Captain Eddie

Ever since his return to the U.S. from his near-fatal Pacific mission, lean, tough Captain Eddie Rickenbacker has been making speeches which compared the spirit and fighting of U.S. soldiers in the South Pacific with the work and zeal of U.S. labor in the factories at home. In the blunt phrases of Captain Eddie--the archetype of the U.S. rugged individualist--U.S. labor has always come off a very poor second.

This week, in the heart of the U.S. airplane industry, in Los Angeles, Captain Eddie elaborated his thesis. Said he:

"If you could only understand what our boys are doing in these hellholes throughout the Pacific and the burning sands of Africa that your way of life may be preserved . . . you would not worry about eight hours a day, overtime or double time for Saturdays and holidays. . . .

"Do not let these boys come back . . . and plague you for having failed in your obligation on the home front to give them more and more of everything that is needed to hasten a final victory. . . .

"Bear in mind, that when this war is over . . . there will be more rugged individualists come back to America from the four corners of this world than we ever had at any time in our history. . . . They do not want and will not accept regimentation of their lives or planned economy. They will want the same opportunities and will demand them, and will get them, that we have had, for they are entitled to them.

"If necessary to make us appreciate our duties, bring back the troops from the hellholes of the world, place them in the factories--take the war workers and place them in the foxholes with filth, vermin, diarrhea, malaria and the Japanese, and I will guarantee you that our production will be increased, and much of it doubled, within 30 days. We would have no more featherbedding, no more slowdowns, no more restrictions on effort.

"I am not a labor hater. I believe in honest labor unions who are doing their darndest to turn out the weapons we need. . . . But haunting me ... today is the problem on the home front. We must learn to work, work and more work--save and save--if we are to be honest to our God and to those men over there."

Labor's reaction to Captain Eddie's speeches has been both direct and tempered by its recognition of his status as a hero. Said United Auto Workers President R. J. Thomas: "He has been misinformed by some of the manufacturing groups. .. ." Cried U.A.W. Executive Board Member William McAulay: "We are tired of being slapped down by labor-hating people like Rickenbacker. His speech was chaotic . . . I think Rickenbacker is synthetic." From C.I.O. President Philip Murray came a more restrained comment: "I do not desire to engage in a controversy with Captain Rickenbacker. Forgive him, Lord, for he knows not what he does. . . . The members of our unions have made many sacrifices."

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