General Brett, both commanding infantry brigades at the front line in action, and I am convinced a serious injustice was done them by reason of the erroneous ruling of the then Chief of Staff, General Marsh.

When this bill was originally introduced there were seven of those men. There are six of them now, any one of them old enough to be my grandfather, and if there is ever going to be any correction of the injustice for them for this inequality or unfairness it has to be corrected now, or none of them will be benefited. They are all men past 65; they have wonderful records. General Nicholson is one of the men who received the distinguished-service cross for gallantry in action; in the interest of fairness and justice to these men, I think this bill should be reported out and passed. It costs the Government practically nothing.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Is this giving a rank on the retired list of the highest rank they held during the World War?

Mr. JOHNSON. Yes. The next higher rank is what it would provide.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. I am interested in that, because I find I have introduced a bill, H. R. 4788, at the request of some officers similarly situated, which provides that any officer who served or held the grade of major general, or brigadier general during the World War, and has been awarded the medal of honor or the distinguished service cross, or the distinguished-service medal, should have the same grade on the retired list that he held during the World War, provided that no officer shall receive greater pay than that of brigadier general. It is exactly the same proposition, but a little broader.

Mr. JOHNSON. Only my judgment is the War Department would object to the passing of that bill. I am just giving my impression of it. I know this is as far as they tell me they would be willing to go, although you perhaps know more about that than I do.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. I do not know much about it. It is a bill I was asked to introduce, and I imagine I introduced it the same way you introduced yours.

Mr. JOHNSON. I happened to see two of these six men in action myself is the reason I thought an injustice was done them.

Mr. REECE. These men were all, as provided in the bill, recommended for brigadiers before they were retired?

Mr. JOHNSON. Yes.

Mr. REECE. And General Marsh, who at that time was Chief of Staff, gave as his reason for not making part, if not all, of these men brigadier generals, was the provision in the law which provides "that hereafter no officer holding the rank above that of colonel shall be retired except for disability or on account of having reached the age of 64 years until he shall have served at least one year in such rank." He considered that inhibited him from making these officers brigadiers, since they were within one year of retirement age.

Mr. JOHNSON. But that ruling has been reversed many times since. Mr. REECE. It was a misconstruction of the law.

Mr. JOHNSON. Correct.

Mr. REECE. Numerous appointments have been made to the grade of brigadier under this provision of the law, so that the failure of these gentlemen to have been promoted to the grade of brigadier was based upon a misconstruction of the law.

Mr. JOHNSON. Absolutely. Recently Colonels McDonald and Burnham, since that time have been retired.

Mr. VINSON. Whether it was a misconstruction or a proper construction, the language seems to be plain.

Mr. JOHNSON. Yes.

Mr. REECE. Under the language that hereafter no officers holding a rank above that of colonel shall be retired except for disability or on account of having reached the age of 64 years until he shall have served at least one year in such rank, the two exceptions are in the case of disability or of having reached the age of 64 years. Evidently General Marsh did not have this provision of the law before him at the time he made that ruling.

Mr. JOHNSON. I would like to be very clear about that.

Mr. MCSWAIN. And if you will read where Mr. Howard (?) details a conversation he had with the Secretary of War, you will find the Secretary of War did not put it on that ground; the Secretary said it was against his policy to promote a man who did not serve one year in his grade, and if we started in upon it, in favor of generals, some people would want to pull it down in favor of colonels and majors and captains.

Mr. JOHNSON. This is the most restricted list, I think, that can be brought before this committee; I believe it is fair and just and I hope it will be reported out.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Mine is not quite as restricted, but almost as restricted. It takes in a few more.

Mr. MCSWAIN. Yours is the one General Ryan writes about. Mr. HILL of Alabama. Does not the gentleman think the whole retirement list ought to be looked into and changed?

Mr. JOHNSON. Oh, yes; and I think, in drafting such bills as the pay bills, that this committee or a Senate committee or a joint committee ought to go over them thoroughly for revision, but it would take a year or two to do that work.

Mr. HILL of Alabama. Do you not think it is a mistake to put out all these little bills to correct supposed injustices here and there, and that it would be better to make a study of the whole situation?

Mr. JOHNSON. I doubt if there are many others that want correction, and I do state if you gentlemen will not correct this injustice now, you won't have an opportunity to correct it for these men, because they are old.

Mr. FURLOW. Are you leaving a list of those men with the committee?

Mr. JOHNSON. I will insert that in the record.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. Is not there one point you make, that this would cost practically nothing?

Mr. JOHNSON. Oh, it will cost practically nothing.

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. In any of those cases; it simply gives them the satisfaction, without costing any money.

Mr. JOHNSON. The amount of money does not enter into it, as they do not care about the pay.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS,

Saturday, March 27, 1926.

The subcommittee this day met, Hon. B. Carroll Reece (chairman) presiding.

Mr. REECE. We will take up H. R. 7680, introduced by Mr. Bowman, to provide for the reappointment of Maj. Chauncey S. McNeill, United States Army, retired, subject to certain conditions.

A BILL To provide for the reappointment of Major Chauncey S. McNeill, subject to certain conditions

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized to have an Army retiring board examine Major Chauncey S. McNeill, United States Army, retired, as to his physical fitness for active service. If the retiring board finds Major McNeill fit for active service, the President is hereby authorized to reappoint him, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a major on the active list of the Regular Army, with rank from July 1, 1920, as an additional officer in such arm or branch of the service as may be decided upon by the Secretary of War. When he is restored to the active list, Major McNeill shall thereafter be carried as an extra number on the promotion list in accordance with his total active commissioned service, but no back pay shall accrue as a result of the passage of this act.

This is the case of an officer who was retired for physical disability as a major of the United States Army, who, since his retirement, has completely recovered from his disability, which was of a temporary and more or less minor nature at the time of his discharge. However, he is drawing the retired pay of a major and is anxious to get back into the permanent establishment. As a matter of fact, Major McNeill, although retired, has been called to active duty and is on active duty at the present time, so the passage of this bill would not mean any additional pay for him. So it is not a question of money but a question of his desire to again serve in the Army, and that is what this bill provides for.

Congressman Bowman and Major McNeill are both here. The bill provides, of course, for an examination as to Major McNeill's physical fitness for active duty.

Mr. Bowman, if either you or Major McNeill desires to make a brief statement we shall be glad to hear you.

Mr. BOWMAN. I should like to have you hear Major McNeill.

STATEMENT OF MAJ. CHAUNCEY S. MCNEILL, UNITED STATES ARMY, RETIRED

Major MCNEILL. Mr. Chairman, I have had a total of 24 years' service, including 6 years in the National Guard and a year in the Navy. I was retired for eczema and gastroneurosis, which is the finding of the medical examiners. Actually, I never have had gastroneurosis. I was suffering from gall-bladder disease and two captains of the Medical Corps who were examining for the retiring board examined me and told me my disability was not permanent and that they would so find and report.

When I appeared before the retiring board it was at the time when some five or six hundred officers were being examined. I was before the retiring board about three weeks later. Two other medical officers who had never seen me appeared before the retiring

board as medical witnesses and stated that they had examined me and that I had gastroneurosis and that the disability was progressive in its nature and that I would get constantly weaker. They said I was permanently incapacitated.

Mr. GLYNN. What is gastroneurosis?

Major MCNEILL. I do not know; I never have had it.
Mr. GLYNN. I thought perhaps you knew what it was.

Major MCNEILL. I was told at the time-I asked one of the doctors how he happened to reach that diagnosis. He said in going over the records they could not find anything else wrong; that the X rays showed nothing else, so they decided that I must have that. I said, "What is it?" He said, "It is a disease of the nerves; you will get worse and weaker as time goes on."

Mr. VINSON. I would like to know how it happened that two medical officers testified that they examined you when they had not examined you. Was it a case of mistaken identity?

Major MCNEILL. It must have been a case of mistaken identity. That easily could have happened at that time, because the War Department was reducing the Army by about 3,000 officers, and these men, four of them, were terribly overworked. They were examining probably 1,500 of those officers, and in examining so many in such a time it is easy to mistake one man for another.

Mr. REECE. What branch of the service were you in?

Major MCNEILL. I was a cavalryman and spent the early part of the war in the Air Service. Later I was taken from that work and put in The Adjutant General's office, in the latter part of the war, and kept there for five years. I would like to go back as an aviator. Mr. REECE. You are a flying officer?

Major MCNEILL. I am a flying officer; I have kept up my flying and can still fly.

Mr. VINSON. What did you do when these officers claimed you had this gastroneurosis; did you make any protest?

Major MCNEILL. I told the retiring board I was entirely well and that I did not have anything the matter with me. They asked me what I had eaten for breakfast, and I remember I told them I had canteloupe, two fried eggs, a piece of ham, and half a dozen hot cakes, and the reply of one of these doctors was, "He is trying to commit suicide.

Mr. VINSON. And the medical officers there still maintain that they had examined you and that you had gastroneurosis?

Major MCNEILL. Yes, sir.

Mr. REECE. As I understand it, your board consisted of four doctors, two captains and two majors?

Major MCNEILL. There was a double set of medical examiners for the board. One set would appear as witnesses for one group and another set for another group, and they would keep their cases separate. In some way my name got on the records of the other doctors. How it happened, I do not know.

Mr. REECE. The two captains examined you?

Major MCNEILL. The two captains examined me.

Mr. REECE. Their findings were that the disabilities were of a temporary nature and that you would soon be fit for duty. Then the two majors, who did not sit in on the examination, took up your

case?

Major MCNEILL. They had all the papers.

Mr. REECE. And they made a finding that you had gastro neu

rosis?

Major MCNEILL. Yes; with eczema as another disability.

Mr. REECE. But the majors did not sit in on the examination? Major MCNEILL. They absolutely did not examine me; one of them had never seen me before. That does not appear in there, because I did not think it was necessary to bring that up until the War Department made this adverse report on the bill, which they have made.

Mr. REECE. That is perfectly proper. I do not think it reflects on the finding in bringing it up because at that time there were several thousand officers being examined and discharged, and this board had to do a great part of that work. They were tremendously rushed, and the fact that they might have made an error, I think, does not greatly reflect upon the officers, when you consider the circumstances under which they were working at the time.

Major MCNEILL. I know they were terribly overworked. I would rather not come back than cause any trouble for them.

Mr. REECE. You have a statement of your efficiency record? Major MCNEILL. Yes, that is attached to the papers. The efficiency record for my entire service is "above average" and "superior," the two highest ratings which the War Department gives. There is also a letter from General Pershing telling me how sorry he was that I was retiring. There is also a commendation for something I did as a second lieutenant.

Mr. REECE. What branch of the service are you attached to? Major MCNEILL. I am a retired officer on active duty, serving as professor of military tactics at the Fishburne Military School, Waynesboro, Va. I have been continuously on active duty since 1921, before and after my retirement.

Mr. GLYNN. When were you retired?

Major MCNEILL. On December 31, 1922.

Mr. GLYNN. After 24 years' service?

Major MCNEILL. The 24 years' service now includes 3 years I have been on active duty as a retired officer, which counts as service of an Army officer. In this bill I am asking to be allowed to go back in the Army in the rank under which I am now serving. Last summer I commanded a section at Camp Meade. There is in my file letters of commendation from the general who commanded the entire camp. This bill would put me back about 90 files below where I was. Mr. GLYNN. Your present rank is major?

Major MCNEILL. Yes; and I am a colonel in the Reserve Corps in addition. I was a lieutenant colonel during the World War. Mr. BOWMAN. How old are you?

Major MCNEILL. I am 40 years old. So it will be 24 years before I reach the retiring age, and if I choose to I can go on the inactive list and draw $3,000 a year for the rest of my life.

Mr. REECE. At this time?

Major MCNEILL. At this time, yes, sir.

Mr. REECE. If you are reinstated you will have to wait until you.

are 64 years of age before you may retire?

Major MCNEILL. I shall have to wait, yes, sir. deal of property, and the pay means nothing to me.

I

have a good I hope to go