Burning Decks

Dr. Harry Allen Overstreet, 78, is a practical philosopher. "The boy who stood on the burning deck was a moron," he said years ago. "Intelligence means sense enough to respond to a new situation. That boy didn't have sense enough to get off the deck." Much later, Dr. Overstreet had occasion to practice what he teaches. During the '303, he and his wife unwittingly supported several Communist-front causes. When they discovered where they really stood, the Overstreets quickly got off the blazing decks.

But their indiscretions clung to them like smoke. Last summer, when the Over-streets were booked for a two-day lecture series at the Family Life Conference in Tucson, Ariz., members of the Morgan McDermott American Legion Post No. 1 threw a blackball at them. In an innuendo-packed letter to Conference Director Mary Jeffries, the Post's Americanism Committee suggested that "Surely men . . . much more discriminating . . . can be found." Mrs. Jeffries promptly turned the letter over to the Overstreets, who just as promptly made a trip to Washington. Last week they arrived in Tucson armed with a letter from Congressmen Harold Velde, clearing them of any Communist taint.

When the Legion attacked them in full-page ads in the local papers, the Over-streets were ready. They formally denied the Red charges, and offered their letter and a citation from the California American Legion for their anti-Communist activities as proof. Then they made a TV appearance, with newsmen questioning them along with two noncommittal Legionnaires. Press and public overwhelmingly accepted the Overstreets' explanations. Their lectures drew a record-breaking attendance of 600. Tucson's Legionnaires stood steadfastly on their burning deck.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.