White House Press Release, Address of President Harry S. Truman at the Dinner of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick

HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE MARCH 17, 1948 91 CONFIDENTIAL: The following address of the President to be delivered at the Dinner of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in New York City, tonight, Wednesday, March 17, 1948, MUST BE HELD IN THE STRICTEST CONFIDENCE and no portion, synopsis or intimation may be given out, broadcast or published UNTIL DELIVERY HAS BEGUN. EXTREME CARE MUST BE EXERCISED TO AVOID PREMATURE PUBLICATION OR RADIO ANNOUNCEMENT. The same caution applies to all newspapers, radio commentators and news broadcasters, both in the United States and abroad. CHARLES G. ROSS Secretary to the President Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Guests, my Fellow Americans: It is a great honor to be a guest of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick tonight. I am deeply grateful for the hospitality of a society with such a noble history. A few days ago a friend in Washington sent me a history of this society and I read with interest and pride of the charitable and educational work it has done for over 160 years. May you be as prosperous and as success- NARA ful in the next 160 years as you have been until now! I wish I could talk with you tonight about some of the great Americans -- sons of St. Patrick -- whose deeds have brightened the pages of our history. Commodore John Barry -- Andrew Jackson -- Sergeant Mike Donaldson -- Captain Colin Kelly -- Admiral Dan Callaghan. We all know their stories, and we are proud of these Americans of Irish descent who defended the United States in time of peril. The ideals for which these men fought are under attack again. And so, instead of speaking about their brave deeds in the past, I shall speak tonight about the present and the future. As you know, at noon today I addressed a joint session of the Congress. I described the current situation in Europe which is giving all of us SO much concern. In the light of this situation I made three recommendations to the Congress. First, I recommended that the Congress complete its action speedily on economic aid to Europe under the Marshall Plan. Second, I recommended that the Congress enact a program of universal training to provide the reserve of trained citizens which is so essential to the security of the United States. Third, I recommended that the Congress enact tem- porary selective service legislation in order to build our armed forces up to their authorized peacetime strength. It is necessary that we call into service enough men to bring our armed forces up to the strength required to safeguard the United States and to meet our foreign commitments at this unsettled time. (OVER)