Current Events February 2, 1944;

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY FEBRUARY 2, 1944:

 Upwards of 30,000 U. S. marines and army troops, in a 500-mile amphibious jump along the invasion route to Tokyo, have seized 10 islet beachheads in the Marshalls and begun major assaults on the main strongholds of Kwajalein, Roi and Namur islands, front dispatches revealed today.

 Americans fighting In the far east and the Pacific islands had assurances from their commander-in-chief today that they are bringing vengeance closer to the Japanese torturers of their comrades.
Those guilty of atrocities against the defenders of Bataan, President Roosevelt told a news conference
late yesterday, wifl be tracked down and punished as surely as will those responsible for killing American fliers who were captured after bombing Tokyo.

 
                            TWIN FALLS, IDAHO, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1944

 10 Isle Beachheads Seized Under
Guns of History's Record Armada
 By WILLIAM F. TYREE
PEARL HARBOR, T. H., Feb. 2 (UP)—
Upwards of 30,000 U. S. marines and army troops, in a 500-mile amphibious jump along the invasion route to Tokyo, have seized 10 islet beachheads in the Marshalls and begun major assaults on the main strongholds of Kwajalein, Roi and Namur islands, front dispatches revealed today.
Swarming ashore under the protective fire of the largest naval striking force ever assembled, assault troops quickly established their footholds in the Kwajalein atoll Monday against light or nonexistent resistance. More than 40 Japanese were slain and a number captured, while American casualties were extremely light.
The Japanese, stunned and decimated by a record 14,495-ton aerial and naval bombardment, rallied all available forces and began a desperate defense, however, as the Americans turned their  full might against the Kwajalein island naval base at the southern end of the 66-mile-long atoll and the
Roi-Namur air base at the northern end.
A Japanese communique broadcast by the Tokyo radio and recorded by CBS said Japanese troops had counterattacked and "furious fighting is now in progress."
Scores of guns hauled onto the newly-established islet beachheads joined the 16-inch rifles of America's newest battleships, other naval artillery and swarms of bombers in blasting at Kwajalein, Roi and Namur islands

VENGEANCE FOR
YANKS ASSURED
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (AP) —
Americans fighting In the far east and the Pacific islands had assurances from their commander-inchief today that they are bringing vengeance closer to the Japanese torturers of their comrades.
Those guilty of atrocities against the defenders of Bataan, President Roosevelt told a news conference
late yesterday, will be tracked down and punished as surely as will those responsible for killing American fliers who were captured after bombing Tokyo.
The primary American objectives in Asia, and the Pacific, the chief executive said, are expulsion and defeat of Japan, in closest collaboration with our allies. He emphasized the. military rather than :ths political or civil nature of this task.
, .."Nobody in, India!or anywhere else in Asia," he said In a statement, "will misunderstand the presence
there of American armed forces if they will believe, as we do at home, that their Job' Is to assure the defeat of Japan, without which there can be no opportunity for any of us to enjoy and expand the freedom for which we fight."
That declaration apparently was
intended to counter enemy propaganda that American forces, as well
as British, are In India to stay and
that the United States is supporting
British imperialism.

 Allies Advance Deep
Into Nazi-Held Line
AN ADVANCED COMMAND POST IN ITALY, Feb. 2 (U.P)—
American tanks and infantry reached the northern outskirts of Cassino today and are locked In a fierce battle with German forces defending the town.
The capture of Cassino, formerly the main stronghold of the Germans 'Gustav line, would clear the way for an American thrust down the via Casillna, the Inland highway to Rome.
By EDWARD KENNEDY
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Algiers, Feb. 2 (AP)—
American and French troops converging north of Cassino have torn away several miles of the nazis' strong Gustav line, and are advancing deeper in a grim struggle, allied headquarters announced today.
To the west, on the Anzio bridgehead,  a l l i e d invasion troops threw back a strong German counter-attack west of Littoria supported by tanks and artillery, and advanced in some areas.
British troops are fighting hard near Campoleone, only 16 miles below Rome, and American units are
at grips with the enemy near Cisterna, 14 miles northeast of Anzio.
                                        Counter-Attact Expected
A headquarters officer declared the Germans still are building up a large force near the beachhead, and a heavy counter-attack may be expected soon.
Allied reinforcements are pouring Into the beachhead, now 14 miles long and eight miles deep on the average, with some prongs running considerably farther inland.

 
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