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By JOHN TEMPLE GRAVES, IT In The Birmingham News September 8, 194) “And prophets, old or young, bawl out their strange despair..." Coue what may, the arwy and air force of Russie are the present woncer of the world, Their resistance, compatence, rugged surviving, have put a new face en the war, In the orgies of free epeech by, for, and agains, Lincbergh something shculd be said, therefore, of the strange des- Pele which nas hed that more-or-less-young man bawling surrender to Britivhevs and Americans ever since those days before Munich whon he whiepered in high British places how hopeless tha Russian air force was, sreneves Does Mr, Lindbergh, who hates war so mich he would let America stop being Amorica to avoid it, have bed dreams these nights as he reads of the Russian air force and army? Does ho, in deep of night, awaxe with a nightmarish sense of avful responsibility? Is he haunted in secret Places of his heart with knuwledge that the war he hates might never heve been if he had not been so impressed with the German air force that he Coulda't see the Russian one straight? eeeeeone It was from Charles Lindbergh, the world's most famous flier, thet Mr, Chamberlain and his associates are said tc have received so poor an impression of Russia's air force that they lost what little heart they had for the alliance with Russia which could have prevented this war either at the time of Munich cr in the fateful @ummer of 1939, In the circumstances, it iz something like an ultimate in understatement now to Say that this war advertises Mc, Lindbergh neither as a atetesman nor es an aviator and that one whose mistake is related to such fatal consequences for his fellow creatures on thie planet cannot hops to be accepted now es @ prophet and, in humility, shouldn't want to be. een eenee Russia's air force {s doubtless better today than it wes in 1938 when Lindbergh reported it third rete, Even now it is probably not up to the German air force, But it ie fighting and surviving, and doing drama- tically better than Lindbergh believed pr said 4% would, That is because of something he left out of his estimates, something he always leaves out even though it gave him his swm heroic name in otaer days, What he doesn't take into sufficient account is the spirit with which be dared the Atlentic alone, He, who should remember, is alvays forgetting that physical science is not the whole answor to achievement, thet the soul of man is still the most effective force on this oarth, eureecee Because he forgets this he never guessed how the British would fight to save their island, Hs never guessed how well the Russians would dc, From the beginning he hes seen only defeat for the democracies and their allies against the physical science of Germany, And because he is too little awere of the force of the spirit to value it es he should, he has been as reconciled to German victory as he has been gure of it. veeeoene Lindbergh was wrong about the Russian air force, What his error might have done to the human race ovgyt to be encuch to keep the man who made it silent for the rest of his Jife, ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED, EREIN. i$ UNCLASSIFIED seseuees HERE INAS / 1 80D