Secretary of the Navy Charles S. Thomas has condemned anti-Semitic statements by a retired rear admiral and declared that they “most emphatically do not represent the views of the Navy,” the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith disclosed today.
The league had informed Secretary Thomas of a violent anti-Jewish speech made in Pensacola, Fla., last month by Rear Admiral John G. Crommelin (ret.). He pointed out that “Crommelin exploits his rank and past associations with the Navy to confuse many who may be led to believe he has official sanction for his activities.” The league also noted that “a particularly unfortunate impression” was left in Pensacola because the program committee chairman of the Daughters of the American Revolution, before whom Crommelin spoke, was the wife of the Pensacola Air Station commandant.
In his reply, Secretary Thomas said that “there is no necessity for dignifying statements of the kind made by Rear Admiral Crommelin with official denials or disavowals. I am confident that the fire people comprising our Navy, including representative percentages of virtually all racial and religious groups, abhor and regret diatribes of that type.., I can assure you that Rear Admiral Crommelin’s views are uniquely his own.”
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