General HorwOOD. There is not necessarily anything wrong, M Chairman; but, because "a variety" was mentioned, because we ha not had a chance to review, we felt we should not issue the manua The CHAIRMAN. Suppose it said "From several sources"? General HOPWOOD. I think our reaction would have been the sam The CHAIRMAN. Why? Why would you criticize that languag "From a variety of authoritative sources"? What is wrong with that General HOPWOOD. I think The CHAIRMAN. It came from a variety of sources. General HOPWOOD. This is true. Our decision was based on a analysis of what this noncommissioned officer needed to be traine to do. There are other passages I can refer to. The CHAIRMAN. Wait a minute. Let's go right to that. "Shoul be trained to do." Isn't one of them recognizing his enemy whe he sees one? General HorwOOD. This is true. The CHAIRMAN. Why are you trying to prevent him? Why ar you trying to prevent him from knowing who his enemy is? General HOPWOOD. Because, pending an investigation, which w will still continue, we felt that the Air Force could accomplish certai objectives, perhaps, without citing specific examples which may o may not be required for the education and preparation of our militar personnel. Mr. ARENS. General, did you then, or do you now, repudiate th essence of this first paragraph which is to the effect that there ha been infiltration of fellow-travelers into churches and educationa institutions and attributed to authoritative sources? General HOPWOOD. No, sir, I do not repudiate the validity of th sources. My question is the propriety of this degree of specific informatio and the need for this amount of specific information to accomplis the training purpose for which the manual is written. Mr. ARENS. General, you were cognizant at the time you issue your order to withdraw this manual and to have it reviewed-and take it you are cognizant now-of the statements from authoritativ sources, from such men as J. Edgar Hoover, from people of unques tioned integrity and ability and knowledge who testified before th committee, undercover agents of the FBI, similar testimony befor other congressional bodies respecting infiltration of fellow-traveler into churches and educational institutions, were you not? General HorwOOD. Oh, yes. The CHAIRMAN. Before we go into this, I think the record ought t show that the Secretary merely acted when he apologized-I put abjectly. Was it? Secretary SHARP. I didn't apologize abjectly. The CHAIRMAN. Either you or Mr. Gates did. At any rate, th apology came as a result of the recommendation from the general. You had no independent knowledge of this yourself, did you? Secretary SHARP. No, sir. I would have acted the same way. As a matter of fact, I was a littl surprised that this action had been taken before I entered the caselet's call it the case-because I would have acted the same way a regards this paragraph; not the paragraph that has just been men tioned, but the subsequent paragraphs on page 15-14 of this Air Reserve Center Training Manual, indicating that-pointing their finger at any particular organizations in the churches. I felt that this sort of accusation was not necessary, from an Air Force standpoint, to warn its people that they must look in all organizations for Communist infiltration. I think that the Air Force should not enter into the controversy as to whether or not a particular organization or group is infiltrated by communism. Certainly, unless this group is listed on the Attorney General's list of subversive activities, I feel that this is something we should keep ourselves clear of, and this is my objection. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Secretary, when you issued your press release repudiating the publication as representing the Air Force views, and Issued your apology to the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S., did you, by that act, mean to convey the impression that the Air Force was convinced that the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S. was not infiltrated by fellow-travelers? · Secretary SHARP. No, I did not intend to indicate any concurrence with this statement, or objection to the statement as to its validity. I felt simply that this kind of a statement should not be made in an Air Force publication. Mr. ARENS, If the facts had been developed by investigators who had checked the records of the Committee on Un-American Activities and other authoritative sources, and if the facts did reveal that a very substantial number of the leadership of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S. had Communist-front records and were infiltrating in churches and educational institutions, would you nevertheless have repudiated the statements in the manual? Secretary SHARP. I think I would; yes, sir, because I don't believe that this is a controversy in which the Air Force ought to indulge. I think this kind of a controversy is the prerogative of this committee and other activities in the United States, but not of the Air Force. I think we should warn our people that communism might be found in the churches, might be found in the schools, it might even be found in the armed services, it might be found in any organization; but I think to point our finger at any particular group who is not absolutely proven and on the list of un-American activities as published by the Attorney General, I feel unless these criteria are met we should not involve ourselves pointing our fingers at organizations. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Secretary, did you, in the course of the last few days, give assurance to the National Council of Churches people that remedial action would be taken with respect to Air Force Training Manual NR. 45-0050, which is a guide for security indoctrination? Secretary SHARP. Í don't remember making any such statement, I did write this letter to Mr. Wine. If you would like to have the contents of the letter that I wrote to Mr. Wine. Mr. ARENS. Did you, in essence, assure Mr. Wine that there would he changes made in a second manual which has been developed, Guide for Security Indoctrination? Secretary SHARP. The second manual-you mean now-which manual are you referring to now, sir? Mr. ARENS. Air Force Manual 205-5, Guide for Security Indoctrination. Secretary SHARP. I did not. Mr. ARENS. Did anyone in the Air Force in position of authority give such assurance? Secretary SHARP. I don't know of anyone having given any such assurance. Mr. ARENS. I should like to invite your attention to the quotation attributed to Mr. Wine appearing in the Washington Evening Star, February 24, 1960: Mr. Wine also said the Air Force has agreed to amend portions of a second manual objectionable to the council which served as primary source material for the reserve document. The second manual-205-5-is used now as a guide to security indoctrination. Did anyone in the Air Force, to your knowledge, give such assurance to Mr. Wine? Secretary SHARP. I don't know of anyone who gave such assurance Do you know anyone? General HorwWOOD. No. Secretary SHARP. I might comment there that I read the manual 205-5 that you are referring to, and the portions of it that refer to communism in American churches and American schools. I do not find them objectionable. I think they are proper to have in a manual of this type. Mr. ARENS. The essence then of manual 205-5 with respect to Communist infiltration in churches and in church groups is a tenet with which you are in accord? Secretary SHARP. I am, yes. Mr. ARENS. So the record may be absolutely clear, based upon the investigation of the investigators of the Air Force who have been working on these manuals and their reports to you, is it your position sir, that the facts are that Communists and fellow-travelers are now and have been in the past, infiltrating church groups, among other groups? Secretary SHARP. I have heard that they have infiltrated church groups; I do not know whether this has been positively proven, but I certainly think we ought to warn our people that they would be in all probability-and I mean by "they" the Communists-would in al probability attempt to infiltrate church groups or schools or any im portant group in the United States which they could infiltrate. Mr. ARENS. In manual, AF Manual 205-5 you say, in essence o the manual says, in essence, does it not-that Communists are now in filtrating church groups or have infiltrated church groups? May I invite your attention to page 53? I should like to read you a few sentences from Air Force Manual 205-5, which I understand you to concur in, and then we will discuss, if you please, sir, some of the statements. On page 53 of Air Force Manual 205–5, the following appears, does it not sir? A while back Americans were shocked to find that Communists had infiltrated our churches. It isn't so shocking though when you consider how the Communists are using Russian churches today. They want to do the same thing here. They want to teach the Soviet gospel from the pulpit. The Communist Party, USA, has instructed many of its members to join churches and church groups, to take control whenever possible, and to influence the thoughts and actions of as many church-goers as they can. Communists form front organizations especially to attract Americans with religious interests. The party tries to get leading church men to support Communist policies disguised as welfare work for minorities. Earl Browder, former head of the American Communist party, once admitted: "By going among the religious masses, we are for the first time able to bring our anti-religious ideas to them." Are there Communist ministers? Sure. The Communists have members in just about every profession in our country. Of course no clergyman admits he is a Communist when he is one (he is required to keep his membership a secret), but he still does Communist work. The House Un-American Activities Committee lists two Communist ministers-the Rev. Claude C. Williams, a former Presbyterian whose congregation kicked him out for party activities, and the Rev. Eliot White, retired Episcopalian who served as a delegate to a Communist convention and lectured at Communist meetings. As to whether Communist ministers are a real danger, let's turn to a statement by former President Herbert Hoover: "I confess to a real apprehension, so long as Communists are able to secure ministers of the gospel to promote their evil work and espouse a cause that is alien to the religion of Christ and Judaism." Communists try everything when it comes to churches. They sneak disguised propaganda into church bulletins. They send Communists around to lecture church groups. The head of the Communist Party once spoke at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and the legislative secretary of the party addressed a conference of 100 ministers in Washington, D. C. The Communists order their younger members into youth groups where they can spread atheism and recruit new Communists. Atheism, Communist-style, is also spread through various organizations like the People's Institute of Applied Religion, which teaches Communist ideas under the disguise that they are Christian teachings. Again, to stop Communists, we must be careful not to attack the majority of faithful ministers and church-goers. We must merely search out those who back Moscow right down the line. We can do this, first, by understanding and supporting the teachings of our own religions to the hilt; then, by getting rid of those who try to pass off Communist ideas as substitutes for what we know are true religious teachings. I have read you the pertinent paragraphs of Air Force Manual 205-5 concerning which Mr. Wine is quoted in the Washington Evening Star of February 24, as saying that the Air Force has agreed to amend portions which are objectionable. Am I correct in my interpretation of your testimony that neither you nor anyone to your knowledge in official position in the Air Force has given Mr. Wine the assurance which is attributed to him in the press? Secretary SHARP. Certainly I have not. I do not know of anyone who has. Mr. ARENS. Am I likewise, and is the record likewise, clear that you, sir, based upon the information which has been made available to you by your subordinates, concur in the language which I have just read to you in Air Force Manual 205-5? Secretary SHARP. I would say that I certainly agree with the assumption that the Communist Party would obviously in its activities attempt to infiltrate the churches as outlined here. I must say that I have not investigated the two individuals referred to by name in these paragraphs which you have read as to whether or not they have actually been proven to be guilty of the charges outEined. Mr. SCHERER. The counsel in reading from the manual merely stated that those two are listed by this committee, The CHAIRMAN. Among others. Mr. SCHERER, Among others. Mr. ARENS. I would like to ask permission of the chairman to back up a bit in the manual because there are two other items in this main manual which precede the matter which we are talking about now I would like, if you please, Mr. Chairman, to ask him about those. The CHAIRMAN. Before you do that, I think we ought to go ove the contents of this manual. Mr. ARENS. That is what I meant, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. That is at the bottom of 15-14: In its own brochure, the National Council of Churches listed the names of the Revision Committee and the Advisory Board. Among these were Walte Russell Bowie of Grace Church, New York. Do you know anything about him, Mr. Secretary? Secretary SHARP. No, I don't. The CHAIRMAN. Go ahead. Mr. ARENS. Does the Air Force to your knowledge maintain a liai son with the congressional committees investigating communism? Secretary SHARP, I don't know whether they do or not. No, sir I don't know that. I don't know. Mr. ARENS. Do you know, sir, that the information of the House Committee on Un-American Activities and of the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee is available on a liaison basis to the military Secretary SHARP. I am sure it is. Mr. ARENS. I announce to you without any sense of criticism that that information is from time to time readily made available to the military upon their request to the committee. Mr. SCHERER. Are such requests made? Do you know that? Mr. ARENS. Yes, sir. Mr. Secretary, you are cognizant, of course, of the fact that all of the information of the Federal Bureau of Investigation respecting Communists and Communist infiltration is available to the Air Force Secretary SHARP. Yes, sir. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Secretary, the chairman stated in his opening re marks that at least a dozen persons who have been identified before this committee by competent witnesses under oath as Communists also profess or have professed to be members of the clergy. Do you have any information which would dispute that, or any reason to doub that? Secretary SHARP. No. You mean to doubt the fact? Mr. ARENS. To doubt the validity of that statement? Mr. ARENS. Yes, sir. Secretary SHARP. That certain witnesses testified against other wit nesses to the effect that they were members of a Communist organi zation? Mr. ARENS. Yes, sir. Secretary SHARP. No, sir. If that was the statement of this com mittee I have no reason to doubt it. Mr. ARENS. Did your statement of repudiation of the Air Forc manual in any sense mean a repudiation of the validity or the integrity of the statements attributed to committee sources by the author o the manual? |