Evening star., 1944-10-28


"A. P. Wirephoto.
along these lines at the rate of al
most three million long tons a
month, requiring SIT cargo ships to
leave our ports with supplies every
month. 1t has meant moving more
than IA million barrels of gasoline
and oil month, requiring 1856
tanker sailings month. And those
ships and those tankers were all
built IN American shipyards.
The production necessary to equip
and maintain our vast force of fight
ing men on global battle fronts is
without parallel.
need not repeat the figures. The
facts speak for themselves. They
speak with the thunder of tens of
thousands of guns on battlehelds
all over the world. They speak with
the roar of more than one million
tons of bombs dropped by our air
forces.
Job Done by "Old and Tired"
The whole story of our vast effort
IN this war has been story of in
credible achievement-the story of
the job that has been done by an
administration which, I am told, is
"old and tired and quarrelsome.
And while We have been doing
that job we have constantly inves-
tigated and publicized our whole
management of the war effort.
call particular attention to the
thorough and painstaking and COM
pletely nonpartisan work of that
committee of the Senate which was
organized and presided over by
Harry Truman.
The Truman Committee has done
a job which will live In history as
an example of honest, efficient
government at work.
There is one thing I want to say
and it cannot be told in figures.
l want to express the conviction
ahat the greatest of our past Ameri-
can heroes-the heroes of Bunker
Hill and Gettysburg and San Juan
Hill and Manila Bay and the Ar
gonne-would consider themselves
honored to be associated with our
fighting men Of today.
Those boys hate war.
The average American citizen is
not a soldier by choice.
But our boys have proved they
can take on the best that our
militaristic enemies can put for
ward-they can take them on and
beat them. And we must never
forget that our Allies, by resisting
the aggressors to the last ditch.
gave us time to train our men and
prepare their equipment before
they went into battle.
Matter of Spirit.
The quality of our American
fighting men is not all a matter of
training or of equipment or of or
ganization. 1t is essentially a mat
ter of spirit. That spirit is express
slve of their faith in America.
The most important fact in our
national life today is the essential
fact of 100000 young Americans
in our armed forces-more than
half Of them overseas.
When you multiply that II 900 900
by their families and their friends.
you have the whole American peo-
pie personally involved in this war
a war which was forced upon us,
a war which we did our utmost to
avoid, war which came upon us
as inevitably as an earthquake.
L think particularly of the
mothers and wives and sisters and
sWeethearts of the men in service.
Ihere are great numbers of these
gallant women who do not have
the satisfaction and distraction of
jobs in war plants. They have the
quiet. essential job of keeping the
MONIES going, caring for the chill
dren or the old folks.
Mrs. Roosevelt and hear from
a great many of these women who
live in loneliness and anxiety while
their men are far away.
l can speak as one who knows
something Of the feelings of
parent with sons who are in the
line of battle overseas. know that
regardless of the outcome of this
election, our sons must 60 on fight
ing for whatever length of time is
necessary for victory.
Demobilization Pledge.
When this great job in winning
tnls war is done, the men of our
armed forces will be demobilized
ana returned to their homes lust
as rapidly as possible. The War.
and Navy Departments are pledeed
70 that. I am pledged to that
The very law Of this land. enacted
by the Congress, is pledged to that
ana there are no strings attached
to this pledge.
While the agony of war lasts the
families of our fighting men can be
certain that their boys are being
given and always will be given the
best equipment, the best arms. the
best food, the best medical care
that the resources of this Nation
and the genius of this Nation can
provide. And I am not induleinr
In undue boasting when say that
that Is the best in the world.
The health of our Army and
Navy Marines and Coast Guard is
now better than it was in peace
time. Although our forces have
been fighting in all climates and
exposed to all diseases, the death
rate from disease has shrunk to-
one-twentieth, of / per cent-less
than one-seventh Of the death rate
from disease for men in the same
age group in civilian life. The NOR
tality rate among the wounded is