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By JOHN TEMCLE GRAVES, II In The Birmingham News September 8B, 1942 “And prophets, old or young, bawl out their strange despair..." Cate what may, the army and air force of Russia are the present wonter of tuo world, Their resistance, compstence, rugged surviving, have put, a new face on the war, In the orgies of free speech by, for, and agains, Lincbergh something shculd be said, therefore, of the strange des- paic whien nas had that more-or-less-young man bawling surrender to Britishera and Americans ever since these aeys before Munich when he Whiepured in high British places how hopeless tha Russian air force was, areueeue Does Mr. Lindbergh, who hates war so much he would let America stop being America to avoid it, have bad dreams these nights as he reads of the Russian air force and army? Does he, in deep of night, awake with a nightmarish sense of awful responsibility? Is he haunted in sesret places of his heart with knuwledge thet the wear he hates might never heve been if he had not been go impressed with the German air force that he Couldn't ses the Russian one straight? SEH GEE Tt was from Charles Lindbergh, the world's most famous flier, that Mr, Chamberlain and his associates are said to have received so poor an impression of Russia's air force that they lest what little heart ther had for the alliance with Russia hich could have prevented this war either at the time of Munich or in the fateful Summer of 1939, In the circumstances, it is semething like an ultimate in understatement new to say that this war advertises Mr, Lindbergh neliher as a atatesman nor as an aviator and thet one whose mistake is related to such fatal consequences for his fellow creatures on this planet cannot hops to be accepted now ee a prophet and, in humility, shouldn't want to be, eet PERES Russia's air force is doubtless better today than it wes in 1938 when Lindbergh reported it third rats, Even nov it is probably act up to the German air force, But it is fighting and surviving, and doing drama- tically better than Lindbargh balisved pr said 44 would, That is because of something he Left out of his estimates, something he slways leaves out even though it gave him his own heroic name in otaer days, What he doesn'+ take into sufficient account 1s the spirit with which be dared the dtlentic alone, He, who should remember, ie always forgetting that physical science is not the whole answer to achievement, thet the soul of man is still the most effective force on this earth, S0Gneeer Because he forgets this he never guessed how the British would fight to save their island. He never guessed how well the Russians would de, From the beginning he has seen only defeat for the democracies and their allies agains: the physical science of Germany, And because he is too litile aware of the force of the spirit to value it es he shouwid, he has been as reconciled to German victory as he has been sure of it. eengeeee Lindbergh was wrong about the Russian air forces, What his errer might have dane to tha human race ovgnt to be enough to keep the man who made it silent for the rest of his life, ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED eeseuens HEREIN, tS UNCLASSIBIED NN /) DATE Se. Le * 6% 2 eee an 7 7 YF, 767)