Uncensored Dope

Missouri-born Brigadier General Harry Vaughan, military aide to President Truman, is a large, uninhibited man, a veteran at draw poker. Genial and democratic to boot, Reserve Officer Vaughan is neither a finicky nor a formal dresser: in the White House he often does not bother to put on a blouse or cinch up his necktie.

Last week the Women's Auxiliary of the Alexandria (Va.) Westminster Presbyterian Church--of which General Vaughan is an elder--were enchanted to discover that he was as excitingly frank as he was informal. They had invited him to speak, and he spoke. By the time word of his speech got back to the capital, Washington wits cracked that they had now heard the uncensored dope on all topics of national interest.

Harry Vaughan's opinion of Army chaplains as reported by one who heard him: "I don't know why a minister can't be a regular guy, but unfortunately some of them are not. You have to give the Roman Church credit. When the War Department requests a bishop to supply 20 priests for chaplains, he looks over his diocese and picks out the 20 best men. But it is different in the Protestant Church. Frequently a Protestant [minister] does not have a church at the moment or is willing to go on a vacation for about three years."

"I Stand Corrected." General Vaughan turned to the subject of women: "I made a very rash statement before the commanding officer of the WACs. I said I didn't think of any job being done by the WACs that cannot be performed by 4-Fs at less cost. I also made that statement to General Eisenhower, but he disagreed with me, so I stand corrected."

General Vaughan compared his boss with President Roosevelt. "It's just like having a fancy dinner of caviar over a long period," he said. "But sometimes you like to get back to ham and eggs."

"Garrulous Man." But the greater part of the General's talk was devoted to the Potsdam Conference. "We were delayed the first day," said Historian Vaughan. "The story was that Churchill was a day late at Yalta and Stalin had to get even and be a day late at Potsdam. The Conference . . . was held at the Cecilienhof, the palace of the crown princes. It was beautifully furnished. I suppose all those furnishings are now three-fourths of their way to Moscow.

"If a meter had been kept on the number of words ... I think it would have been like this: British 6, Americans 2, Russians 1. Churchill is a garrulous old gentleman and he would never say anything in less than 20 words where ten would do.

"The Russian is a very forthright individual with no inhibitions. He knows what he wants and goes after it.... There are some very lovely houses still standing between Potsdam and Berlin. The Russians . . . gave the occupants an hour's notice to get out. One old lady was so attached to her house that she refused; so the Russians made it possible for her to stay. She is now in the garden, under the flowers."

Then General Harry told about the terrible black-market prices in occupied Germany. As a happy illustration, he told how he had sold his $55 U.S. watch to a Russian officer for $500.

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