Evening star., 1945-10-06
Texts of Nimitz Speeches at Celebrations

| Texts of Mint
FOLLOWING is the tert OF Ad-
piirnl Ninaitz's speech last night
at the banquet rendered him By
the citizens OF Washington at
the MayfoWer Hotel
am deeply moved by the friend
ship and good wishes accorded to
me by all the people of Washing
ton on this, one of the most memor-
able days of my life. The silver
service is gratefully accepted by
Mrs. Nimitz and me as a mark of
your high esteem. We hope we will
always be able to merit this esteem
and we thank you with all our
hearts.
Today. for me. has been nlled with
high honors-first before Congress,
on the grounds of the Washington
Monument, then at the White
House, and now at this brilliant
gathering. In truth, however, l
must admit that these honors were
actually earned by an Army or Ma
rlne pfc. named Smith, by Navy
or Coast Guard seaman &c named
Jones, and by a shavetan or an en-
sign named Brown. It is my good
fortune that l am actually here on
the scene; and that you content
yourself for the present with second
choice by giving these honors to a
sailor named Ninitz Again I thank
you. and in the name of all the
ofhcers and men with whom I have
been privileged 10 serve in the Paci-
nc war.
Most important of all. ] wish to
record my personal thanks to tine
officers and men who fought the
many battles and won the many
victories throughout the Pacific
Ocean area. Never has an officer
been more fortunate in the quality
OF the men under his command
Formed Hardest Hitting Team.
These lighting men formed one
OF the hardest hitting teams of
sea, land and air power the world
has ever known. Moving ever for
ward, often at heavy cost. they
destroyed the Japanese Navy and
merchant marine, helped shatter
our enemy's air power, clamped a
shothering blockade on his hunger
ing people and destroyed vital tar
gets along his coasts and in the
great cities of his homeland.
What they achieved seems all the
more remarkable when it is con-
sidered that SO per cent of the Of
heers and men serving in the Navv.
Marine Corps and Coast Guard were
Reservists-a fact which I am sure
IS equally true of OUR great Army in
the Pacific war.
Those fighting men in the Pacific
were your loved ones-your sons and
your brothers, your husbands and
your fathers. To you who know
them so well. it is unnecessary to ex-
plain that initially they were not
professional fighting men. Yet they
proved once again. as they have
throughout our history, that the
average American will always be
willing to guard his freedom at the
risk OF his life. And literally thou
sands OF our enemy, met in battle.
did not live long enough to learn
that they were defeated by men who
were proud to sign, after their names
such initials as U. S. N. R.
The average American citizen dis
likes war and he dislikes service in
military organization. 1t is only
natural that he should regard pro-
fessional military and naval men
with some apprehension But in the
Pacific Fleet at the end of the war
all hands were skilled professionals
and no captain could tell regular Of
ficers from Reserve officers without
looking in a Navy list.
Want to Return Home.
Most of the citizen sailors and SOL
diers who fought in the Pacific now
feel, and with complete Justification,
that they are through with war and
fighting. Their one big question is:
When do I 60 homer" Many Of
you tonight also want to know the
answer to that question, for you
want your loved ones back with you.
The answer is that we are now
preparing in the Pacific, at ut
most speed, the largest invasion of
this war. We hope it will be the
last great invasion of all time, and
we know that it will be the most
successful and the least costly ia
vasion In our history That inva-
sion is the proud and victorious
return of our men to their own
homes in the United States of
America. And that is one military
operation in which the invaders
will be welcomed with open arms.
Like any other invasion. this is
also military operation; and
when mounted on such a vast
scale, such an operation takes a
little time, but we can all be thank
fth that our men are now headed
this way.
I must urge that those of you
who wait be patient. There are
certain necessary tasks which still
must be done. Bases must be closed
and vast amount of valuable ma
terial taken care Of. Ships must
be brought home, and some of
them laid up In various states OF
readiness.
Every good sailor and soldier
knows that, once he has finished
shooting, he must clean and polish
and put away his gun. He knows
that, ut some future time, his Life
may depend on his foresight In
seeing ta IL that his weapon is
ready when needed. But you may