The Wilmington Morning Star

Tell Destroyer's Name
At frequent intervals since the first word of the sinking of a destroyer off Sandy Hook was published telephone calls have come to this office asking the name of the vessel. Many Wilmington men are serving on destroyers. Parents and friends, wives and sweethearts are anxious to know if the ill-fated craft was the one their loved ones were aboard. With thousands of navy men serving on destroyers we may assume that all newspaper offices have had similar calls.

Yet the Navy, in accordance with its childish belief that the American people can't stand bad news, has withheld the destroyer's name. There may be some excuse for not issuing the casualty lists of such accidents until the next of kin can be officially notified. But the Navy is keeping many a household in anguish by withholding this name.

If the idea is that relatives and friends of survivors would be unnecessarily alarmed, the authorities responsible for it overlook the fact that until the name is published relatives and friends of every man known to be on a destroyer in Atlantic coastal waters but lacking knowledge of its position at the time of this tragic explosion can know no peace as long as the name is withheld.