llar aircraft carriers, battleships,
drydocks and all the other cumbersome junk that keeps those boats and
things afloat. Give the taxpayer back his hard-earned dollar!"

Teeth grated in the Naval section as carriers and battleships were
called "boats" and the rest of America's sea might lumped under the
casual heading of "things." Lips were curled at the transparent appeal
to the taxpayer's pocketbook. But with leaden hearts they knew that all
this justified wrath and contempt would avail them nothing. This was
Army Day with a vengeance, and the doom of the Navy seemed inescapable.

The Army had made elaborate plans for what they called "Operation
Sinker." Even as the general spoke the publicity mills ground into high
gear. From coast to coast the citizens absorbed the news with their
morning nourishment.

"... Agnes, you hear what the radio said! The Army's gonna give a trip
around the world in a B-36 as first prize in this limerick contest. All
you have to do is fill in the last line, and mail one copy to the
Pentagon and the other to the Navy ..."

The Naval mail room had standing orders to burn all the limericks when
they came in, but some of the newer men seemed to think the entire thing
was a big joke. Commander Bullman found one in the mess hall:

_The Army will always be there,
On the land, on the sea, in the air.
So why should the Navy
Take all of the gravy ..._

to which a seagoing scribe had added:

_And not give us ensigns our share?_

The newspapers were filled daily with photographs of mighty B-36's
landing on Lake Erie, and grinning soldiers making mock beachhead
attacks on Coney Island. Each man wore a buzzing black box at his waist
and walked on the bosom of the now quiet Atlantic like a biblical
prophet.

Radio and television also carried the thousands of news releases that
poured in an unending flow from the Pentagon Building. Cards, letters,
telegrams and packages descended on Washington in an overwhelming
torrent. The Navy Department was the unhappy recipient of deprecatory
letters and a vast quantity of little cardboard battleships.

The people spoke and their representatives listened closely. This was an
election year. There didn't seem to be much doubt as to the decision,
particularly when the reduction in the budget was considered.

It took Congress only two months to make up its collective mind. The
people were all pro-Army. The novelty of the idea had fired t