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2 ° The Lindbergh Affair: +. - A Double Error QNLY by flying non-stop back from Paris could Charies A. Lindbergh have achieved as much publicity as he id on Monday and Tuesday when he seized the oppor- tunity to become a martyr, an opportunity handed to him by the President. ~ ‘That ia the tactical error committed by a President who was wise enough during his campaign to refrain from so much as mentioning his opponent’s name. “That was only an error of strategy; but there was eeper error of principle: : - / _- By using the power of his office to silence Lind- ‘bergh, and by implication, to force his resignation as & / Colonel in the U, 8. Air Force Reserves, President . “ Roosevelt has sent a shudder of fear through sll those * qualified experts who would like to tell the’ American * People that we are building OBSOLETE combat planes. ' very few exceptions, the men who are quali- _ | fied to criticize technical aspects of our defense aa duction, are either in Army or Navy Reserve; or have becn called into active service; or they hold @ defense job in Washington; or they are trying to land & government contract. Crities Dri In other words, if the fdea gets around that the President is going to crack down on anybody who dares express a contrary opinion to the “official view,” then the only way we can find out that we are making the wrong kind of tanks and combat Pignes ix to lose « big battle and the lives of hundreds of American boys. That brand of folly in high places cost France her independence as a nation, it made Nazi war prisoners of 3 million French soldiers. De Gaulle tried to tell France that tanks were needed to stop Hitler—all he got for 7] Y9G- his trouble was a price on his head; and the penalty =_ France pays for not listening to him: is slavery. America bas a martyr, too. His story has been told here before. Repetition is appropriate. It js the story of “Billy” Mitchell, Chief of the A.E.F. Air Korce _ ang first American to fly a combat plane over the n lines, : £ ,, “Billy” Mitchell fought, and died for the reforma CLIPPING FROM — in U. 8. Aviation that even the fall of France have not WE YORE DAILY WIRROR yet brought about. : : APR 301941 In February, 1925, approaching a climax of his DATE crusade for an independent Air Force, General Mitchell told the House Military Affaire Committee that the War Department was “quite incapable of creating, handling . or administering air power in an efficient manner.” That honest indictment brought General Mitchell the kind of erack-down Lindbergh got—he was demoted in rank to # Colonel and shifted to an “exile” post in ‘exas. Stupid, Criminal He kept slugging for the troth; and got a court martial. Thirteen generals tried him. Those generals should be hauled up now and shamed publicly for their verdict It stands out in U. 6. history for stupidity and injustice. Read e ask the dismissa) of the accrsed for the sake Of the Army, whose discipline he has endangered and whose fair name he has attempted to discredit. We ask his dismisss! for the sake of those young officers of the Army Air Service whose ideals he has shadowed and whose loyalty be has corrupted. . . “Finally, we ask it in the name of the American peo- ps; whose fears he has played pon, whose hysteria he as fomented, whose confidence he has beguiled and whose faith he hus betrayed.” And now The Mirror aske Mayor LaGuardia to erect a memorial to “Billy” Mitchell at LaGuardia Air- Port, a memorial to the best friend “those young officers of the Army Air Service” ever had. . And The Mirror calls for more “martyrs” to-volun- : ter to carry on Billy Mitchell's crosade, to carry 00 his | questioning, his indicting ef the Brasahats who are bold- ing back U. 8. Aviation. : ana if they want ammunition for their questioning, { Why is the P-Ad fighter plane, RACKBONE of the | TT RES Bane end ete Pee here