November 14-15.1945 – Mutual News – Fulton Lewis Jr. – Don Bell – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
November 14-15, 1945 – Two reports, covering two different aspects of the war, now over. The first; a story reported by Fulton Lewis Jr. of allegations of mistreatment and brutality over mistaken identity at the hands of U.S. Officials in Hawaii, right after the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941. The report concerns the case of Carl Magnus Torsten Arnefelt, a government employee working at an office in Honolulu, rounded up by military police and jailed over suspicion of being a Nazi spy, despite Arnfelt being born American and having served in the Military up to the time of his arrest. The story sounds a little sensational and heavy handed and may or may not have been true. Lewis says the sworn affidavit was corroborated by several witnesses and he names the officer in charge as Col. Thomas H. Green who later became Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Army when Martial Law was declared on December 8.
The other report, from Don Bell comes from Tokyo and the issue of reparations and the gradual rebuilding of Japan’s shattered infrastructure was discussed. Many had suggested funds be appropriated from the Emperor, which would amount to a relatively small sum, compared to what was needed. Others said the issue of rebuilding Japan and reparations would probably fall on the shoulders of the U.S. Occupation forces, which seemed rather ironic as the issue begged the view that the U.S. was paying for the war, it was now having to pay for the peace.
Two contrasting stories regarding the Postwar atmosphere in the Pacific and the enormous job of putting the world back together as reported by Mutual on November 14 and 15, 1945 via shortwave.
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