The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-06-06

WASf1lN1lO1N,1 JUNE
The text Of President Hoose-
yelt's speech tonight. follows;
Yesterday, June 4, 1884,
Rome fell to American ana Ar
lied troops. The first OF the
Axis capitols is now In our
hands. One up and two to 60.
II is perhaps significant that
tho first of these capitals to
fall should have the longest
history of all them. The sto-y
Of Rome goes back to the time
of the foundations Of our civil
lization. We can still see there
monuments of the time when
Rome and the Romans con-
trolled the whole Of the then
known world. That too is sign
ificazt, for the United Nations
are determined that in the
future no one city and no one
race will be able to control
the whole OF the void.
In addition to the monuments
of the older times, We also see
in Rome the great symbol OF
Christianity, which has reach
ed into almost every part OF
the world. There are other
shrines, and othe- churches in
many places, but the churches
and shrines OF Rome are visi'
BILE symbols Of the faith and de-
termination of the early saints
and martyrs that Christianity
should live and become UNI
versal. AID now 1t will be a
source Of deep satisfaction
that the freedom Of the Pope
and of the Vatican City is as
sured by the armies OF the
United Nations.
It is also significant tina:
Rome has been liberated by
the armed forces Of many ma
lions. The American and Brit
ish armies-who bore the CHIEF
burdens Of battle - found at
their sides our own north
American neighbors, the gal
liant Canadians, the fighting
New Zealanders from the fa-
south Pacific, the rageous
French and the French Moroc,
cans, the South Africans. the
Poles and the East Indians
all Of them fought with US on
the bloody approaches to
Rome.
The Italians too, forswearing
a partnership in the Axis which
they never desired, have sent
their troops to join us in our
battles against the German
t-espasse-s on their soil.
The prospect Of the liberia
ton Of Rome meant enough to
Hitler and his generals to in
duce them to fight desperately
at great cost Of men and ma
terials and with great sacrifice
to their c-umbling eastern line
and 70 their western front. No
thanks are due to them II
Rome was spared the devasta-
ton which the Germans wreak-
ed on Naples and other Italian
cities. The Allied generals
Unanswered so skillfully that
the Nazis could only have
stayed long enough to dam
age Rome at +he risk Of los
ing their armies. But Rome is
of course more than a mill
tary objective.
Every since before the days
of the Caesars, Rome has stood
as a symbol Of authority. Rome
was the republic. Rome was
the empire. Rome was the
Catholic church. and Rome
was the capitol Of a united
Italy. Later, unfortunately,
Rome became the seat of Fas-
cism-one of the three capt.
tolls of the Axis.
For a quarter-century the
italian people were enslaved
and degraded by the rule OF
Mussolini frorl Rome. They
will mark its liberation with
deep emotion. In the north OF
Italy, the people are still DOM
mated and threatened by the
Nazi overlords and their Fas-
cist puppets.
Excellent Tune
Our victory comes at an ex-
cellent time, while our Allied
forces are poised for another
strike at western Europe-and
while armies of other Nazi SOL
diers rervously await our as
sault. And our gallant Russian
Allies continue to make their
power felt more and more.
From strictly military
standpoint, we had long ago
accomplished certain of the
main detectives of our Italian
camnaicn tho co,,+roy - a.