GOOD EVE E VERYBODY: We h a v e news about Lowell Thomas tonight_ word that amplifies what we heard yesterday. He'll be at Chungking tomorrow and Friday, and is scheduled to come in on this rogram on those two days. Chungking, in the deep interior of Chin~, i~ a long distance awey, and several times Lowell has failed to get through to us - as he flies around the / world to visit ai~ bases in Asia, and in the war zonee of the Pa cific. However, the chances look good that he' 11 get through on this program tomorrow and Friday. And . we'll hear something of what he has been doing and observing, since t ~g last tim e we had him on ,,, _ broadcasting fro• India,-llew Delhi. On Okinawa , the centra l Jap I. st rongho ld\of Shuri is alm ost encircled . Following the seizure of ah a , the O ina wan capita , . . . . . Shuri dominates the limelight of ar . Troop s of the U nite d States Tenth ~ I Army have sides of the fortress, and at last reports were hree thousand yards of a . ! L--- junction that will e ShlU'i. castle as a mere W of rubble. That massive structur, ,,,. turned in~o a Japanese fort, was bombarded for days . ~ by all the high explosive that Americans could rain . A uport'+.f.,.,.,.-,1 ... art i llery co lla bora ting with warships and bombing planes. Now ··Shuri castle is just a slanting pile of shattered stone which seems to blend with th e rocky hill on which it stood. I' Indications continue that the Jape hav.e I / pulled most o f their forces to a new line farther s~u t b, and that the town of Shuri is defended by a rear gua rd of suicide troops. - IAY! Th critical character of the conflict for Okinawa i a s illustrated vividly today ' when Secretary of the N avy Forrestal issued an emergency cal l for fifteen thousand skilled workers. They're needed to repair damaged warships on the Pacific Coast. The battle for Okinawa is being decided, not only on the island itself, but 1 to an even greater extent - at ~a . If the Japs are able to cripple the fleet out there, they'll cut the communications of our soldiers fighting on the island - and will win the battle for Okinawa. They are trying desperately t~ ,, J cripple the fleet - trying by the use of air power~ suicide air power. And the Jap suicide planes are doing / ' ; I damage - an amount of damage of which today's lavy appea+ ' gives a hint. So many American warships have heturned to ✓ the Pacific C oast for repairs, that there is a desperate shortage o f workers. One graphic instance of this is seen in the story of the aircraft carrier Franklin, thelller~ h . \ 8 lp that survived such terrifying havoc. - IA vx - 2 The f e a rfully damaged Frank11·n had to go all \ the way to New York f or , re pai rs, makr:n extra trip of sev e ral thousand miles!:l.cause the J·am of h' . . ,.:. a 1ps a a1t1ng repairs on the Pacific Coast was so great that tae Franklin could not be accommodated. Secretary Forrestal pointed out today that it will ta k e nine months to repair the Franklin and get her back into actio~. It takes from four to six · •onths ..-- I t to repair cruisers that are badly hit, and three months to fix up destroyers. As an example of •hat Aaerican warships . / are up ag inst off Okinawa, he cited the case of two destroyers, the Hadley and the Evans. On May eleventh, they were assailed by a hundred and fifty Japanese planes, ,· and were under continuous attack by suicide Jape for • ninety minutes. The Hadley shot down twenty-threei t~e . Evans eleven - but both were hit and severely damaged. I The Secretary of the Navy stated that new losses will soon be announced - warships sunk by suicide h / Planes. ~uch information is being withheld, so that the NAV Y - 3 - - Japs m ay be kept ig no ra nt of th e e f fectiveness of the s u ic id e at t acks and of the numb e r and ty es of American w arshi s ope ratin g a ga inst them. The a p p eal f or fifteen thousand skilled rorker s 1 to r e pair damaged warships on the Pacific Coast / has a ae a nin, not only for skilled l abor, but also for ev ryone el se. It takes money, millions, to get our, I crippled warships back into the fight, and we' y e got to ~ provide that money - by bu ing _ bonds. As it happens . , / the Seventh ar Loan comes at a time of crisis in the battle for Okinawa. That is - at a time when the •a~ / against Japan calls for the pouring of new millions into the repair of the warships. t simple and clear - buy bonds. I art in this is The Jape understand perfectly well the / ~ mportance of what is going on out there. le have today one of the mos t significant statements t ha t has yet . emanated from Tokyo. The Japanese radio repeats with I , th t the ba ttle of Okinawa is th~ the utmost emphasis a decisive battle of the Pacific War. C VY ... 4 Te · Tokvo r d - o u t th J ., o , es · e · apanese Prime , inist , e · , Admi , 1 B ro a t ro Suzu i, ,ho made a st tement of the gr ate t importance, to the Imper ·a 1 Japanese cabinet · Be declared: "Our hopes a~d determin tion to i n this ar are anchored sole~7 fighting situation o~ Okin wa. The battle of Okina a, is the deciding battle f this war. The fate of the nation of Japan and its peoples depends on the outoo•e .t at Okina ·, a - which is rapidly reaching a olima~•. _! J th t mot O y o ohama lies or in ru i n . r Y terd Y's gr at fire attac by B-29s, sixty thou nd hou re destroy d by the tempest of flames. T o hun dr d a nd f'f 1 ty thous nd persons are hom e aitin n the American side, the B-29 co mand . is for r connaissance photo raphs of y 0 ohama to d te mine wh ther that great seaport has been a~ thoroughly destroy d as /\Tokyo ._. - after the last two great raids against the Japanese capital. I as You may be surprised to hear me say that rticularly glad Emperor Hirohito had not been killed in the recent bombing of Tokyo when some of his palaces were destroy d. Thia is not because I have any love for the entleman in uestion but because of the disastrous results to us which ould follow his death by bombing. In the first place, •••~• ere he killed the reli io fanaticism of the Ja anes would be fanned I., I ~ to a hite he t. But more important still is that he is the only one who could accept terms of unconditional surr e n der it hou t los i ng f a c e 1 ~ 1 · th th J e apanese people. Be st a n ds a s a G od- E m p eror. hile he is a puppet so f a r a s p ol i t i c al p ower is concerned, nevertheless, the party i n contm l , gove ns in his nam e . At the present time and for m a ny years, the Ar ■ y has been in the saddle. The great i ndustr lists who built up Japan as a world power i n tr de, are a strong minority. Co~ceiveably they may soon get contr 1 of the government since the Army has failed. Some recent occurrances indicate that I probability. Seeing what has happened to Germany, they must realize that their fate is inevitable. Bather than lose everything they may ask the Emperor to aocept unconditional surrender. It might cost us ■any Aaerican lives wer he killed by a bomb. The cris i s i n Syri a has rown rapidly or . F i ht in g is ides p read in the anci t n French bo m b a rding Damascus with cannon, mortars and ate news indicates that French troops have captured the Par iaaent building in Damascus, after shooting its door open with shell from• a seventy- five millimeter gun. French planes have assailed other places in Syria, and we hear that one was shot down , - I a military plane hit by Syrian policemen• who blazed away with rifles. I Today in the London Bouse of Coamons. Foreign Secretary Eden made a stateaent on the subject I of the revolt of the people of Syria and ~ Lebanon , I against the French. The situation• has, in the words of the Foreign ecretary - "greatly deteriorated•. And Eden &dded that the London Cabinet is considering •hat action to take. There was a suaaestion in Parliament that President Truman intervene and try to mediate the quarrel §!RIA - 2 between the French on one h an d and Syria and Lebanon on . the other. Th's proposal was made b y Major William Astor, who demandt1: •what does the San Francisco Conference mean, if immediately there are two members of the United Rations shooting at each other? Wbat does the Atlantic Charter aean if this dispute is to continue?• The Foreign Secretary said that tbe British Cabinet bas begun consultations witQ the United States on what to do about the flare-•p of war in Syria. Moscow announces that an Allied Control Co■aission to govern Germany will be established in a few days. It will be a four power affair - the United States, Great Britain, Soviet Russia and France. There has been a good deal of discussion because until now, there has been a failure to set up a control com ission for Germany, as was provided at the Y~lta Conference. Now, however, that oaission bas been rectified - so says Moscow. On the com•ission Soviet Marshal Zhukov will represent Russia, General Eisenhower the United States, and Field Marshal Montgomery Great Britain. Along with the Moscow announcement we have word froa London that President Truman's spacial Envoy Jos,pb ' E. Davies, is flying to American headquarters at . Frankfurt for a series of conferences with General Eisenhower. London gives us an exp anation of what hap pened in the case of the Danish island of Bornholm _ which has been occupied by Russian troops, although it was expe cted to com e within the pro ince of the western . Allies. , I Today Iii Foreign Sectetary Anthony Eden tpld / ~ the House of Commons that the Soviets occupied Bornholm - after rejecting a proposal by General Eisnebower. T be . / Supreme Commander of the Western Allies informed the Soviet High Command that he intended to send a de"" · achaent of his troops to Bornbolm to accept the surrender of the . German garrison there. Eisenhower asked if this would conflict with Soviet plans. / ~he Russi~ns replied - yes, it would . · I confli ct . They claimed that the Danish Island was within the sphe r e of their operations, and told Eisenhower tba~ . Russian tro op s were being sant to take over. The c ief American prosecutor of war criminals , Supre e Court Justice Jackson, left London today, returning to the Un i ed States. Be is coming for the closing session of the Supreme Court in Washington, and is due back in London in a couple of weeks -- to continue bis work in preparing for the trials of Bazis guilty of international crimes. Be stated today that ae would return to London with what be called, •a sufficient staff to carry out our share of the work.• And war crimes Prisecutor Jackson added that rapid progress has been ■ ade for the task flt of bringing war criminals to justice. Meanwkile, we have a London denial of a report that tbe trial of Goering, so long the Bazi Ru■ber Two Man, would beg in next week. British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden said - •there's nothing to the ru ■or.• be spoke of what be called, •over-simplfying a very complliated matter. And Today in Chicago a tall American General stepped out of a lane - a figure mad familiar by countless pict~res. ay over six feet, and so lean and lanky as to appear still taller/&. long face and a big ,, , nose In other words, General Mark Clark. Our top flight commanders in the European war are returning home, and General Clark arrived today - for a ho ■ eco ■ ins / / in Chicago. He was greeted by his wife and daughte~, Chicago's Mayor Kelly, and an outpouring of cheerin&; crowds. ll!ll Tod ay , Mem ori 1 Day, a railroad train aade an unscheduled stop n the South Dakota pr irie, two miles west of th e ton of Elrod. Th e conductor hopped _....- off and placed a wreath of flowers, on a lonely graYe not far from the tracks. To the astonished passengers he explained this was a memorial day ritual th the had been carrying out for years - and his father-in-la• before him. The lonely cross on the prairie ■arked tbe grave of a little.boy. Fifty-five years ago, he related, his • father-in-la• was the conductor of this same train, Old Hundred and Six of the Chicago Northwestern. And one . . day he was st nding on the rear platform as the tra~n rattled across the prairie. i Be saw a s ■ all boy with ~ . tousled hair - who waved at the train. The conductor waved back. That began a curious kind of railroad / friendship. Every time Old Hundred and Six went by, the b and •be conductor was on the rear oy was there to wave, u platform to wave back. Then. after two years of this, the boy was miss i ng one day - and the next time, too. The conductor wond e red. whOle week went by, with no further sign of the boy and on one trip the conductor stopped the train - and investigated. At the place where the youngster ha - ( always stood and waved he found a small grave. Local I people told him that the boy had died. and his parents, grief-stricken. had gone back east. They added that the ~ lad, ia his last request, had asked thea to place hi ■ out there - "•here ... , ~he man waves to ae from the train•. From that day on, the conductor, every Meaorial Day, made it a practice to atop the train and place a wreath on the lonely grave. Be did that fo~ forty years, and then he turned old Hundred and Six over to his son-in-la•, as conductor - with the request that I 1 h t t · th lle ■ orial Day · ceremony . .. , e oo con 1nue e _