The Wilmington morning star., 1944-12-09
Three Years
nv ERWIN D. CANAAN

NIL. 11r;ted States completes three wears
=, alohal war this week. On the day Of the
anniversary, minus one, it Will be six months
.in.. Allied forces landed on the Norman
beaches And it was three weeks ago that
~. hio winter offensive in the west began
s+ock.taking on all three scores offers sober
49, .+.unch conclusions. Our enemies cannot
e..;hlv win the war. They have lost But
~. have not yet won. We see the road to VIC
NV and we know that however certain. it
will not be easy
There are two great keys to the military
.;tuation. In Europe it is bombing weather.
T., Tho Pacific it is Japanese merchant ship
-,;ns I, we have the succession OF clear days
:, necember which has always prevailed in
~. ph;neland our medium and heavy bomb
A.. ought to be able to blast an opening
.omewhere in the long line from the mouth
~ tho Mas to Switzerland which will let
our force through.
When the break-through comes, apparently
II will find Germany without great. effective
mobile reserve ana WIN us osst ARMIES pref
tv well nauled. Under such condition, it
oneht to be possible to exploit the break
through. getting deep into either the Saar or
the Ruhr. or both, and making Germany's
downfall definite and foreseable.
In the Pacific. our steady whittleing down
of Japanese shipping similarly foretells the
end Probably our foes merchant tonnage has
0nn
fieure. The rate Of sinking, wit hthe Japanese
efforts to reinforce Leyte, continues at an
astonishing pace. Outposts, like Java and Bor-
neo are by now almost cut Oft. Our bornbings
NJ the japanese homeland are on a steady
schedule.
It has taken long time. Most Americans
on that fateful Sunday three years ago, would
have said we would accomplish the job more
Quickly Even some Of our so-called military
Ia Nh
Few, indeed, had any conception Of the scope
Of the task that lay ahead Of us. Few realized
our military and naval weaknesses. Few ex-
pected the Japanese successes to be so great
and swift.
Even today as the shell shortage shows,
the greatest experts do not set their sights
high enough We still do not fully realize
the vast material needs of this kind Of war.
But we have learned 4 great deal. Our pro-
duction is an overall miracle.
There have been tremendous Incidental
gains. Industry has made chronological strides
which will be of immense peacetime value.
The training methods Of the services can be
applied to education, and our nation can at
tain 4 general standard OF training and prepar
ton which will be altogether unique in his
tory. As an illustration the audio-visual edu-
cational methods Ualkes, in common Ian
guage) and the synthetic trainers dink train
ers and other devices) that have been devel-
oped for war tasks can be applied equally to
the technical needs of peace. They could be
revolutionary, giving years Of practical edu-
cation in weeks.
We also have under way 4 system OF world
organization 1t is not 50 sweeping and pow
erful rs many had hoped. But it offers prac-
teal possibilities, 1t is foundation on which
to build Its development is an urgent neces-
sity
Moreover, We have 4 SOLDERING sense Of our
problems. Nobody talks Of n brave new world.
Britain has just barred 4 chilling picture Of
its economic straits. The United States, lifted
it can maintain employment afterward. Most
Of the other united nations those in the front
lines, face economic and political problems
OF staggering gravity.
And yet we are all of good cheer. Battle
weary Britain is resolute n determined.
France breathes the heady air of freedom,
which is proving somewhat unsettling to Bel
GUM and Greece. The United States having
escaped so much Of the ordeal and punish
ment OF war, having attained an unweared,
stimulating pitch of national activity must
accept large responsibilities to help its tired
or excited allies. We must 20 more than half
the way with them.
There will probably be fourth anniversary
Of United States participation in the war. But
even if the end Of the Pacific fighting is then
close, our responsibilities will not diminish.
Our task will be to prevent return of this
barbaric degeneracy, to prevent further en-
tanglements in war, by helping to prevent
war
! 1t is not a short road ahead. Nor an easy
one. But there is light all along its way
Christian Science Monitor.
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