November 11, 1942
“...In Arlington we are in the presence of the honored dead. Today, as on all Armistice Days since 1918, our thoughts go back to the First World War; and we remember with gratitude the bravery of the men who fought and helped to win that fight against German militarism. But this year our thoughts are also very much of the living present, and of the future which we begin to see opening before us—a picture illuminated by a new light of hope.
Today, Americans and their British brothers-in-arms are again fighting on French soil. They are again fighting against a German militarism which transcends a hundredfold the brutality and barbarism of 1918. The Nazis of today and their appropriate associates, the Japanese, have attempted to drive history into reverse, to use all the mechanics of modern civilization to drive humanity back to conditions of prehistoric savagery. They sought to conquer the world, and for a time they seemed to be successful in realizing their boundless ambition. They overran great territories. They enslaved—they killed…”
As the United States fought its opening campaign of World War II in North Africa, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation during Armistice Day of 1943. After the December 7, 1941 attack against Pearl Harbor and the German and Italian declarations of war against America, Roosevelt became a powerful wartime leader. By 1942, he was determined that America would be fighting in both the Pacific and European Theaters of Operation. Known as the “Arsenal of Democracy,” America was not prepared for this war, but it quickly began drafting citizens into the Armed Forces and shifted the economy to utilize its immense resources toward defeating the enemy.
There were 107,000 soldiers from the United States, England, and Canada who had just landed at Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers to fight pro-Vichy French forces and to dislodge the “soft underbelly” of the Nazi Empire within the Mediterranean Sea.
Several months before the “Operation Torch” landings, the Marine Corps hit the beaches of Guadalcanal with 6,000 troops targeting 2,000 Japanese soldiers. Fighting in the Solomon Islands, the enemy planned to construct air bases that threatened supply lines to Australia and New Zealand. After General Douglas MacArthur was forced to leave the Philippines, he reorganized, equipped, and led coalition forces from Australia. This marked the start of a bloody campaign to destroy Japanese military forces across one of the largest empires ever established. The war in the Pacific faced many challenges as the Japanese destroyed the American vessels Astoria, Quincy, and Vincennes. Eighty-three years ago this Veterans Day, Roosevelt was at the helm of the “Great Crusade” to oppose global tyranny from North Africa to the Solomon Islands.
“...Now, therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do hereby urge the people of the United States to devote themselves anew on Tuesday, November 11, 1947, in schools and churches or other suitable places, to the grateful use of the peace we now enjoy in our beloved country after a second world holocaust, and to the work of promoting with zeal and fervor a permanent peace among all the peoples of the earth; and I call upon the officials of the Government to have the flag of the United States flown upon all public buildings on that day….”
President Harry S. Truman identified the background of this Armistice Day within the heavy shadow of World War II that was still felt worldwide. After almost 85 million people were killed in this global war, the United Nations was established to help prevent another major conflict through the hope that nations could peacefully solve their disputes before resorting to armies and weapons. Even after defeating the Germans and Japanese, Americans were concerned about the expansion of the Soviet Union in Eastern and Central Europe and in Asia. They feared the domination of this conflicting ideology, amplified by constant radio and later television reports presented through the hysteria of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Trying to preserve peace, the United Nations had its roots on Long Island, where the nations of the world met at Lake Success. After residents voted to allow this historic organization to operate within their community, the United States rented its headquarters at the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation. There were 8,265 meetings held at this location with leaders like Truman and his foreign counterparts from every continent. Although Truman sought peace, this speech was delivered at the start of the friction between America and the Soviet Union. Shortly afterward, Truman began handling the tensions of the Berlin Airlift and the Western response in forcefully preventing that city from being unified under communism. While Truman was not widely liked, most of his policies in handling the Soviet Union were followed by many future American leaders.
“...Whereas November 11, 1953, marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the Armistice which ended the bitter hostilities of World War I and served as a beacon of hope to all humanity that peace would prevail on the earth; and
Whereas the sons of the heroes of Chateau-Thierry, Saint-Mihiel, and the Argonne had scarcely come of age when they were called upon to meet new aggressors at Omaha Beach, Anzio, Iwo Jima, Heartbreak Ridge, and elsewhere, and to give their lives, many of them, before new armistices could still the fighting and give renewed opportunity for establishing a true peace…”
A year before changing the name of “Armistice Day” to “Veterans Day” in 1953, Dwight Eisenhower—former Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Forces and the first commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—spoke as an iconic military figure who understood the crisis posed by the growth of the Soviet Union. Eisenhower was a talented writer who connected the sacrifices made in both world wars to the ongoing need to defend the nation. As a general, he commanded millions of soldiers in Western Europe, and about a decade later, President Eisenhower recalled the memory of American military sacrifices around the world to defeat fascism.
These citizens returned home after combat and raised families during the “Baby Boom,” supported home and business growth, and saw the construction of the Interstate Highway System that connected cities and towns. These major changes were seen on Long Island, where many neighborhoods, roads, and colleges were created by the World War II “Greatest Generation.” Eisenhower defiantly opposed communism through a strong military, but he guarded against bankrupting America by engaging in an expensive arms race and was cautious about deploying soldiers. He understood the hardships endured by Americans during previous wars and was determined to preserve peace.
“...There is no way to maintain the frontiers of freedom without cost and commitment and risk. There is no swift and easy path to peace in our generation. No man who witnessed the tragedies of the last war, no man who can imagine the unimaginable possibilities of the next war, can advocate war out of irritability or frustration or impatience. But let no nation confuse our perseverance and patience with fear of war or unwillingness to meet our responsibilities.
We cannot save ourselves by abandoning those who are associated with us, or rejecting our responsibilities. In the end, the only way to maintain the peace is to be prepared in the final extreme to fight for our country—and to mean it. As a nation, we have little capacity for deception. We can convince friend and foe alike that we are in earnest about the defense of freedom only if we are in earnest, and I can assure the world that we are…”
On November 11, 1961, these were the words of the youthful President John F. Kennedy, who assumed the helm of American leadership from the outgoing Eisenhower. Kennedy, often a sickly young man who suffered from a bad back and was later diagnosed with Addison’s Disease, used his father’s influence to enter military service during World War II. He became a naval officer and was deployed to the Solomon Islands, where he commanded PT-109. Kennedy was wounded and decorated for his efforts to save his sailors from Japanese forces. Never a leader in good health, these battle scars stayed with him throughout his presidency.
After the war, Kennedy was quickly elected to Congress, won a Senate seat in 1952, and was reelected in 1958. Defeating Republican Vice President Richard M. Nixon in 1960, Kennedy promised to protect the United States and oppose the expansion of communism. Although Kennedy was worth $100 million, he was the same age as many World War II veterans who were now raising families, seen in the many photos of his young children and wife in the White House. A young and inexperienced president, Kennedy believed in the importance of both domestic and military commitment to America, especially against foreign aggressors. These American leaders emerged from different backgrounds and experiences, but they all sought to protect the United States at home and abroad during conflicts and wars.