production. The military reported delays in delivery of fighter planes, radar equipment, flamethrowers and numerous other items. Rear Admiral Milo Draemel complained that the strike so significantly slowed the war production in the area that "it could delay the day of victory". The strike was also negatively affecting America's image abroad, particularly in Europe, where the U.S. was fighting Nazi Germany under the slogans of freedom and racial justice. Germany, as well as Japan, were apt to use every instance of racial unrest in the U.S. for propaganda purposes. Official reaction by the White House was somewhat delayed by President Roosevelt's absence: at the time he was on a warship on his way from Hawaii to the Aleutian islands. At 7:45 p.m. on August 3, in his twenty-fifth seizure order under the Smith–Connally Act, President Roosevelt authorized the Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to take control of the Philadelphia Transportation Company. Major-General Philip Hayes, head of the Army's Third Service Command, was put in charge of the PTC's operations. The troops were elements from the 309th regiment of the 78th infantry division stationed in Virginia. The men were bivouacked in Fairmount Park, George's Hill, above Parkside Ave., West Philadelphia. Hayes acted quickly to take control of the situation. He posted the President's order on the PTC carbarns and announced that the Army hoped to avoid using the troops and would try to rely on the local and state police to the extent possible. Hayes also announced that he had no intention of canceling or suspending the WMC hiring order. At 10:00 p.m. on August 3, mistakenly believing that the government had agreed to the strikers' demands, McMenamin declared the end of the strike. The mistake was quickly discovered, and over 1000 strikers voted in the early hours of August 4 to continue the strike. On August 4 limited transportation service resumed but largely dwindled as the day progressed. Hayes and his staff warned the strikers about the severe penalties provided by the Smith–Connally Act for disruption of the war production: the instigators could be subject to a fine of $5,000, one year in prison, or both. This prospect was made more real when the United States Attorney General Francis Biddle started an inquiry into possible violations of federal laws by the strike organizers. On August 4 the strike committee again voted to continue the strike, but, in view of