when actually
at war.”
I
Ten days later, Secretary Johnson told a Senate com
mittee that the Army was stronger than at any time
since the end of the war and the Air Force was at the
highest state of combat readiness since the war.
In May, the President explained that he was not
alarmed over the possibility of a shooting war with
Russia and, in June, he was quoted as saying, “The
world is closer now to permanent peace than at any
time in the last five years.”
While we call attention to these facts to show, beyond
doubt, the complacency and over-confidence of the
President and the Secretary of Defense, let us take note
that, apparently, they have awakened in time and are
now vigorously trying to implement programs which
will translate our “defense potentials” into weapons
and munitions before we get into a war for our national
survival.
WINS WITHOUT AIR SUPPORT
Reporting that the Russians have fighter planes in
the Far East, far superior to anything that the United
States possesses, the experts speculate on the possible
attitude of the Russians if the Americans drive the
North Koreans out of the mountains and get them on
the run.
Along this line, Max Boyd, writing for the Associated
Press, says there has been no temptation to Russia to
reeinforce the feeble North Korean air force because,
with large quantities of Russian-made tanks and artill
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
MOSCOW ^ WHEN?)
a,
WASHINGTON WHERETj;
Korean Situation
At A Glance - - -
_ . '
(Continued from Page Qne)
bombs on Masan, communications
center near the southern battle
front area in the first reported
Red air activity in some days, and'
struck U. S. installations.
The communist radio at Pyong-j
nyong said the Reds had seized
Kosong in the area where the U.1
S. Marines have been advancing
on the extreem southern front. It
is 20 iles southwest of Masan and
the same distance southeast of
Chinju. Marines seized the town
in their sweep through the south
last week.
On the northern end of the
Naktong river front, where 60,000
Reds are poised across the river
for the expected push, the com
munists slammed about 3,000 men
—with tanks—across the river
against South Korean defenders.
The enemy moved over bridges
which were submerged a foot un-!
der water to hide them from air
attack. Between 700 and 1,000
Reds weer killed by U. S. First
Cavalry Division troops in one en
gagement near Kaegwan 12 miles
northwest of Taegu.
On the northern rim of the 140
mile South Korean front, Ameri
can forces captured the town of
Yuktong, nine miles west of the
Pohang air strip on the Sea of Ja
pan coast. At the same time South
Korean troops retook the nearby
town of Iman. Allied forces moved
back with a half mile of Pohang,
second most important U. S. sup
ply base on the east coast until it
was captured last week by the
Reds.
Allied planes gave heavy sup
port to ground forces. Warships
aided the ground forces on the
east coast sector. U. S. and Aus
tralian fliers smashed at the Wae
gwan Red concentrations in more
than 400 flights.
A navy plane reporter sinking a
200-ton Red vessel off the Korean
west coast and another damaged
a communist ship off the east!
coast.
Long range bombers have so
damaged the Red’s huge oil refin
ery at Wonsan in North Korea
that it has been written off as a
major target for B-29 superforts.
The Far East bomber command
also reported that the superforts
in the past month plastered North
Korean targets with 23,000 bombs
'—7,000 tons—scoring from 30 per
cent to complete destruction on
their targets.
North Korea’s premier, Kim II
Sung, reflected worry about this.
He commanded his troops in an
order of the day to win the war
by the end of August, before
American forces become stronger.
IA score of Chinese communist
leaders were in Pyongyang for the
Liberation Day ceremonies, caus
ing speculation whether the Chi
nese were planning to come to the
direct aid of the North Korean
I Reds.
But President Truman, also in
; observance of Korea’s Liberation
Day, has told South Korean Pres
ident Syngman Rhee he is confi
dent of victory. President Rhee,
too, said in Taegu, his provisional
capital, that the day of total de
feat for the Reds will come soon.
B-29’s Smash Reds 1
With 3,500 Bombs |
<Continued from Page Ohe>
alized by the blow.
Some of the enemy troops were
“running in all directions” from
the flaming, smoking target area
after the superfortresses, in the
first strike of this kind in their
history, saturated 26 square miles
of the Red buildup area with 874
tons of bombs. Observer pilots re
ported some Reds deserting posi
tions east of the Naktong and rac
ing back across it.
The saturation blow was the
equivalent of 30,000 rounds of
heavy artillery fire. It was per
haps the greatest concentrated
strike that could be made on a
front line position short of an
atomic attack.
The superfortresses took off at
dawn in waves of eight, each car-;
rying about 10 tons of bombs.:
They flew a mile west of the Nak
tong, beginning on a strip three
miles north of Waegwan, and sys-I
tematically dropped one 500
pound bomb every 150 feet. The
area is about 15 miles northwest
of Taegu, U.S. forward base where
the bulk of North Korea’s attack
force was believed centered.
“It is hard to see how it can
take a battering such as it is get
ting now and mount an offensive
soon,” wrote Hal Boyle, who flew
along with the raiders in a trans
port-observer plane. The bombing
was made in clear waether.
The attack apparently spread
confusion through Red ranks on
the northern flank of their attack
on the Naktong defense line, while
a lull fell over the rest of the bat
tlefront. No sooner had the B-29’s
glided off from their merciless
strike than Allied fighters and
bombers roared in, strafing and
bombing any targets they could
find.
Whlie the B-29’s roared in to
drop their 3,500 bombs, each
weighing 500 pounds, American
infantrymen stood up in their fox
holes and cheered.
Never before had B-29’s been
used in mass support of ground
troops. The attack was similar,
however, to the massive blows of
B-17’s and B-24*s on German lines
in Normandy before the St. Lo
breakthrough of Americans in
World War II. The air blows then
paralyzed German lines so that
they could not effectively resist
the ground attack.
A lull fell over the other sec
tors. This was the situation: Two
Red bridgeheads have been estab
lished across the Naktong below
Taegu, the provisional South Ko
rean capital. The biggest was near
Changnyong, 23 miles southwest
of Taegu, where weary U. S. 24th
Division troops battled a bridge
head containing 12,000 Red troops.
The Reds had pushed to points
seven miles beyond the river.
The second bridgehead was
about 15 miles north of Changn
yong, at Hyonpung, 12 miles south
| west of Taegu. Tuesday night the
communists put a bridgehead over
! there about 1,500 strong.
To the north in the Waegwan
( buildup area the Reds had thrown
! across probing attacks, but none
I had been considered serious as
ery, the North Koreans have achieved “victory after
vnctory, almost without air support.”
The fighting in Korea has demonstrated the necessity
for adequate numbers of ground troops. The results
achieved by the invaders have cast doubt upon the the
ory that the air force is decisive in fighting but, in the
swing of opinion, it is important not to go too far in the
* other direction.
Install Beta Sigma
Phi Chapter Here ;
(Continued from Page One)
fourth Thursdays were selected,
the first meeting to be held at the
home of Mrs. Terry Fisher, Aug
ust 24th at eight o’clock. The ex
ecutive board will hostess this
meeting.
Inasmuch as chapter supplies 1V
for conducting the programs and
business of the group may be sev
eral weeks in transit, the first
meeting will be mostly the ap
pointment of committees and dis
cussion of business. It will be fol
lowed by a social hour.
The following officers were in- *
stalled: Director, Mrs. Robert
Baldwin. Sponsor, Mrs. Harold
Harper; President, Mrs. Jim Mc
Lean; Vice President, Mrs. Gerald
Modrow; Recording Secretary,
Miss Eileen Uttich; Corresponding
Secretary, Miss Edna Miller;
Treasurer, Miss Caroline McLain.
Mrs. Terry Fisher will be pro
gram chairman.
Members besides the above offi
cers include: Mrs. Erik Hay, Mrs.
Joseph Hunt, Mrs. Isak Jensen,
Mrs. Thomas McAllister, Mrs. Guy
Otto, and the Misses Linda Mus
grave, Gertrude Rode, Mary I
Roell, and Ellen Waldheim.
Guest of the evening was Mrs.
Frank Killeen of Alaska Beta
chapter in Fairbanks, who gave a
short talk of welcome on behalf of
the three Fairbanks chapters,
Beta, Eta and XI Beta, who spon
sored the Nome chapter. She as
sisted Mrs. Harper in serving de
licious refreshments.
At the close of the evening’s
| festivities, the president Mrs. Mc
Lean presented Mrs. Guenther a
beautiful gold bracelet with jade
I setting, as a token of appreciation
: from the pledges. She left Tues
day night for Fairbanks, where
I on Thursday she will leave via
Canadian Pacific Airline for
Whitehorse, Canada, thus termin
ating her official visit to the fif
teen Alaskan chapters.
OST FAMILY GATHERING
AT COUNCIL
The A1 Doyle family, Earl
Towner family and the Wallace '
Mclver family have been enjoying
a family gathering in Council
,with their mother Mrs. L. E. Ost,
who has spent many years pio
neering in that area where her
family has been raised.
Rev. L. E. Ost and his wife will
be making their home in Marshall
soon, where Mr. Ost has been
i f
transferred by the Cove n a n t
Church.
I
I - ■ .. - . - ..
yet.
U. S. intelligence reports said
the communists up to yesterday
had lost about 40,000 men in cas
ualties. Intelligence reports said
the Reds had been trained by Chi
nese communist and possibly Rus
sian advisers, Earlier today the
North Korean radio made its first
mention of Russian aid by hailing
“the friendly support of the Sov
iet army.”
The United Nations, committed
to hurling back the North Korean
aggression, prepared for another
security council meeting tomor
row at Lake Success, N. Y., where
delegated studied Indian propos
als to bring about an end to hos
tilities. The Indians want the ^
small, non-permanent securi t y
council member sto bring in re
commendations. The United States ^
has reserved its position on this.
Other western states have wel
comed the proposal, but Russia
has been non-committal.