Hollywood (Jan - Mar 1943)

WIN THE WAR! By W. H. FAWCETT, Jr., PRESIDENT VO homo The head of my local civilian defense office told me the other day that, every time the United Nations score a decisive victory, the registrations for volunteer defense work fall off so badly he's ashamed to release the figure to the newspapers! To me, this information is astounding! Do people really believe, do you suppose, that one or two victories will win the war? Do they think Hitler or To jo is going to collapse because of an Axis defeat in Africa or the Solomons? Uncle Sam says no! Our military leaders state that when we let down — even for a moment! — we postpone the day of final victory for just twice as long! So I hope none of my readers has been lulled into relaxation by these occasional successes. Remember, we all want to get the war over quickly — and we're going to do it, too! Meats, fats and dairy products, according to the OWI, are the commodities desired above all others by our fighting forces and by our Allies. Accordingly, you can do a real soldier's job on the home-front by denying yourselves these wartime luxuries, even when you see them for sale or when you're entitled to them under rationing. I f y o u want to help win the war, your government says, you'll concentrate on such foods as liver, brains, kidneys, fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals, poultry and game. What we eat isn't important — the fact is we're eating! That's more than a lot of peo'ple can say. The Bureau of Motion Pictures, Office of War Information, has available a number of very fine films which can be obtained free of charge by groups or organizations with school auditoriums equipped for showing movies. All of these films naturally are tied in with the war effort, but they include such well-known productions as Target jor Tonight, Winning Your Wings, the song short Anchors Aweigh, and Men and the Sea. If you'd like to stir up war interest in your community, why not write to the Bureau, in Washington, and arrange to obtain these pictures. After all, you know, it might make patriots of a couple of your luke-warm neighbors! President Roosevelt officially has designated March as "Red Cross Month" — and I think that should be enough said. We all know the work the Red Cross is doing, especially in the way of war work, and the only way it can keep up this program is through your generosity. The goal set for the month is $100,000,000, or about a quarter of the Red Cross total for World War I. It's a lot of money, but Americans have never been pikers before, and Pm willing to bet they're not going to be this time. Have you been kept out of a good-paying war job because of a lack of technical training? Well, you don't have to be! The U. S. Office of Education already has trained 700,000 workers for jobs in all kinds of industries, and it's ready to train more —FREE! All you need is a high school diploma with, if possible, some college training, plus a genuine interest in obtaining a specialized war job. Courses are given at colleges all over the country, and if you're interested, why not write today to the U. S. Office of Education? They'll be glad to give you the facts. Got those income taxes figured out yet? The time's getting short, you know, and Uncle Sam needs the money. You can wait till March 15 if you want to, but we can wait till next year or the year after to defeat the Axis if we want to, too! The point is, the sooner we do it, the sooner it'll all be over. The OWI, which has investigated some 5,000 rumors floating around the country since Pearl Harbor, has asked me to pass along to you a few rules about how to handle a rumor when you hear one. Briefly, here's what you're supposed to do: 1. Never repeat a rumor. 2. Don't repeat a rumor even to deny it. 3. If you know the facts that will spike a rumor, cite those facts promptly. 4. If you don't know the facts to spike a rumor, ask the rumor-monger where he got his facts. 5. Don't give a rumor the benefit of any doubt. I heard one war-time complaint at lunch the other day that I wish I could hear more often. A businessman friend — and not a wealthy one either! — was moaning because they'd let him buy only $5,000 worth of the Series E War Bonds in a year and hte'd already bought his share for this year! Have any of your friends made a similar complaint? They should. You hear them every day. "Fuel oil rationing doesn't affect us," they say. "We burn coal." But what these folks don't seem to realize is that coal is a war fuel, too, and though we have plenty of it in the United States, we don't have an over-supply— and every extra ton we have is needed in the war effort, so badly needed that Luther Harr, United States Bituminous Coal Consumers' Counsel, recently offered this slogan for all home owners: "Save a shovelful of coal a day." You readers who live in cities are as familiar as I am, I believe, with the statement that "gas rationing really isn't too bad ; we always can use a taxicab." But the Office of Defense Transportation thinks otherwise. Taxis use gasoline and rubber, t o o, t h e ODT points out, and when we use these vehicles frivolously, we're hastening the day when there won't be any taxis to use! So, if you're a taxi-user, don't be misled into miswalk instead ; it's using them. Take great for the liver! We all have been appalled, from time to time, by stories of the way the Axis trains its children for war. Before a child learns to play in Germany, Italy or Japan, he first learns to use a gun, a knife or a bayonet. Over here, we do things differently; our children are trained for war, too, but they're trained to be fighters in the home, to collect scrap, do first aid, repair old clothes, toys and other equipment, and in general make themselves useful civilians. If your youngsters have gotten the war bug, why not direct their steps into one of these channels? The Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H Clubs, Junior Air Reserve, National Youth Administration, Junior Red Cross, and similar organizations have vital war programs. Maybe one of them will interest your children. Note: A toy zinc steam roller, weighing 31-2 pounds, contains enough metal to make a carburetor for ONE JEEP. Moral : Save your scrap!