The Eighth Tribe, 1980 (7. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1980-02-01 / 2. szám
Page 8 THE EIGHTH TRIBE February. 1980 in the 1980’s,” published by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. The Russians’ brutal invasion of Afghanistan, and their present threat to neighboring Pakistan and Iran, should convince even the most naive advocate of detente that the problems of the 1980’s are those of “life and death for the free world,” he emphasized. The Russians, he said, “are dangerously ahead of us, both quantitatively and qualitatively,” in major new weapons systems. But the Western democracies still have barely enough time to save themselves from being forced to make the excruciating choice between a nuclear war and abject surrender to Moscow. “Our country may find itself in the situation where it has to give in to Russian demands or face the end of the United States,” Dr. Teller warned. This is why: They are prepared to evacuate their cities, then threaten a nuclear first strike that could knock out nearly all of our land-based missiles and bombers. If we retaliated, even if we inflicted great damage and heavy casualties, they could recover and they would have enough nuclear weapons left to obliterate the United States. Presumably any American President, confronted with such a horrible choice, would choose to give in and prevent a nuclear exchange that would kill millions. So, Dr. Teller said, “Russia could defeat the United States with only a fraction of its nuclear weapons. With the rest it could coerce whatever peoples it chose and force them to deliver machinery, goods or labor.” The parallel with Nazi terror is not lost on the physicist, who fled from Hitler in 1934 and became an American citizen in 1941, later playing a vital role in developing the atomic and hydrogen bombs. Europe must be defended against a Soviet invasion, Dr. Teller said, by closer cooperation of the United States and its NATO allies and a stepped-up program of research into advanced technology. “The situation has one hopeful aspect: The Warsaw Pack includes one hundred million people who are the last colonial subjects on our globe,” Dr. Teller said. “If Western Europe is invaded and holds out under attack, the Russian colonial empire will crack. If we plan appropriately, the danger of rebellion in Eastern Europe may well serve as a deterrent to Russian invasion.” Dr. Teller proposed that the people in the face of a potential Soviet attack should be evacuated and that small tactical nuclear weapons be arrayed along every potential avenue of the enemy’s advance. If the soviets begin using nuclear weapons, he said, the allies should retaliate without inflicting damage on the civilians of Eastern Europe. “In case of Russian aggression, those peoples will prove to be our allies,” he argued. “The Russian armies could suffer in Eastern Europe as the Nazi invaders suffered from the resistance movement in Russia.” “If we unite to contain communism, we can save peace and freedom,” Dr. Teller declared. “But we can do so only through a tremendous effort, which must start immediately.” • OBITUARIES • Dr. John J. S. Sebastian of Duquesne, Pa., a retired scientiest for the Research Center at Carnegie - Mellon University and the U. S. Bureau of Mines at Morgantown, W. Va. died recently. A professor at Illinois Tech in Chicago, 111. and West Virginia University, he received many awards including the Meritorious Service Award from the U. S. Department of Interior and was a consultant and author of scientific writings for the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Dr. Sebastian was a member of Saint Joseph Church of Duquesne, the American Chemical Society and National Retired Teachers Association. He was a graduate of the University of Budapest and obtained his doctor’s degree from Carnegie-Mellon University. Surviving are his widow, Dr. Stephanie Michalich Sebastian; sons, Paul Sebastian in Peru, S.A., John of Chicago and Fred at home; four grandchildren and brother, Leslie Sebastian of Homestead. John Darnay, 87 years old, of West Mifflin, Pa., died on January 22, 1980. He was a charter member, former Church Council member and Chief Elder from 1931-1934, and a life time honorary Chief Elder of the Free Hungarian Reformed Church of McKeesport, Pa. He served as a Synod Chief Elder of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America for several terms. Born on July 3, 1892 in Komjáti, Abaúj megye, Hungary. He came to the U. S. in 1909. His wife, the late Ethel Makiári Darnay died in 1977, a year earlier in 1976 they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Surviving are his daughter, Ethel H. Nagy and his son, John Paul Darnay and his wife, two grand children and a great grandson.
