OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LII. No. 96 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 1950 _^_Per Copy—15c
NEWS IN BRIEF
' -
LONDON, {JP)—A metal file has
been found jammed in a boiler
tube of the 23,000-ton aircraft car
rier Illustrious, but there was no
damage, an Admiralty spokesman
said Saturday.
It was believed that a careless
^ workman was responsible, but
routine investigations are contin
uing, ha said.
The warship is undergoing re
pairs.
CHICAGO, (JP)—Dr. Franz Hel
mut Leitner, Austrial consul in
New York, said Saturday some
10,000 Czechoslovakian craftsmen
have fled from behind the iron
curtain to work in Austria.
VICTOR YVILLE, Calif. (/P) —
One air force reserve pilot was
killed and another was seriously
> burned when their B-26 light
bomber crashed and exploded
Friday returning from a routine
training mission.
Dead is 2dn Lt. John T. Vesser,
of North Hollywood. The pilot,
Capt. Robert D. Clark, 30, Osanta
Monica, is in March air force base
hospital.
BANGKOK, Thailand, (/P)—1The
Thailand ministry for defense has
quit taking volunteers for an ex
peditionary force to join United
Nations troops in Korea.
The books were closed after
nearly 11,000 volunteered. The or
iginal call was for 4,000. j
- •
MANILA, (£>)—At least 15 peo-1
pie drowned in floods that have
swept central Luzon for ten days,
the Red Cross reported Saturday.
DURHAM, Eng. (JP) — 100,000
British coal miners sent a cable to
Prime Minister Stalin Saturday
, asking him to stop the fighting in
Korea.
The cable asked Stalin to order
the withdrawal of the North Ko
rean communists to their own half
of the peninsula so that mediation
could begin.
1 r
_ i
BRUSSELS, (JP)—A small bomb
was hurled at the Belgian com
munist party headquarters’ build
ing here early Saturday. The front
was damaged and several win
dows smashed.
OSLO, Norway, (IP) — Norway
announced Saturday she will
place a 10,000-ton ship at the dis
posal of the United Nations joint
command in Korea. The govern
ment made the decision after sur
veying the U. N. need for shipping
tonnage.
ANCHORAGE (JP)—Two F-80-C
jet fighter planes collided on the
Elmendorf Air Force base runway
last evening during a take-off.
Neither poilt was injured.
The colliding planes swerved
off the runway and were envel
oped in a large puff of smoke.
One of the craft Was badly burn
r ed, the second only slightly dam
aged.
Public information officers said
that one plane had suffered a
“failure.” Neither would identify j
(Continued on Page Four)
Alaskan Civilians
Will Not Be
Evacuated
(Valdez News)
Juneau’s Chamber of Com
merce got some first-hand infor
mation on civilian defense recent
ly, when Col. Joseph D. Alexan
der, director of civil defense for
the Territory, outlined plans for
mulated thus far.
Colonel Alexander said that
there is no evacuation planned for
Alaska’s civilians for three rea
sons: (1) There is nothing to be
gained by sending permanent
Alaskans out; (2) people already
established here will be needed in
Alaska for the war effort, should
there be a war; (3) resident Alas
kans would have no place to go, if
they were evacuated.
The same reason, furthering of
the war effort, is' called upon to
support the plan for evacuation of
military dependents. Colonel Al
exander said most dependents
lived on the target, and that in
the event of war, they would
cause confusion and impair effi
ciency of the fighting forces—in
short, they would be in the way.
The defense director said he
was preparing a Civil Defense
Manual for Alaska, “complete
with do’s and dont’s and dia
grams.”
He emphasized that cities must
be self-sufficient in their plan
ning—that National Guard units
will be utilized as units only, and
cannot prop up civilian defense
plans.
AFRS Largest In
Alaska; Nomeites
Chief Listeners
(By Cpl. Jack Moss)
If you should ask a random
Nomeite the question, “What is
your greatest source of entertain
ment and information?” chances
are he would reply unhesitatingly,
“AFRS.” Of course, he would be
referring to the Armed Forces Ra
dio Station at Marks Air Force
Base.
And there are equal chances, if
he is a resident of long standing,
that he would be able to readily
recall a time when inhabitants of
Nome were unable to partake of
the services of a local radio sta
tion. Only the few who owned ra
dios of magnified reception were
(Continued on Page Four)
i
|
America’s Weapons
((/P) Newsfeaiures)
The F-2-H Banshee. This is the
Navy's famous McDonnell fight
er. Its ceiling and speed are se
cret. It has a gross weight of
20.000 pounds, a wing span of 45
feet and a length of 42 feel.
Korea Pioneered In Dreadnoughts
((/P) Newsfeatures)
FIRST DREADNOUGHT—Long before the Monitor and Merrimac
—was a Korean invention. Iron plates studded with spikes to foil
boarding parties covered the top of the ship. Warriors shot blazing
arrows through the mouth of the dragon figurehead. This picture
of the historic "turtle ship" of the 1580's was drawn for the Kore
an Affairs Institute from authentic records.
i__
I
j Relate “Agonizing
j Story Of 24th
| Division’s Stand”
———..
! CHICAGO, {JP} — The “agoniz
j ing story” of the 24th Division’s
| lone stand in the first 19 days of
the Korean War was told Satur
day by the Chicago Tribune.
In a dispatch from Eighth army
; headquarters in Korea, Walter
! Simmons, Tribune correspondent,
said growing American strength
in Korea made possible the lifting
of voluntary censorship on the
story of the Division.
The Division was commanded
by Maj. Gen. William Dean of
| Carlyle. 111., who is missing in ac
j tion.
Simmons said the 24th landed in
Korea with only 12,500 of the 18,
000 officers and men normally in
an infantry Division. He said its
battle losses were nearly 30 per
cent—94 men killed in action, 901
recovered wounded, and 2,562
missing.
He said the division lost 80 of
its two and a half ton trucks, one
third of its jeeps, one-fourth of its
three-quarter ton trucks, and
large quantities of weapons and
supplies.
The Division was ordered to
leave Japan June 30. Simmons
said: “Three days later it had ad
vanced leading elements 200 miles
within Korea and made the first
major contact with the enemy.
This is believed to be the fastest
such move in American military
history.
Plumbers Sore
At Not Getting
Bid To Meeting
ANCHORAGE, </P)—Anchorage
master plumbers, incensed at be
ing excluded from a Seattle meet
ing called to deal with the 18-day
old Anchorage plumbers* strike
protested Friday night to Presi
dent Truman.
Telegrams were sent to Mr.
Truman, Defense Secretary John
son, Alaska Delegate E. I. Bart
lett and Cyrus Ching, director of
the federal conciliation service.
Johnson said last week, with
the President’s concurrence, that
! (Continued on Page Four)
• •
!U. S. Shows Russia
I She Intends To
Finish Korean War
WA S H I N G T O N, (/P) — The
United States has given Russia a
new and unmistakable token of
j its determination to fight the Ko
i raen War even at the risk of open
! Soviet intervention.
A mission of American air force
Superfortresses, in a strike on a
North Korean city, slamnfted down
more than 500 tons of bombs so
close to Russia Siberia—17 miles
—that the distant rumble of the
| attack was probably heard across
; the border.
This week-end bombing mission
to the Northern Korean port city
of Najin was one of the most dar
ing and delicate operations of the
war.
The difference between putting
bombs down on a North Korean
target or, through accident and
error in navigation, having them
fall on Soviet territory was a
matter of about five minutes for
a big formation maneuvering at
a speed of more than three miles
a minute.
But there was an ever greater
calculated risk. How would Rus
sia react to the appearance of
American planes, bombed and
armed for combat, so close to her
doorstep?
There was no indication that
the Soviet air force reacted to the
Najin mission. Information re
ceived here said nothing of the
! sighting by the bomber mission
|of non-American aircraft.
i America’s Weapons
((/P) Newsfeaiures)
The Great B-36 is now one of
America's most important arms.
Six 3,000 horsepower motors
and a 230-foot wing span, give
this Consolidated-Vultee a range
of 10,000 miles and a 40,000-foot
ceiling.
the strike is endangering national
security. j
Korean Situation
At A Glance —
Saturday, August 12, 1950
(By Russell Brines)
TOKYO, (JP) -T- North Korean
Reds poured heavy reinforce
ments across the Naktong River
Saturday on the central front of
the Korean battle line.
A communique from General
Mac Arthur’s headquarters early
today said a North Korean prison
er of war reported three regiments
of the Red Fourth Division had
streamed across the river in the
Changnyong and Waegwan sec
tors—in the middle of the central
front.
To meet the mounting Red
threat, units of the U. S. 25th Di
vision rolled northward from the
southern front.
Two communist roadblocks
near Miryang, 16 miles east of
Changnyong, hampered American
vehicle and wire communication,
the communique said.
The battle for Pohang, eastern
anchor of the Allied line, was
quieter Saturday night. Allied
forces still held the vital airfield
six miles southeast of the port
town and American planes were
using it.
Far to the north, B-20’s from
Okinawa and Japan plastered Na
jin, North Korean port city only
17 miles from Russian territory.
Striking through clouds they
dropped 500 tons of bombs by ra
dar.
Pilots of the Fifth Air Force re
ported they knocked out six Red
tanks, damaged 12 others, and
wrecked much equipment in 200
sorties Saturday along the battle
front.
Saturday’s strikes covered the
length of the front, from the
Yongdok area in the northeast to
the Chinju area of the southwest.
Pohang itself appeared to be
helf in Red hands and half a flam
ing “no-man’s land.” Correspond
ent Leif Erickson reported from
Eighth Army headquarters that
American officers were confident
of holding the air field and recap
turing Pohang.
Associated Press photographer
Max Desfor reported from Po
hang that American tanks led a
South Korean patrol into the cen
ter of the city without drawing
serious fire. A few enemy troops
quickly disappeared, Desfor said.
He reported there was no com
munist fire hitting the airstrip.
On another part of the front,
troopers of the First Cavalry Di
vision, bayonets flashing, thrust
back an attempted river crossing
at Kaepo.
Correspondent Erickson said
the Reds in “battalion strength**
crossed the river in darkness and
tried to set up a foothold beneath
closerange supporting artillery
fire. Of this force, 150 were killed
and the others thrown back by
late afternoon.
First Cavalry headquarters said
the North Koreans crossed at a
wrecked bridge near Tuksong.
A part of the communist force
infiltrated lines of the Seventh
regiment and took up positions
behind the Americans. Then other
(Continued on Page Two)