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American Legion Address 9/7/89 [OA 6268] [1]
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American Legion Address 9/7/89 [OA 6268] [1]
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Speech Backup Chronological Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
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S
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MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Backup Files
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Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13682
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13682-006
Folder Title:
American Legion Address 9/7/89 [OA 6268] [1]
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RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-25-89 ;10:37AM ;
2028612728-
4566218;# 1
The
American
Legion
*
WASHINGTON OFFICE * 1608 "K" STREET, N.W. * WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006 *
(202) 861-2700 *
(202) 861-2728-1 FAX
For God and Country
TELECOPY COPY COVER SHEET
DATE:
8/25/89
TO:
PEGGY Dooley
WHITE HOUSE
COMPANY:
TELECOPY NUMBER
456-6218
FROM:
JONN HANSON
NO. OF PAGES TO FOLLOW:
2
COMMENT:
#1 - concerns OUR MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS
#2- WE Asked the GALCUP POLL to
perform the survey. this is a draft
release, but the numbers are correct.
CALL ME AT 861-2790 (o) or
739-0924 after 3pm.
Thanks.
VOLUME 29
Wilmot Proviso to Zygote
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA
AMERICANA
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
COMPLETE IN THIRTY VOLUMES
FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1829
GROLIER INCORPORATED
International Headquarters: Danbury, Connecticut 06816
WORLD WAR II: 17
529
leavy Volcano preparatory Islands. begins. naval-air bombardment of
17-British and Soviet troops occupy Teheran, Iran.
United States Marines land on
will
June 15-Foreign ministers' meeting reconvenes in Paris,
8-Japan declares war on the United States and
reaching substantial agreement on treaties for Italy,
-United States 21st Bomber
Great Britain; the United States and Great Britain
Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, and Finland (ends
hass incendiary-bomb raid on
msing
declare war on Japan.
July 12).
-Americans -Last Japanese position
9-China declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.
INC. 11-Germany and Italy declare war on the United
July 16-Peace conference opens in Paris (ends Oct. 15).
-Iwo land on
Nov. 4-Foreign ministers meet in New York to com-
Jima is declared secure.
States, which then declares war on-them.
plete treaties (meeting ends Dec. 12).
-19-United States carrier aircraft attack
24-British-American Arcadia conferences open in
1947
air and naval bases in preparation for cothing
Washington (end Jan. 14, 1942).
on of Okinawa.
Feb. 10-Italian, Bulgarian, Rumanian, Hungarian, and
-British complete recapture of Mandalay,
1912
Finnish peace treaties are signed in Paris.
-Declaration by United Nations is signed by 26
Sept. 15-Five peace treaties come into force.
/
countries.
1950
ds -Americans land on Kerama-retto near Okinswy
Conference begins in London (ends April
are completely occupied March 28).
June 25-Korean War begins.
United Japanese States Tenth Army lands on Okinawa,
22-To clear way for Operation Torch (Allied in-
1951
(Battle of the East China Sea).
naval sortie toward Okinawa
at vasion of French North Africa), Maj. Gen. Mark W.
Sept. 4-Conference meets in San Francisco to draw up
Clark lands from submarine for secret meeting with
Japanese Peace Treaty.
wa. taze aircraft,
-Japanese begin a
pro-Allied French officers.
1952
24-Admiral Darlan is assassinated.
pre.
April 28-Japanese Peace Treaty comes into force.
itish reoccupy Rangoon.
1943
1953
Chinese forces halt Japanese drive on Chihki
14-British-United States conference opens at Casa-
µs.
July 27-Armistice ends Korean War.
n April 1944).
blanca (ends Jan. 24).
1954
[apanese in China begin moving troops
May 12-Trident Conference opens in Washington (ends
to reinforce their army in Manchuria,
north
May 25).
Oct. 5-Free Territory of Trieste is divided between
Organized Japanese resistance on Okinawa
25-King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy proclaims
Italy and Yugoslavia.
Luzon is declared secure (mopping up continue
puly fall of Mussolini, replacing him with Marshal Pietro
1955
nd of war).
Badoglio.
May 15-Austrian State Treaty is signed in Vienna.
istralians area of Borneo. and Dutch begin operations in Bala
Lag. 14-Quadrant Conference opens in Quebec, Canada
July 27-Austrian treaty comes into force.
(ends Aug. 24).
United States Navy and Army aircraft
Sept. 3-Italian government signs armistice (effective Sept.
JOHN R. ELTING,
offensive against Japan in preparation begin &
8).
Colonel, United States Army; Department of
d invasion.
Oct. 13-Italy declares war on Germany.
United States tests successful atomic bomb
Nov. 22-Sextant Conference opens at Cairo, Egypt (re-
Military Art, United States Military Academy.
gordo, N.Mex.
cesses Nov. 26).
a attacks on Japan.
British Pacific Fleet joins United States Third
Nov. 28-Eureka Conference opens at Teheran, Iran
17. Costs, Casualties, and Other Data
(closes Dec. 1).
omic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima.
World War II spread death and devastation
Dec. I-Cairo Declaration is issued.
1e USSR declares war in Japan (effective Aug
Dec. 3-Sextant Conference reopens at Cairo (closes
throughout most of the world to an extent never
Dec. 7).
before experienced. The loss of life can be only
omic Manchuria. bomb is dropped on Nagasaki: Russian
1944
generally summarized; an attempt to express the
oviet troops enter northern Korea.
July 20-Attempt to assassinate Hitler fails.
value of property and livelihoods destroyed in
ipan surrenders.
Aug. 21-Dumbarton Oaks Conference opens (ends Oct.
7).
terms of money is futile: the resulting sums reach
HE WAR DIPLOMATIC
IL AND OF
Aug. 23-Rumania surrenders unconditionally.
astronomical figures that have little if any prac-
Aug. 25-Rumania declares war on Germany.
tical meaning.
Aug. 26-Bulgaria opens negotiations for surrender with
Allies.
Military Casualties.-Probably the best docu-
Sept. 5-The USSR declares war on Bulgaria.
mented and most meaningful figures are the
reat Britain and France declare war on Gen
Sept. 8-Bulgaria declares war on Germany.
Germany and the USSR revise nonaggresska
Sept. 9-The USSR grants Bulgaria an armistice.
battle casualties. Those for the United States,
Sept. 12-Rumania signs armistice; Octagon Conference
Great Britain, and the Commonwealth nations are
opens in Quebec (ends Sept. 16).
accurate; those for other nations, Allied or Axis,
Sept. 19-Allied-Finnish armistice is signed.
Oct. 23-Great Britain, the USSR, and the United States
vary in reliability. Chinese figures are largely
Finland capitulates, signing Treaty of Moscow
'inston ritain. Churchill becomes prime minister of
grant de jure recognition to French provisional govern-
estimates because of the lack of documentation,
ment headed by Gen. Charles de Gaulle.
information on Soviet losses has been given only
aly declares war on France and Great Brita's
1945
ve June 11).
grudgingly and in very general terms, and many
he USSR begins seizure of Lithuania, Latvia
Jan. 30-Preliminary Anglo-American phase (Cricket)
records of the Axis nations were lost when those
onia (ends Aug. 6).
2). of Argonaut Conference begins at Malta (ends Feb.
countries were overrun. The most accurate avail-
erman-French armistice is signed (fighting
ne ). 25 after signature of Italo-French armistics
Feb. 4-Second phase (Magneto) of Argonaut Conference
able figures are shown in Tables 1, 2, and 3.
opens at Yalta (ends Feb. 11).
SSR seizes Bessarabia and northern Bucovine
March 3-Finland declares war on Germany.
Table 1-UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES TOTAL
nited States begins embargo on shipment
March 10-Japanese place French Indochina under di-
STRENGTH AND CASUALTIES IN WORLD WAR II,
materials to Japan.
rect military administration.
DEC. 7, 1941-DEC. 31, 1946
lited States trades 50 destroyers for naval
April 5-The USSR notifies Japan that it intends to de-
S in British possessions.
nounce their 1941 neutrality pact.
Deaths
April 12-President Roosevelt dies.
Cap-
esident Roosevelt signs first American peace-
from
tured
ective Service Act.
April 23-Heinrich Himmler's offer to surrender German
Total
Battle
other
forces to Western Allies is rejected.
Service
or
panese begin occupation of northern French
strength
deaths
causes
Wounds1
a.
April 25-San Francisco Conference opens (adopts United
missing
nited States imposes total embargo on scrapt
Nations Charter June 26).
Army2
11,260,000
234,874
83,400
565,861
135,524
s to Japan.
April 28-Mussolini is captured and killed by Italian
Navy
4,183,466
36,950
25,664
37,778
2,429
pan joins Axis (Tripartite Pact).
partisans.
Marine Corps
669,100
19,733
4,778
67,207
Coast Guard
1,756
ngary joins Axis.
April 30-Hitler commits suicide.
241,093
574
1,345
955
mania joins Axis.
May 7-German High Command surrenders all forces un-
Total
conditionally at Reims.
16,353,659
292,137
145,187
671,801
139,709
July 17-Terminal Conference begins at Potsdam, Ger-
1
Not
mortal.
Igaria joins Axis.
many (ends Aug: 2).
2 Includes Army Air Forces.
Congress passes Lend-Lease Act.
July 26-Terminal Conference issues Potsdam Declara-
ugoslavia joins Axis.
tion, presenting surrender ultimatum to Japan.
In utilizing strength figures, it should be noted
-Anti-Axis coup d'état takes place in Yugo-
July 28-Japanese announce that they will reject sur-
render ultimatum (rejected July 30).
that total strength means the total number of per-
an and the USSR sign neutrality pact.
osevelt proclaims unlimited national emer-
Aug. 9). 8-The USSR declares war on Japan (effective Aug.
sonnel belonging to the armed forces during the
entire war, whereas peak strength is the greatest
Aug. 10-Japan offers to surrender.
man and Italian assets in the United States
Aug. 14-Japan surrenders.
strength reached at any one time during the war.
n.
Sept. 2-Japanese representatives sign instrument of sur-
Several methods of classifying and computing
many, Italy, and Rumania declare war on
Sept. 11-Big Four foreign ministers' meeting opens in
render aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
casualties are in use, and other variations result
land declares war on the USSR.
London (ends Oct. 2).
from the differing periods covered by the various
agary declares war on the USSR.
Dec. 16-Foreign ministers' meeting opens in Moscow
computations. Consequently, different reputable
n occupies southern Indochina.
(ends Dec. 26).
reference works sometimes show slightly different
nese assets in the United States are frozen.
1946
sevelt and Churchill issue Atlantic Charter.
figures even for United States casualties. Non-
April 25-Foreign ministers' meeting opens in Paris
battle deaths include deaths from accidents and
(ends May 16).
disease.
530
WORLD WAR II: 17
Table 2-ARMED FORCES PEAK STRENGTHS AND BATTLE
DEATHS OF THE PRINCIPAL ALLIED POWERS
In the final analysis, victory War was
Industrial Conversion and
warfare: of the {
Nation
Peak strength
Battle deaths
Allied powers' technological superiority
Australia
680,000
23,365
ity to raise, arm, equip, move,
Belgium
650,000
7,760
superior forces throughout the
Canada
780,000
37,476
China
5,000,000
2,200,000¹
through them to break up and destros
Denmark
25,000
3,0062
nological resources (as well as much
France
5,000,000
210,671
forces) of the Axis nations. Of all
Germ
Greece
414,000
73,700°
24,338
was the United States that possessed
India
2,150,000
materials, skilled manpower, and indu
battle h o
Netherlands
410,000
6,238
2
New Zealand
157,000
10,033
made their victory possible. This potess
and
Norway
45,000
1,000
Poland
1,000,000
320,000
ican technological power, however
USSR
12,500,000
7,500,000
precious time to change from peaceting
reaiders,
a
Union of South Africa
140,000
6,840
tary production. The process of conven
naval
United Kingdom
5,120,000
244,723
United States
12,300,000
292,131
Table 4.
of reconversion at the war's end, is Illu
Yugoslavia
500,000
410,000²
Emarine carrie
merc
1 Casualties beginning with the Japanese invasion in
Table 4-UNITED STATES BUDGET EXPENDIT
1937. 2 Most of these casualties were suffered in guerrilla
JULY 1, 1940-AUG. 31, 1945
warfare that followed German occupation of the country.
(Billions of dollars)
In the case of Denmark they include more than 1,200
2000,000 available
Expenditures
1940
1941
merchant sailors in the service of the Allied powers.
1942
1943
Defense expenditures:
Itish Cor Au
Table 3-ARMED FORCES PEAK STRENGTHS AND BATTLE
War Department
$0.9
$
to
7.3
$29.5
DEATHS OF THE AXIS POWERS
Navy Department
0.9
$46.5
4.2
14.0
24.5
operatin
Other departments
0.1
2.7
8.9
14.1
Nation
Peak strength
Battle deaths
Total
1.9
14.2
52.4
85.2
milliary steleships, air
Nondefense expendi-
90 si
Bulgaria
450,000
10,000¹
tures
3.4
6.0
5.4
Finland
250,000
82,000
5.0
armed m
Total
Germany
10,200,000
$5.3
3,500,000
$20.2
$57.8
$90.2
$97.9
Mary and
Hungary
350,000
140,000
Italy
and cra
3,750,000
77,4942
Japan
6,095,000
1,219,000
Rumania
600,000
300,000¹
Among the varied items purchased by
and ga
States defense expenditures were 57,027
vessel
1 A limited number of these casualties occurred after
tanks (9 different types), 676,433 two-and
the country joined the Allies. 2 Of these, 17,494 were killed
half-ton, six-wheel-drive trucks (11 types)
carrier
after Italy became a cobelligerent with the Allies.
eight-inch howitzers (48 of them self-prom
aircraft
476,628 2.36-inch rocket launchers (bazo
Civilian Casualties.-Casualties among civil-
4,014,731 Garand rifles, 106,658 gunner's
Lawrines
ians were much less accurately recorded than
rants, 4,072,000,000 rounds of .45-caliber
Part of
military losses. In part, this was unavoidable
munition, 57,488,000 wool undershirts, 1165
carriers
because of the population shifts that took place
000 pounds of peanut butter, SCHA
payrict.
as civilians fled before invading armies or the
(Handie-Talkie) radio sets, 500,754 30
continual air attacks on major industrial centers,
bottles of influenza virus vaccine, 7,570
Colonel, 1
or were sent to Germany or the Soviet Union for
tives (48 types), 23,510,030 military gas
sary
A
forced labor.
(2 types), and 3,898 B-29 (Superfortress)
Civilian casualties in the United Kingdom,
heavy bombers. One of the best indication
Bibli
slightly over half of which were inflicted in the
the growing tempo of American military prod
There
ellent
London area, were as follows:
tion during the war is the following date
wated
machine-gun production, covering the period
of
Seriously
A
1, 1940-Aug. 31, 1945:
Agent
Killed
injured
Total
Unit
Aircraft bombs
51,509
61,423
112,932
.50
.30
.50
V-1 (flying bombs)
6,184
17,981
24,165
Year
Caliber1
Caliber
Year
Caliber
V-2
Caller
2,754
6,523
9,277
Artillery fire
148
255
1940
5,155
3,633
1943
641,638
THE
403
1941
Total
49,479
27,672
1944
677,011
121,
60,595
86,182
146,777
1942
347,492
314,839
1945
239,821
625
(219);
Civilian casualties in the-USSR have been
1 The increasing preponderance of 50-caliber
modial
placed roughly at 2,500,000 killed. The loss of
guns reflects their growing use as aircraft and
vehicle armament.
Chist
population (including both military and civilian
casualties) caused directly or indirectly by the
Shipping Losses.-Allied merchant shipping
war has been stated at 20,000,000. Air raids
losses during the war were as follows:-
against Germany killed approximately 300,000
Germans and seriously injured about 780,000
Year
Number of vessels
Tonnege
more. Numerous additional casualties occurred
1939
221
755.33
1940
1,059
3,991,44
during the Soviet invasion of 1944-1945, but no
1941
1,299
4,328,558
105
specific estimates are available. Japanese civilian
1942
1,664
7,790,441
casualties probably approached 500,000 killed
1943
597
3,220,133
1944
205
1,045,476
and 625,000 seriously injured, plus a considerable
1945
105
438,82
number reported as missing after the fire raids
Total
5,150
21,570.728
and atomic bombings. In addition, about 360,000
Japanese captured by the Russians in Manchuria,
Of the 5,150 Allied merchant vessels sunk, 2,825
Korea, and the Kuril Islands were still missing in
were victims of Axis submarines, principally Get
1950; a large number of them have never been
man. The parallel German submarine losses
accounted for. Chinese civilian losses are un-
(revised according to the latest British Admiralty
known but probably numbered several million.
assessment) therefore furnish an interesting in
THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER FLAG HOUSE c.1793 AND MUSEUM
National Historic Landmark
1989-1990
Officers and Directors
August 25, 1989
Mr. John S. Waters
President
Mr. Clifford C. Bruck
Vice President
Ms. Peggy Dooley
Mr. Herbert R. Preston, Jr.
Vice President
Speech Writing Office
Mr. Gordon M. F. Stick, Jr.
The White House
Vice President
Mrs. Turner Moore
Washington, D.C. 20500
Secretary
Mr. John H. Ensor
Dear Ms. Dooley:
Treasurer
Mr. Hugh Benet, Jr.
Mr. J. Prentiss Browne
When you called the Flag House this morning to inquire whether we were
Mr. Donald W. Carroll
Mr. S. Vannort Chapman
planning any special celebration of the writing of "The Star-Spangled
Colonel William E. Codd
Banner" in September of 1814, I explained that we were not -- because
Mr. Curtis Carroll Davis
Mr. William E. Ferguson
we tell about the circumstances of its writing every day.
Mr. John Leo Flanigan, Jr.
Mrs. Edward C. Griepenkerl
I said also that I would send you some material about the Flag House;
Mrs. Rafael C. Haciski
Mrs. Jean Hofmeister, Jr.
you will find enclosed some of our brochures (we are somewhat affiliated
Mrs. Miles B. Hopkins
with U.S.F. Constellation, and so we share a brochure). I am sending
Mr. Louis V. Koerber
Mr. Thomas J. Murphy III
also a program from one of the Pause for the Pledge ceremonies at Fort
Mr. Charles C. Stieff II
McHenry on Flag Day; these programs contain material about the War of 1812
Mr. Herbert E. Witz
(so few people seem to know much about our "second War for Independence")
Mrs. William F. Yonkers
as well as material about the making of the "star-spangled banner" flag
Presidents Emeriti
(made by Mary Pickersgill in the house now known as the Flag House) and
Mr. Hugh Benet, Jr.
Mr. John A. Pentz
about Francis Scott Key's writing of his poem, inspired by the sight of
Hon. Wilson K. Barnes
Mrs. Pickersgill's huge flag.
Mrs. Pickersgill's house dates from 1793. She lived here from 1807
until her death in 1857, and it was here that she sewed by hand the
flag, as well as other flags. The house is furnished in authentic
furnishings of the period, some even belonging to Mrs. Pickersgill.
We give tours daily, except Sunday, and explain all of the above infor-
mation. Come see us some time!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Monyle Riepenkers Edward C. Griepenkerl
Member of the Directorate,
Volunteer staff member
844 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202-4495 / 301-837-1793
Pause For The Pledge
Wi
Pennsylvania
Dec. 12, 1787
New Jersey
Dec. 18, 1787
Georgia
Jan. 2, 1788
Connecticut
Jan. 9, 1788
Massachusetts
Feb. 6, 1788
Maryland
April 28, 1788
S. Carolina
May 23, 1788
*New Hampshsire
June 24, 1788
Virginia
June 26, 1788
New York
July 26, 1788
N. Carolina
Nov. 21, 1788
Rhode Island
May 29, 1788
*9 states required for final ratification.
Ratification order of
original 13 states
FLAG DAY USA
June 14, 1988 7 P.M. (EDT)
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United
States of America and to the Republic for which
it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all."
1788
Bicentennial of Ratification of the U.S. Constitution
1988
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine.
A program of the National Flag Day Foundation, Inc. Baltimore, Maryland.
NATIONAL FLAG DAY USA
PAUSE FOR THE PLEDGE
PROGRAM
JUNE 14, 1988
6:00 PM
FORT McHENRY NATIONAL MONUMENT AND HISTORIC SHRINE
MUSICAL PRELUDE 564th Tactical Air Force Band, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, under the direction of
Lieutenant Kelly G. Bledsoe
GREETINGS
Bob Turk, Television Personality, WJZ-TV Channel 13, Master of Ceremonies
PARADE OF FLAGS
50 State Flags in order of entry into the Union, carried by a Student Representative
from each State, narrated by Gerald P. Rogers
INVOCATION
Col. J.E. Watterson, Chief of Chaplains, First Army Headquarters,
Fort George G. Meade, Maryland
WELCOME John Tyler, Superintendent, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
The Honorable William Donald Schaefer
Governor of the State of Maryland
The Honorable Kurt L. Schmoke,
Mayor of the City of Baltimore
Richard M. Patterson, Vice President, National Flag Day Foundation
INTRODUCTION OF
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS
PARACHUTE DROP
Flying National Colors-Maryland Army National Guard Demonstration Parachute
Team, under the command of
THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
564th Tactical Air Force Band (JOINED BY THE AUDIENCE)
RAISING OF STAR-SPANGLED
Melvin J. Lowery, Baltimore and New York Opera Companies
BANNER REPLICA (42' 30')
7:00 P.M. EDT NATIONWIDE
Led in unison by: (JOINED BY THE AUDIENCE)
PAUSE FOR THE PLEDGE
Governor William Donald Schaefer,
The Honorable Louis L. Goldstein
representing all Governors
Comptroller, State of Maryland
representing all State Flag Day Coordinators
Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke,
A State Student Representative,
representing all Mayors
representing the Youth of the Nation
THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for
TO THE FLAG
which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
MUSICAL SELECTION
Melvin J. Lowery, "America the Beautiful" (JOINED BY AUDIENCE)
INTRODUCTION OF
Maj. Gen. James F. Fretterd, The Adjutant General of Maryland
GUEST SPEAKER
FLAG DAY MESSAGE
The Honorable Louis L. Goldstein, Comptroller of the State of Maryland
Maryland State Flag Day Coordinator
PRESENTATIONS
Richard M. Patterson, Chairman, National Flag Day Committee
PRESENTATION
James A. McDougald, Field Division General Manager-Postmaster Baltimore
EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE
Louis V. Koerber, President, National Flag Day Foundation
MILITARY MUSICAL
564th Tactical Air Force Band
SELECTIONS
FLY OVER A-10 aircraft from the 175th Tactical Flight Squadron, Maryland National Guard
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE
U.S. Air Force Honor Guard (drill team), Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.,
commanded by
CONCERT The Bourbon Street Ramblers Dixieland Group, under direction of Edward Gold-
stein-U.S. Recording Companies have funded, at least in part, the instrumental
music for this performance, as arranged by Local 40-543, American Federation of
Musicians
FIREWORKS BY ZAMBELLI "By Dawn's Early Light," Sponsored by the National Flag Day Foundation, Inc.
The 99th Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed Public Law 99-54 on June 20, 1985 recognizing the
PAUSE FOR THE PLEDGE of Allegiance as part of National Flag Day ceremonies.
President and Mrs. Reagan participated in ceremonies at Fort McHenry on June 14, 1985.
A FLAG FOR ALL GENERATIONS
THE FLAG AND THE SECOND
to protect the entrance to Baltimore harbor. Construction
of the masonry Fort now in existence was begun in 1798
WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
and was named to honor the Secretary of War, James
McHenry, a resident of Baltimore.
In August, 1814, the British burned the Capitol, the
In most histories of the United States, the War of
White House and other buildings in Washington. Their
1812, fought against Great Britain between 1812 and
next target was Baltimore. Under the leadership of Gen.
1814, rates little more than a footnote. Such obscurity
Samuel Smith, a local politician and veteran of the Revo
is undeserved.
lution, Baltimore defenses were erected, arms and equip-
The conflict was of signal importance to the United
ment gathered, and citizen soldiers trained. Smith's
States because it became nothing less than a war of
forces were made up mostly of Maryland, Pennsylvania,
self-affirmation. At its beginning, America's integrity
and Virginia militia, some regular units, and sailors. The
as a nation stood challenged by the former Mother
key to the defense was Fort McHenry, garrisoned by a
thousand men.
Country. By the war's end, that integrity had been de-
fended and secured once and for all. For that reason,
The British intended to take the city by a joint land and
some historians have called the contest The Second
naval attack. Early on September 12, their troops began
War of Independence. It truly was.
moving ashore at North Point, 12 miles from Baltimore.
Great Britain's plan for victory relied on a three-
About 5 miles inland, they met the first resistance by
pronged attack. Her forces would sever secession-
American forces. A shot brought down General Ross,
minded New England from the rest of the "colonies"
the British commander, and his death robbed his army
via Lake Champlain; they would cut the rest of the
of much of its effectiveness. Pushing on toward the city,
the British encountered the main American line. Here
country in half at the Chesapeake Bay; then, finally,
they would seize control of the Mississippi, thus halting
the outnumbered Americans fought well, but a British
forever any westward expansion by the United States.
flanking movement forced them to withdraw. At dawn
on the 13th the battle resumed. As the British marched
Ultimately, all three plans went awry, although it
looked for a time-particularly after the Americans' de-
toward the city, the war ships of their fleet moved to
feat at Bladensburg in August, 1814, and the subsequent
within 2 miles of Fort McHenry and opened fire. The
bombardment lasted 25 hours. It was later estimated
burning of Washington, D.C.-that the Chesapeake re-
that some 1,800 bombs, rockets and shells were fired at
gion might yield. That it didn't can be attributed to the
the Fort and about 400 landed inside. Four defenders at
gallant defense of Baltimore, from which the British
the Fort were killed and 24 more were wounded.
were repulsed in September, 1814, after battles on both
land and water.
But events at Baltimore had other significance as well,
for, as we shall see, it was as a result of the city's
triumph that America gained both her national anthem
and an enduring respect for the flag which is her proud
symbol, The Star-Spangled Banner.
FORT McHENRY:
CITADEL OF FREEDOM
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, where the flag flies
Shrine, by reason of its contribution to American history,
24 hours a day by Presidential Proclamation.
occupies a pre-eminent position among the shrines and
The Fort must fall before the ships could penetrate
monuments of our country. It was the successful defense
the harbor and join forces with their land troops. About
of this Fort against a 25-hour British naval bombardment
midnight the British launched a flanking attack up the
in September 1814 that inspired a young American pat-
other channel of the river hoping to take the Fort from
riot to write the words which were eventually adopted
the rear. This sortie failed. Stymied by the tenacious
as our national anthem.
defense of the Fort, the fleet could not support the army.
As early as the Revolutionary War, the tip of the narrow
The British hopes of capturing Baltimore collapsed. The
peninsula on which Fort McHenry rests was considered
bombships continued bombardment until 7 a.m. on the
a strategic place to defend Baltimore. In 1776, Fort
14th, then withdrew down the river to pick up the with-
Whetstone was built on the present site of Fort McHenry
drawing army. The city was saved!
-Paul E. Plamann
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY AND
Over embattled Fort McHenry flew a tremendous flag.
Key watched the enemy rockets and bombs burst in the
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
air. He felt the spray and the movement of the swells.
The night grew still. In the morning light Key saw the
great flag over the star fort. On the back of an envelope
The Battle of Baltimore would be remembered only
he began to write the words which would become "The
as one of the few American victories of consequence
Star-Spangled Banner."
in the War of 1812 had not Francis Scott Key, a 34-year-
old lawyer-poet, so effectively dramatized the bombard-
ment, the flag, and much of the feeling of the day in
verse.
Francis Scott Key, a prominent figure of his time, was
both an orator and idealist. Key was born in 1779 at a
manor house, Terra Rubra, in Frederick County, Mary-
land. He attended St. John's College in Annapolis and
returned to Frederick to practice law. After he married
Mary Tayloe Lloyd, the couple moved to Georgetown
so Francis could practice law with his uncle, Philip
Barton Key.
A pacifist at heart, Key had no desire for war with
England. Still, after Congress passed the War Act in
1812, Key the patriot became a lieutenant and quarter-
master in a field company just before Washington was
burned in 1814.
The incident which led to Key's celebrated poem
began at this time, September, 1814, when friends im-
portuned the persuasive lawyer to intervene after the
unjust capture of Dr. William Beanes, a physician from
Upper Marlboro who had caused the arrest of an unruly
band of British soldiers. In retaliation, Admiral Sir
George Cockburn sent a detachment of troops who
broke into Dr. Beanes' house, dragged him from bed,
and threw him in irons on board ship. It was an outrage,
The Star-Spangled Banner, Smithsonian Institution.
but his release could not be secured, and Cockburn
threatened to hang him from the yardarm.
Key jotted down notes aboard the ship and finished
Although the capital was in utter confusion, the Pres-
the poem that night after he returned to Baltimore. Mr.
ident gave his sanction to this mission of mercy. Under
Key's poem was set to a well-known English tune.
a flag of truce, Key boarded an American sloop with
Printed as a handbill immediately after the battle,
Colonel John S. Skinner and approached the British
the song, evoking powerful emotions of courage and
fleet somewhere in the Chesapeake. Key was coldly
patriotism, became very popular with the people of
received, but he had with him documents which de-
Baltimore. Within months of its birth, the song
scribed the care with which the captured doctor had
appeared in newspapers, magazines, and books.
treated wounded British soldiers. The documents
It was not until the start of the Civil War that "The
swayed the argument, and Key's plea for the release of
Star-Spangled Banner" became foremost among our
Dr. Beanes was granted. But the hour had struck for
national songs. During the war, both Northern and
the attack on Baltimore from the sea. Powerless to give
Southern forces rallied to the song. During this war,
warning, the three Americans were detained, thus
and others that would follow, branches of the military
being forced to watch the bombardment of Fort
service used it as an "unofficial" national anthem dur-
McHenry within enemy lines, a strange paradox.
ing their ceremonies.
With America's entrance into World War I, the song
became so widely accepted that a drive was begun in
Congress to make it our nation's official anthem of the
Armed Forces.
The battle to win Congressional approval, however,
was not an easy one. There were many other contenders
for the honor, including "America the Beautiful" and
"Yankee Doodle."
There were many individuals and groups associated
with the movement to have "The Star-Spangled Banner"
made our country's anthem. But paramount among the
leaders in this cause were Maryland Congressman J.
Charles Linthicum and Mrs. Reuben Ross Holloway,
of Baltimore, whose perseverance was finally realized
on March 3, 1931. That day President Herbert Hoover
Percy Moran depiction of Key seeing the Star-Spangled Banner by the
signed his name to Public Law 823, thereby officially
"Dawn's Early Light." The Peale Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.
designating a national anthem for the United States.
-Paul E. Plamann
MARY PICKERSGILL
Georgiana Armistead Appleton, daughter of the Fort
McHenry Commandant, in which she recounted the
AND THE MAKING OF
details of the making of the flag. Caroline writes: "It
was made by my mother, Mrs. Mary Pickersgill, and I
THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
assisted her. My grandmother, Rebecca Young, made
Flagmakers have their own auras and mystiques, but
the first flag of the Revolution under General
only three have received much attention in the history
Washington's directions, and for this reason my mother
of our flags. Rebecca Flower Young was a professional
was selected by Commodore Barney and General
flagmaker in Philadelphia prior to the American Revo-
Stricker to make this star-spangled banner, being an
lution. It is generally believed that she made the Grand
exceedingly patriotic woman."
Union Flag which General Washington raised over his
This garrison flag was 30 feet hoist (height) by 42
headquarters on New Year's Day, 1776.
feet fly (span from the staff to the outer edge). Preble
The most enduring legend surrounds the story of
states, "It had fifteen five-pointed stars, each two feet
Betsy Ross. In June, 1776, before the signing of the
from point to point, and arranged in five indented paral-
Declaration of Independence, Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia
lel lines, three stars in each horizontal line. It had fifteen
seamstress, supposedly received a call from a com-
instead of thirteen stripes, each near two feet wide."
mittee of Congress asking her to make a flag; and as
In her letter Caroline continues: "The flag, I think,
the legend claims, our flag was born. Questions have
contained four hundred yards of bunting, and my
been raised about the Betsy Ross story over the years,
mother worked many nights until twelve o'clock to
but despite the lack of concrete evidence, it is firmly
complete it in a given time." Wool bunting was usually
implanted in American folklore.
imported from England in bolts 18 inches wide. These
Another story about the flag with definite confirma-
strips, however, were two feet wide, six inches added
tion, concerns Mary Young Pickersgill, the daughter
by a French fell. The flag, being so large, was assembled
of Rebecca Flower Young. Mary was born in 1776 in
in a nearby malt-house.
Philadelphia. In 1807 Mary and her mother, both
In March, 1938, Mary Pickersgill's original receipt
widows, with little Caroline Pickersgill, moved into a
came to light, written in her fine script and "Signed in
corner row house on Albermarle Street, Baltimore,
duplicate for Mary Pickersgill - Eliza Young." The
Maryland. Mary advertised as a "flag, banner and
reverse side of the receipt is signed "G. Armistead
pennant maker" and made flags for local ship owners.
Major" and specifies "Fortification Voucher No. 10.
In 1813 Mary Pickersgill made the Star-Spangled
Mary Pickersgill for flags." (The second flag listed in
Banner, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in the
this receipt is believed to have been a storm flag.) The
War of 1812 and which Francis Scott Key saw in the
receipt gives the price paid to Mary-$405.90-and the
"dawn's early light." Confirmation rests firmly on two
flag dimensions. The flag was delivered to Fort
documents: Caroline Pickersgill Purdy's letter printed
McHenry on August 19, 1813, a full year before the
in Preble's The Origin and History of the American Flag,
Battle of Baltimore, September 12, 13, and 14, 1814.
published in 1917, and Mary Pickersgill's original receipt.
That the Star-Spangled Banner was made by Mary
The story of the Star-Spangled Banner begins with a
Pickersgill is fact, not legend. The flag is on display in
statement attributed to Major George Armistead, Com-
the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The
mandant of Fort McHenry, in July, 1813, to the Com-
house where it was made still stands at Pratt and Alber-
mander of Baltimore defenses, General Samuel Smith:
marle Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, and is a National
"We, sir, are ready at Fort McHenry to defend Baltimore
Historic Landmark. The house has been restored and
against invading by the enemy
except that we have
with its adjacent 1812 War Museum commemorating
no suitable ensign to display over the Star Fort, and it
the Battle of Baltimore is operated by an independent
is my desire to have a flag so large that the British will
non-profit association. Affectionately known to Bal-
have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance."
timoreans simply as "the Flag House," it is open to the
In 1876 Caroline Pickersgill Purdy wrote a letter to
public daily, except for certain major holidays.
The Grand Union
An Early Stars and Stripes
The 15 Stars and Stripes
The first revolutionary flag of the
Not until 1912 was the design of the
After Vermont and Kentucky joined
United States and the ensign of a new
flag formalized. Earlier flagmakers ar-
the Union, Congress adopted this flag
navy. This flag had the British Grand
ranged the stars as they saw fit. Above
with 15 stars and 15 stripes in 1794.
Union as the canton and 13 stripes,
is a popular early design. However,
In 1818, it was decided to limit the
alternating red and white, to represent
there is no evidence it was flown dur-
stripes to 13 but to continue to add
the 13 colonies.
ing the Revolution.
stars as new states joined the Union.
FLAG DAY
It was 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson issued
a proclamation calling for a nationwide observance of
Flag Day on June 14. It was not until 1949, however,
The Stars and Stripes came into being on June 14,
that Congress gave the holiday permanence by re-
1777, when the Second Continental Congress author-
solving "That the 14th day of June of each year is hereby
ized a new flag to symbolize the new nation, the United
designated as Flag Day
President Harry Truman
States of America. The commemoration of this day as
immediately signed the measure into law.
the birthday of the flag developed slowly.
Today, Flag Day is not a legal holiday, except in
The Stars and Stripes first flew in a Flag Day celebra-
Pennsylvania. Notwithstanding, the appeal to Ameri-
tion in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1861, the first summer
cans of this day of reverence for Old Glory remains
of the Civil War. The first national observance of Flag
high. On June 14 the National Flag Day Committee
Day came on June 14, 1877, the centennial of the original
again invites America to share in this happy celebra-
flag resolution. In the decades that followed, a number
tion of history and heritage.
of individuals and organizations, quite possibly
unaware of the efforts others were making, pressed to
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE STORY
have Flag Day observed regularly.
One individual who waged a life-long crusade for a
national Flag Day observance was Bernard J. Cigrand.
The author of the Pledge of Allegiance was an
As a 19-year-old teacher in the Stony Hill School near
ordained minister and magazine writer, Francis
Waubeka, Wisconsin, he kept on his desk mounted in
Bellamy, who stated that his aim was to say "what our
a bottle, a 38-star flag, 10 inches high. At the close of
republic meant and what was the underlying spirit of
school in 1885, Cigrand observed a first Flag Birth Day
its life."
with his pupils.
Although Cigrand left his teaching post in 1886 for
a career in dentistry, he persisted in furthering a na-
I phare alligiance To my and (5)
tional Flag Day holiday on June 14. He wrote, lectured,
lobbied, and organized to advance the cause. In 1894
the Republic for which it stands-
he helped found the American Flag Day Association
in Chicago, which soon expanded nationally.
me nation individual- with liberty
and justice for all,
The Pledge in Bellamy's handwriting.
The pledge had its background in a patriotic campaign
to institute the flying of the national flag over
schoolhouses and other public buildings. The campaign
reached a crescendo in 1892 with a well orchestrated
national celebration of the 400th anniversary of the
discovery of America by Columbus.
A national committee prepared a script for a Colum-
bus Day ceremony which culminated in raising the flag.
The pledge was included in this script disseminated
widely to schools. So it was in 1892, in the context of
The Stony Hill School near Waubeka, Wisconsin, restored to how it looked
special Columbus Day celebrations, that the Pledge of
in 1885.
Allegiance was first recited by school children across
Similar grass-roots movements in support of Flag
America.
Day developed elsewhere. Numerous patriotic societies
The wording of the pledge has been modified three
such as The Sons of the American Revolution took the
times. In 1923 the words, "the flag of the United States,"
lead. Many Civil War veterans' groups in New England
were substituted for "my flag" on the ground that some
and the Mid-West also became identified with the Flag
foreign-born when giving the pledge might have in mind
Day movement.
the flag of their native land. Even greater specificity was
A major objective of the advocates of Flag Day was
attained a year later when "of America" was added. On
to stimulate patriotism among the young. Entreated by
Flag Day, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a
patriotic societies, Superintendents of Schools were
law which added the words, "under God."
often the first public officials to direct that exercises be
When recounting in later life the story of how the
conducted. In large cities these exercises in the schools
Pledge of Allegiance originated, Bellamy wrote: "The
were viewed as a contribution to the Americanization
first time I heard it was when it was roared out by 6,000
of immigrant children.
high school students in Boston, and I felt my thrill as
By the mid-1890s the observance of Flag Day on June
I realized it was a living contribution to patriotic educa-
14 had caught on everywhere. Official recognition of
tion and sentiment
This thrill will be regenerated
the date as Flag Day was slower to come, however.
as millions PAUSE FOR THE PLEDGE at 7 p.m. (EDT)
Gradually, mayors and governors began to issue proc-
on June 14 repeating the simple words of enduring
lamations establishing the holiday in their jurisdictions.
meaning.
THE NATIONAL FLAG DAY FOUNDATION, INC.
The concept of PAUSE FOR THE PLEDGE of Allegiance on Flag
will be asked to take leadership in developing Flag Day programs
Day had its origins in 1980. The ceremony was conceived as a way
in their school systems and encouraging observances in commu-
for citizens, regardless of age, race, religion, national origin or
nities throughout the state. This program extends significantly the
geographic locale, to share a patriotic moment and project a sign of
educational program of the National Flag Day Foundation.
unity abroad.
This simple ceremony evoked such a positive response that it
Mrs. Nancy Reagan, Honorary Chairman
was repeated in subsequent years. In 1985, Congress passed and
National PAUSE FOR THE PLEDGE Program
President Reagan signed Public Law 99-54 which made the PAUSE
FOR THE PLEDGE of Allegiance an official part of National Flag
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Day ceremonies.
*Louis V. Koerber, President
To foster such observances, a National Flag Day Foundation, Inc.
*Richard M. Patterson, Vice President
was chartered in December, 1982. This non-profit, non-partisan
William T. Murray III, Treasurer
Foundation is committed "to conduct educational programs
throughout the United States of America in promotion of National
*Herbert E. Witz, Secretary
Flag Day, declared by Act of Congress to be celebrated on June 14 of
*George V. McGowan, Chairman, Baltimore Gas and
each year,
and further to encourage national patriotism by
Electric Co.
promotion of the PAUSE FOR THE PLEDGE of Allegiance,
James McManus (Jim McKay), ABC Television Network
whereby the entire nation may pause simultaneously on National
*Jack Moseley, Chairman, United States Fidelity and
Flag Day and recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the National Flag."
Guaranty Co.
All 24 subdivisions in Maryland, including Baltimore City, are
Brooks Robinson, Baseball Hall of Fame
planning to conduct Flag Day ceremonies coinciding with the Na-
*Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr., Chairman, Crown Central
tional PAUSE FOR THE PLEDGE of Allegiance observance. Over
3000 cities across the nation have received information and as-
Petroleum Corp.
sistance in planning their local ceremonies.
*General John W. Vessey, Jr., USA (Ret.), Former Chair-
The Governor of each state has selected an outstanding student
man, Joint Chiefs of Staff
to come to Baltimore to represent his/or her state in the National
*Dr. Milton S. Eisenhower (1899-1985)
Parade of Flags. Each Governor has also appointed a state educa-
*Charter Members
tional official to participate in the Flag Day events. These officials
NATIONAL FLAG DAY COMMITTEE
tRichard M. Patterson, Chairman
tGerald P. Rogers, Executive Vice Chairman
+Col. Herbert L. Grymes, Jr., Executive Vice Chairman
thomas J. Berenbach, Treasurer
Frances Johnson, Development
Marye H. McIntosh, Administrator
Hon. Louis J. Goldstein, Md. State Coordinator
C. Webster Abbott
Elizabeth M. Dugan
tLouis V. Koerber
Morgan S. Ruph
Sheila C. Aguilar, Esq.
William M. Dunbar
Walter Komorowski
Joann Scarborough
t*John A. Andryszak
Halstead F. Dunham
Marko Koropeckyj
Melissa S. Scheitler
Anthony Angerame
Jack E. Dyke
Glenn Lahman
Philip B. Schnering
Barnet A. Annenberg
Lear Evans
Lucille A. Lather
*Kendall L. Shackelford
Randy Arndt
John W. Felton
Harry Leadmon
Shirley Shanahan
Clarence M. Bacon
Randi Fenneman
Kristan Leatherman
Rick Shannon
Clifton B. Ball
J. Leo Flanigan
Irene Lericos
E. Carr Shepp
Tracy Baskerville
Greg Floberg
George A. Lewis
*William Sickels
Edmund G. Beacham
Brenda Foster
Elizabeth Long
Marian Sinwell
Leonard A. Blackshear
Larry Frank
Alice Loving
Scott Skogmo
*E. Standish Bradford, Jr.
Bud Freeman
*Ron McCarty
Albert N. Smith, Jr.
t*Phyllis Brotman
Ron Fuller
Darlene McCullough
William Snyder
Kerrie Burch-DeLuca
Brandon Gaines
Jeanette McDermott
Courtney Solenberger
Brent Burkhardt
Jack Giacomo
Susan Meeks-Versteeg
Gordon M. F. Stick, Jr.
Lee Burlage
James Grant
*Col. James J. Nau
Paul D. Sullivan
Richard D. Byrd
Kelly Groff
Mary Helen Nippard
Milton S. Taylor
**Christine L. Carr
Gerald Hamill
Robert Novak
*William Taylor
Philip W. Chase, Jr.
Greg Harris
*H. Clifton Osborn
Paul L. Thompson, PNC
Carlton Clark
Maj. Gen. Warren Hodges (Ret.)
Sunshine Overkamp
H. Richards Tillman
Jeffrey Cook, Sr.
Candi Humphrey
Michelle A. Paris
C. Paige Tray
John P. Cosgrove
Douglas Isennock
George Patton
KC Turner
Janet B. Covington
Robert M. Johnston
Patricia Perluke
John Tyler
Owen Crabb
Frank W. Just
Robert M. Pomory
James S. Weaver, Jr.
Capt. Thomas J. Cralley
Gerald Kavanagh
Dr. Morgan H. Pritchett
Carolyn H. West
Bruce Culotta
George Kessel
Louis J. Reda
tRobert Wetzler
Denice Deeley
Sydney King
Jackie Richards
Robert Willis
Donna Divis
Louis Kistner
Cindy L. Rion
Col. Milton Zavadil, Jr.
Randy Dove
Penne Klipper
John R. Rixham
Karen Zuckman
*Committee Chairman
tExecutive Committee
HUMAN FLAG CEREMONIES
FEDERAL HILL CEREMONIES
At Fort McHenry, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am June 7, over 4000
Citizens from across the state and nation gathered in the Har-
children from all subdivisions of Maryland participated in the
borplace Amphitheater June 11 to initiate four days of activities
formation of an American Human Flag.
commemorating National Flag Day.
Precedent and inspiration for this ceremony was the original
The focal point of the ceremony was the unveiling of the nation's
Human Flag formed on the grounds of Fort McHenry by Baltimore
largest replica of the Star-Spangled Banner on the slope of Federal
City School children in 1914. Participants in the 1914 Human Flag
Hill. The replica measures 100' by 60'. The U.S.F. Constellation,
were present to pass "the baton of patriotism" to the younger
the nation's oldest ship of the U.S. Navy, fired her cannon with
generation.
return cannon fire from atop Federal Hill. This symbolically recre-
The event generated an educational experience for all school
ated the historic battles fought in Baltimore.
systems. The National Flag Day Foundation made available a
Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke brought words of welcome to the 50
packet of educational materials. The Maryland State Department of
young adult State Student Representatives and the 50 State Educa-
Education prepared a series of lesson plans for use in classrooms
tion Liaison officials. Fifteen-star flags which had flown over Fort
prior to the creation of the Human Flag. Teachers were encouraged
McHenry were presented to the State Representatives to take back
to use these aids in conducting lessons on the Flag, the Pledge of
to their Governors as symbols of unity among these United States.
Allegiance and their meaning.
EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE
This is the ninth year Americans everywhere will be simultaneously saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Its
success is due to the enthusastic cooperation and teamwork of thousands of people and organizations across our Nation.
The National Flag Day Foundation sincerely hopes that all volunteers and supporters know how much their assistance is appreciated.
More detailed recognition is precluded by space limitations. Appreciation to those shown and to those known only to themselves is limitless.
The following individuals and organizations have made monetary contributions as follows:
(6/2/87 to 6/1/88)
Star Spangled Banner Club
Pledge of Allegiance Club
Mr. & Mrs. Brooks C. Robinson
Mr. A. Brian Doud
$5,000 and Over
$100 to $499
The Schluderberg Foundation, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. Leslie Dunn
Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.
American Legion Auxiliary Parkville Unit
Mr. Philip Schnering
French/Bray, Inc.
Crown Central Petroluem
No. 183, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. James F. Smith
Goldenberg, Caplan & Pierce
First Maryland Foundation
The Baltimore Life Insurance Company
Mr. William Snyder
Greencastle Metal Works, Inc.
The Jacob and Annita France Foundation,
Charitable Trust
Society of Sons of the Revolution in the
Harbor Construction, Inc.
Inc. and Robert G. and Anne M. Merrick
Baltimore Stationery
State of Md.
Hattiesburg Paint & Decorating
Foundation, Inc.
Dr. Edmund G. Beacham, MD
Southern Seafood Co.
Mr. & Mrs. Kevin M. Hall
Ensign C. Markland Kelly, Jr. Memorial
Mr. Leonard A. Blackshear
Tate Industries Foundation, Inc.
Mr. Daniel Herold
Foundation, Inc.
Mr. E. Standish Bradford, Jr.
United Auto Workers of America, Local
Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas B. Hill
Maryland Dept. of Economic &
C&P Telephone
239
Hoffman, Feldmann & Assoc.
Community Development
Mr. C. Read Carter
VFW, Ladies Auxiliary to Parkville Post
George Forsyth, Jr.
Richardson, Myers & Donofrio, Inc.
Chase, Fitzgerald & Company, Inc.
#9083
Thomas Johnson Society, National Society
The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg
Mr. Carlton S. Clark
VFW, Parkville Memorial Post
of Children of the American Revolution
Foundation
Coles Ethan Allen Galleries
WJZ-TV "For Kids' Sake"
Mr. & Mrs. Walter A. Koerber
USF&G
Dryden Oil Co.
Waverly Press, Inc.
Mr. Walter Komorowski
Duron, Inc.
Mr. James S. Weaver, Jr.
Mr. Craig Lewis
Francis Scott Key Club
Explosives Engineers, Inc.
The Whiting Turner Contr. Co.
Ms. Harriet R. Lewis
$1,000 to $4,999
Mr. J. Leo Flanigan, Jr.
Yonar Laboratories, Inc.
Mrs. H.K. Mackey
AT&T
The Victor Frenkil Foundation
William Zinsser & Co.
Mrs. August G. Mannion
Avery International, Charles D. Miller,
Col. & Mrs. Nerbert L. Grymes, Jr.
Maryland State Society, Children of the
Chairman
J.J. Haines & Company, Inc.
Pause for the Pledge Club
American Revolution
The Baltimore Rotary Foundation, Inc.
Maj. Gen. Warren D. Hodges (Ret.)
$10 to $99
Mr. Robert L. Matthews
Benjamin Moore & Co.
Mr. & Mrs. William C. Hossfeld, Sr.
Mr. C. Webster Abbott
Mr. & Mrs. John S. Mehring
City of Baltimore
IBM Corporation
Admiral Fell Inn
Mitchell Wiedefeld Home, Inc.
CSX Transportation
Independent Can Company
The Alliance of Baltimore County
Mrs. Jacqueline V. Mudge
Equitable Bank, N.A.
The KMS Group, Inc.
Community Councils, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. George C. Patton
Richard M. Patterson, CLU, CHFC
Mr. & Mrs. Louis V. Koerber
Automobile Club of Maryland
Mr. & Mrs. C. William Schneidereith, Jr.
The Procter & Gamble Fund
Mr. Joseph J. Lacy
Baltimore & Annapolis R.R. Co.
Ms. Shirley Shanahan
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
Lee Electric Co.
Baltimore Chapter, American Gold Star
Mr. & Mrs. Sidney H. Sherman
Lenmar, Inc.
Mothers, Inc.
Mr. Ted M. Shults
Flag Day USA Club
Mars Super Markets, Inc.
Mrs. Gwendolyn M. Bruggman
Mr. & Mrs. Ralph R. Sears, Jr.
$500 to $999
Martin Marietta Magnesia Specialties
Mr. & Mrs. S. James Campbell
Casper G. Sippel, Inc.
American Legion, Parkville Post
183
Maryland Association of Realtors
Mr. Joseph Candella
Sloatsburg Memorial Post No. 1643
Black & Decker
Maryland Commandery Military Order of
Mr. & Mrs. Bruce A. Smith
General Motors Corp.
Foreign Wars
Pause for the Pledge Club
Stieff Foundation, Inc.
Harbor Federal Savings & Loan Association
Mid-Atlantic Photo Composition, Inc.
$10 to $99
Charles C. Taylor, III
Marcor/Mechanical Asbestos Removal
Dr. Elinor T. & Col. Martin F. Massoglia
Center for Insurance & Related Services
Mr. & Mrs. Harry H. Tillman
Thomas F. and Clementine L. Mullan
Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Company
J. Martin Christ, Inc.
Mrs. KC Turner
Foundation, Inc.
Mr. Thomas C. Price
Ms. Anne Bowen Cook
Mr. H. Mebane Turner
The Noxell Foundation, Inc.
Sheppard T. Powell Associates
Mr. & Mrs. Edgar A.C. Curran, Jr.
Mr. Nicholas VanSant
Signet Bank of Maryland
Dr. Morgan H. Pritchett
Department of Md. & Del. American Gold
VFW Ladies Auxiliary 2979
Provident Bank of Maryland
Star Mothers, Inc.
Mr. Christopher Watson
Mr. George M.S. Riepe
Mr. John W. Donaldson
Harry M. Will, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. James H. Yates, Sr.
The following individuals and organizations have contributed services, support and/or gifts-in-kind:
(6/2/87 to 6/3//88)
Aberdeen Proving Ground
Fell's Printing Co., Inc.
Maryland Joint Veterans Committee
Uncle Sam and the Clowns
The Admiral Fell Inn
1st Army Band, Fort Meade
Maryland National Guard
U-NEEK Display, Inc.
Advanced Research & Consulting, Inc.
First National Bank of Md.
Maryland Port Authority
United Parcel Service
American Airlines
Greater Baltimore Committee
Maryland Science Center
USF&G
American Legion
Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS®
Maryland, You Are Beautiful
USA-Today
American National Savings Association
Harborplace Management
Media Organizations-Local
U.S. Army
Amotex Plastics, Inc.
Harborplace Merchants
Media Organizations-National
U.S. Air Force
Amvets
F.W. Haxel Flag Co.
Merry-Go-Round Enterprises, Inc.
U.S. Capitol Historical Society
Michael Anthony Florist of Baltimore
Honor America Society
Mid-Atlantic Photocomposition, Inc.
U.S. Coast Guard
Armed Forces Radio
Hyatt Regency, Baltimore
Military Dept., State of Md.
U.S. House of Representatives
Baltimore City Police Band
Ilex Construction and Development, Inc.
My Cleaning Service, Inc.
U.S. Marines Reserve
Baltimore City Public Schools
Image Dynamics
National Aquarium in Baltimore
U.S. Naval Reserve
Baltimore City Fair
Jerry's Chevrolet, Inc.
National Association of County Executives
U.S. Navy
Baltimore Convention Center
Johns Hopkins University Athletic
National Association of Realtors
U.S. Postal Service
Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.
Department
National Calendar Makers Association
U.S. Senate
Baltimore Jaycees
Ludwig Katzenstein Custom Framing
National Geographic
U.S.F. Constellation
Baltimore Office of Promotion & Tourism
Kenilworth Square
National League of Cities
United Cable
Baltimore Rotary Foundation
The Kirk-Stieff Company
National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Belvedere Hotel
Knights of Columbus
Interior
Voice of America
J.W. Boarman Co.
Locust Point Association
The Omni Hotel
Visual Aids Electronics Corp.
Budeke's Paints, Inc.
Maran Graphics
The Orioles
W.H.C. Wilson & Co.
Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.
MTA
Peirce-Phelps
WBAL Radio
Civil Air Patrol
Maritime Institute for Technology and
Penn Advertising
WBAL-TV
Coca Cola Bottling Co. of Annapolis
Graduate Studies
Printing Corporation of America
WBFF-TV
Collins Lithographing
Maritime Museum
The Retired Officers Association
WFBR Radio
Crown Central Petroleum Co.
Marshall, Craft & Assoc.
Rotary Club of Baltimore
WLIF Radio
Department of Defense
Maryland Association of Boards of
Schneidereith & Sons
WJZ-TV
Department of Economic Development
Education
Security Square Mall
WMAR-TV
Disabled American Veterans of Md.
Maryland Association of Realtors
Star Spangled Banner Flag House
Annonymous by request
Domino's PizzaCamp Meade Road
Maryland Beef Council
The Sunpapers
Ken England-"Uncle Sam"
Maryland Committee for Safety Belt Use
T. Talbott Bond Co.
Exchange Club of Towson
Maryland Congressional Delegation
Top of the World
The National Flag Day Foundation expresses sincere appreciation to the following:
The Secretary of Defense, the Officers and Personnel of the above-listed services for their stirring participation in Flag Day ceremonies;
Governor William Donald Schaefer, other elected officials, the Department Heads of the State of Maryland and their Personnel for their extensive
and enthusiastic support throughout the State;
Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, other elected officials, the Department Heads of the City of Baltimore and their Personnel for their untiring and
professional talents in making this an outstanding week of events;
City Council President Mary Pat Clark and the Members of the Baltimore City Council for their invaluable guidance;
American Airlines for providing, for the sixth year, free round-trip air transportation to the State Student Representatives, State Education
Liaisons and monitors;
Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., Crown Central Petroleum Co., The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, Inc., The C. Markland
Kelly Memorial Foundation, The First Maryland Foundation and USF&G for their very generous matching funds grants;
John Tyler, Superintendent, and all Personnel of Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine for their superb cooperation;
The Administrators, Students, Teachers and Bus Contractors of the Public Schools of Maryland for their contributions to the formation of the
Human Flag;
D767
99
I9R67
WH
IWO JIMA
LEGACY OF VALOR
BY
BILL D.ROSS
THE VANGUARD PRESS
NEW YORK
85
1
General Kuribayashi knew from the first that, when the Americans
came, they would try to isolate and seize Mount Suribachi-it was
simple military logic. Suribachi's 556-foot summit dominated the
island's eight square miles of barren, volcanic rubble. It was an all-
seeing eye to watch every movement on the island and direct pin-
pointed bombardment on the invaders.
So he began on his first day on Iwo to fortify the maze of boulder-
strewn gullies and ravines at the base, the honeycomb of caves on its
steep slopes, and the huge crater at its crest.
By D-Day, Suribachi was as formidable as the famed Rock of
Gibraltar. The wasteland at the foot of the volcano was studded with
more than seventy camouflaged concrete blockhouses. Another fifty
were concealed on its rocky sides, and many of these were connected
by tunnels with hundreds of caves, mortar and sniper pits, and rein-
forced pillboxes.
Two thousand troops defended Suribachi. They weren't Kuri-
bayashi's best men; his elite forces held the deep main defense line
across the island at its widest point two and a half miles to the north.
He hoped the volcano would hold out for at least ten days to ravage
the beaches with its own arsenal and direct fire for his other fortifi-
cations in the northern highlands, positions from which to bleed the
Marines to death with bombardment.
Following the Samurai's plan of defense, if Suribachi fell earlier,
and the Marines pushed northward, the cream of the general's fight-
ers-and his strongest defenses-still would slaughter the Americans.
Colonel Kanehiko Atsuchi commanded the Suribachi garrison.
He believed he would die on the mountain; there had been too many
close calls before D-Day when his headquarters rattled with near
misses from bombing and naval gunfire. At fifty-six, he was the oldest
colonel in the Imperial Army, and his battalion commanders were a
motley group.
One was an aging lieutenant colonel passed over for promotion
because of his years; one was a major with no combat experience; and
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
86
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
87
two of the three captains had risen through the ranks without attending
the mean look of a Marine bulldog when angry; a mellow, smiling,
the Imperial Military Academy-a rarity in the Japanese army. But
almost fatherly expression when in a good mood. His men were de-
at Iwo, all fought valiantly and died with their troops. Six of Atsuchi's
voted and proud to be in his battalion; they would go anywhere, do
men survived the battle, huddled in a barbed-wire stockade at the
anything he asked because they knew he'd be with them all the way.
volcano's base when the fighting ended.
Now Johnson was at it again, nonchalantly gesturing and pointing
Marines gave Suribachi the code name "Hotrocks," and clouds of
out enemy positions as the battalion moved around Suribachi's base
F
steam did occasionally billow from its crater. Before the invasion,
from the east. The task at hand was his only concern. He has a devout
troops had heard rumors that heavy naval gunfire and air bombard-
believer in the centuries-old axiom of warriors that fear is a deadly
ment might set off a full-scale eruption of the slumbering mountain,
contagion in battle, but that courage of combat commanders under
but seismologists disagreed.
fire can spark and flame the determination of men to fight beyond
di
When "Harry the Horse" Liversedge and the 28th Marines went
their limits. In the jargon of the still-to-come space age, Johnson and
to work on Suribachi on D-Day plus one, his three assault battalions
his men had "the right stuff."
were across the seven-hundred-yard isthmus. But the ground they
Jackson Butterfield's battalion jumped off at the same time, pointed
held was less than two hundred yards deep, and faced the enemy in
around the volcano from the west. His men thought the name sounded
two directions. Now they must surround the fortress before they could
more like a professor's-or maybe a lawyer's or a minister's-than a
move up the slopes to the summit, while at the same time they had
veteran of hard fighting in the central and south Pacific. He had little
di
to push northward toward the airstrip. It took four bloody days to do
of Johnson's devil-take-the-hindmost attitude, but his men knew he
the job.
was fearless in combat; the outfit had been the first to drive across
in
"It's gonna be a helluva day in a helluva place to fight the god-
the isthmus and he had been in the thick of the action.
damned war," Colonel Johnson said as his battalion jumped off at 8:30.
Charley Shepard's battalion was in reserve, taking on fresh men
th
The thirty-seven-year-old Naval Academy man came from Highland
to replace casualties and mopping up die-hard strongpoints bypassed
Park, Illinois, and was headed for high command if Iwo, or another
in D-Day's fighting. They didn't expect too much trouble, and weren't
te
invasion down the road, didn't claim his life. In earlier campaigns, his
expected to take any new ground. But nonetheless they killed seventy-
A
lackadaisical attitude toward personal danger flabbergasted even the
five Japanese in what often was close-in and bitter fighting.
bravest men, and the pattern continued.
There were no air strikes and no naval shelling before the jump-
On D-Day, he strode casually and erect up and down Green
off; Japanese lines were too close to Marine positions. Tank support
Beach, stub of a cigar in his mouth, exhorting his men: "Okay, you
was also missing: eight were expected to spearhead the push, but they
Marines, let's get the goddamned hell off this beach!" He was short
were sitting silent, out of fuel and ammunition. It took two hours to
and chubby, if not a trifle fat; not the tall, trim stereotype of a career
resupply the Shermans, and when they started to move, a storm of
W
Leatherneck officer. He flaunted regulations by wearing a faded cotton
mortars hit them from Suribachi. Twice more they tried to join the
fatigue cap with upturned bill instead of a steel helmet. He didn't
attack; twice more they were bracketed by shelling.
carry a knapsack, he didn't wear a cartridge belt, and disdained all
By midmorning, the advance was from fifty to seventy yards, and
combat gear except a Colt .45 pistol carried in his right hip pocket;
it had been costly. Without help from the tanks, it was a case of frontal
he didn't even have a canteen.
assault by riflemen and demolitions teams against well-entrenched
Where Johnson was concerned, clothes didn't make the man-
and camouflaged positions. Shortly after eleven o'clock, the Shermans
to
at least in combat. His superiors-and, more important, his men-
finally were able to grind into the melee. Newly landed artillery moved
knew he was all Marine, and that's what mattered. He was a stern
inland and commenced firing. For a time, the push slowly gained
the
disciplinarian, and could outlast any man on a thirty-mile training
some momentum, but opposition was still fierce.
march; then he did tote a full battle pack to show he could. He had
Even with the added firepower, the advance had sputtered to a
to
"A
E
88
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
89
"M
halt by sundown, and Johnson and Butterfield ordered the men to dig
Sun and wind had deeply tanned his strong features, making him look
in for the night. They had gained from 175 to two hundred yards, and
older than his years. It was his first time in combat, but when he
lost twenty-nine men killed and 123 wounded-one fallen Marine for
stormed a pillbox on the beach, the troops were sure they had a leader
nearly every yard of new ground.
who knew what he was doing. They called him "Tex" or "G. K." for
IW
Another chilly night of anxiety engulfed men in their foxholes.
Genghis Khan.
Flares lit the sides of Suribachi and the narrow front as they slowly
Ernest I. Thomas was Wells's platoon sergeant and second in
Fe
floated to earth under oscillating parachutes. Marines kept alert for
command of the forty-five-man outfit, a twenty-year-old, hard-boiled,
any movement from the mountaintop, and Japanese on it fired periodic
rough-talking former drill instructor at San Diego's boot camp. His
se
so
pyrotechnic signals to their artillery in the north that brought almost
men liked "Thomas the Tiger," a name given more in recognition of
thi
immediate response: heavy shelling of Marine positions. The all-night
a self-proclaimed prowess as a lady-killer than for ferocity. "His growl
de
harassment made sleep beyond question, as did the constant threat
is worse than his claws," they said.
ho
of infiltration and the still-expected banzai. But, for the second night,
Sergeant Henry O. Hansen was number three. The twenty-three-
it didn't come. General Kuribayashi was following his battle plan to
year-old platoon guide came from Somerville, Massachusetts. "The
bat
the letter.
Count" was slender, just under six feet, and prided himself on a natty
ab
appearance in snappy dress blue uniform, khakis, or dungarees. The
An
wh
Again the Japanese got a potent, unexpected ally on D-Day plus
platoon called him "one helluva fighter," and he lived up to the billing
two: the weather. During the night, the northeast wind swelled to
on D-Day when he demolished four pillboxes and pulled three wounded
dra
gale force. Six-foot surf lashed the cluttered beachhead, and Admiral
men from no man's land in the process.
arr
Turner ordered it shut down for the third time since H-Hour.
Sergeant Howard M. Snyder, from Huntington Park, California,
in
At daybreak fast-moving clouds looked heavy with rain. But vis-
was twenty-two, a squad leader with four campaigns behind him.
the
ibility was good, and at eight o'clock forty planes came in from the
"Maybe I'm crazy," he said before landing, "but I'm looking forward
of
carriers. They hit Suribachi and positions guarding its base for twenty
to this fight. I think it'll beat anything I've seen SO far." Iwo met his
minutes in wave after wave of rocket and machine gun fire and napalm.
expectations.
ter
Am
At 8:30, Johnson's and Butterfield's men took up the advance from
Corporal Harold P. Keller was from an Iowa hamlet incongruously
where it had stopped. Shepard's battalion jumped off, headed in the
named Brooklyn. He was a BAR man and, like Snyder, a veteran of
act
other direction, northward, to deepen the hold across the island.
four earlier landings-one from a submarine in a raid on Makin Is-
ove
From platoon leader to private, the Third Platoon, Easy Com-
land-and had been wounded at Bougainville. His combat record
die
ha
pany, Second Battalion, 28th Regiment, Fifth Marine Division was a
gave newcomers a feeling of security; he knew what war was all about,
microcosm of all Marines on Iwo Jima. Ethnic backgrounds, person-
and how to survive.
alities, physical characteristics, civilian jobs, attitudes, and personal
The platoon called Corporal Everett M. Lavelle "Pappy." He was
Wa
desires and ambitions were a cross section of every outfit fighting to
in his thirties, graying at the temples-the oldest man in the outfit-
Co
take the island.
and had three battle stars. He came from Bellingham, Washington,
est
First Lieutenant John K. Wells's platoon was at the point of the
and throughout the first night on Iwo, he said he had a constant
the
push by Johnson's men. He was a twenty-three-year-old Texan, who
thought: "Jesus, what a relief it'll be when morning comes." Now he
carried a Thompson submachine gun with a forty-round clip of am-
wasn't so sure.
munition. Like his commander, he was on the flamboyant side; back
At eighteen, Private First Class James Robeson was the youngest
tog
Iwe
in base camp he wore his khaki overseas cap at a jaunty forward tilt,
member of the platoon. He, too, was from Washington, a town with
the
and he spent more time mingling with his men than in officers' country.
the Indian name Chewelah, and looked younger than he was. Shaving
ke
tori
"A
B
90
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
91
"M
wasn't yet a daily ritual, and his button nose was a perpetual victim
way back to the outfit, and was now in action for the third day. Shortly
of sunburn. Iwo was his first battle. His buddies called him "Chicken"
before noon, mortar fragments bit into his left shoulder and upper left
or "Baby" or "Chick." He didn't mind the latter.
leg. For him, the battle was over. His immigrant Russian-Polish parents
Sergeant Kenneth D. Midkiff was an easygoing mountaineer from
in Oakland, California, were glad he was still alive.
IW
West Virginia. He spoke in a soft drawl, was a former paratrooper,
Corporal Leonce Olivier could trace his ancestry back two cen-
and had made three amphibious assaults before Iwo. The platoon felt
turies to the French Cajuns who came to Eunice, Louisiana, from
comfortable around "Katie"; he was battle-wise and cautious and planned
Fe
Canada. "Frenchy" didn't trust the Garand M-1 rifle most infantrymen
to return when the war was over to his native hills "to hunt, fish, and
se
used; he thought the '03 Springfield, a pre-World War I vintage weapon,
make some moonshine." He never made it..
SO
more accurate and reliable. His buddies weren't happy when he said,
Private First Class Raymond Strahm had three landings under
the
"This is gonna be worse than Tarawa," where he'd used the Springfield
his belt; four, counting Iwo. He had learned to use a parachute as a
to win the Silver Star Medal for gallantry.
de
Paramarine, but, like Midkiff, always went ashore in a landing craft-
ha
There were thirty-two others in the platoon-men like nineteen-
all Marine parachute units disbanded before making a combat jump.
ba
year-old Private First Class Richard S. White, a devout Baptist from
A shade over six feet tall, Strahm was called "Little Raymond." The
ab
east Texas who yelled to a corporal as they moved forward, "You still
Chicagoan was the platoon's world-class poker player. The week before
An
an atheist?" A mortar exploded yards away and the answer came back:
embarking, he'd cleaned out a big game back on Hawaii, won $3,700,
"I'm gonna start praying in the morning."
we
and loaned losers ten dollars each.
dri
There were men like Platoon Sergeant Josephy McGarvey, a rabid
Scholar of the unit was Corporal Robert A. Leader, a student at
art
baseball fan from Philadelphia. He crouched behind a bunker waiting
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts when he signed up. Red-haired,
in
for the mortar barrage to lift when one of his squad jumped into the
blue-eyed, fair-complexioned and tall, he had the reserve and prac-
hole: "You think the Phillies will win the pennant this year?" "I hope
ticality expected of a Massachusetts Yankee. Iwo Jima, for him, was
the
so," McGarvey said, and went about his business as the shelling lifted-
a short and brutal experience.
business that would earn him the Silver Star.
of
On D-Day, sand from an artillery burst buried him completely;
te
And there was Private First Class Donald J. Ruhl.
after what seemed like an eternity buddies dug him out, unhurt. Six
Ar
He was twenty-one, came from Montana's cattle country, and was
days later he was cut down by machine gun fire during the fight for
a maverick to the core. At base camp in Hawaii he often was in
ao
the second airstrip. This time, Harold Keller dragged him to safety
trouble-ignoring orders, arguing and fighting, the platoon's malcon-
OV
and an aid station. Leader survived near-fatal stomach wounds, spent
die
tent. But, like Tony Stein, he had the killer instincts of a cowtown
months recovering in a stateside hospital, and returned to school. He
ha
gunfighter, and they showed on D-Day. In a one-man charge against
became, in postwar years, a well-known liturgical artist and Associate
a fiercely defended blockhouse, he killed nine Japanese, dragged a
Professor of Art at Notre Dame University.
W
wounded Marine to safety through forty yards of no man's land, and
Private First Class Louis Adrain was a taciturn Spokane Indian
C
spent the night alone in an enemy machine gun pit he had captured
from Wellpinit, Washington. Seeing no enemy troops on the beach,
single-handedly; he wanted to make damned sure the weapon wouldn't
es
he asked: "Where's the reception committee?" Now, the morning of
be used against the platoon.
D-Day plus two, a sniper's bullet pierced his heart. He fell forward,
the
Now, on D-plus two, he and Sergeant Hansen were at the point
wearing a borrowed dungaree jacket with another man's name across
of the struggling assault. By eleven o'clock they had worked to within
the back, weapon still firing.
to
a few yards of Suribachi's base when they spotted a camouflaged bunker
One of the platoon could have missed Iwo. Private First Class
and dove for cover. Ruhl raised his head above a boulder to get a
John J. Fredotovitch was in Camp Pendleton's hospital in California
better view and heard a sputtering hiss.
th
when the Fifth Division was shipped out to Hawaii. He talked his
ke
"Sonuvabitch! Watch out! Grenade!" he yelled to Hansen as it
to
"A
E
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
92
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
93
landed six feet away. He flung himself on the missile, his body taking
the men of the 28th dug in for another night.
"M
the full impact of the explosion. In the only three days of combat he
Butterfield's troops had gained 650 yards; Shephard's, five
would ever see, Ruhl had earned the Medal of Honor and sacrificed
hundred; Johnson's, one thousand. Marines now were in solid strength
his life to save his sergeant.
at Suribachi's north base and halfway around the volcano.
IW
From a hundred different positions on the slopes of Suribachi,
Chandler Johnson was pleased with his battalion's performance
barking machine guns, screaming artillery, and crumping mortars
during the day, especially that of Wells's platoon. He'd been with
Fe
seemed to be coming simultaneously along with the cries of "Corps-
them several times, moving among the ravines and boulders, pointing
se
man! Corpsmannnnn!" Wounded crawled, when they could, to any
out positions, and prodding the men to keep going. "Stay in one place
so
protection they could find. Stretcher bearers braved the scythe-like
and the bastards'll kill you," he yelled at one point to a squad pinned
thi
fire in desperate rescue attempts as the fighting roared on.
down by mortars. That night he made a mental note that he'd found
del
"Genghis Khan" Wells and four men hugged the sides of a shell
the right unit for the final push to take Suribachi's summit when the
ho
hole in front of another bunker waiting for the mortars to lift. One
time came,
bat
slammed into the crater, and all were wounded in the blast. The
He couldn't have found more determined men; they not only had
ab
lieutenant was groggy, bleeding profusely, but refused to leave the
blasted open the way to the volcano's base, but in one day their platoon
Am
scene: He took a shot of morphine from Corpsman John Bradley and
had become the most decorated in Marine Corps history: one man
wh
kept command of the platoon.
had earned the Medal of Honor, two would receive the Navy Cross,
dra
Corporal Charles W. Lindberg saw what was happening as Wells
the second highest decoration awarded Marines; one would wear the
am
and the other wounded crawled behind the pillbox alive with machine
Silver Star; seven would get Bronze Stars; and seventeen, Purple
in
gun fire. With his flamethrower he turned the enemy position into a
Hearts for wounds received in a single dawn-to-dusk action on a tiny
roaring furnace. Two more pillboxes and a bunker were yards away;
chunk of forlorn real estate.
the
it took two minutes to flame them and their defenders. As the advance
It was strangely calm early in the evening at the base of Suribachi.
of
moved ahead, bullets still thudded around Wells as he screamed or-
Men nearest the mountain could hear muffled chatter among the
ter
ders, but his strength ebbed and his wounds filled with sand as he
defenders as they moved about in caves on the slope, and there was
Am
fought to stay conscious. Yet it was another half hour before he turned
the spasmodic tat-tat-tat, tat-tat-tat of machine guns and the cracking
act
the platoon over to Sergeant Thomas and made his way to the battalion
of rifles. There were still enemy artillery and mortars, but not as heavy.
ove
aid station where litter bearers ducked mortars to take him to the
as during the two previous nights.
die
beach for evacuation.
Then, shortly after 2:00 A.M., Japanese infiltrators struck at John-
has
"Thomas the Tiger" knew what he had to do. He located three
son's battalion-not in a screaming banzai, but in a well-organized
tanks and led them against several pillboxes and bunkers. The heavily
raid. Mortars made a shambles of the attack before it had hardly begun,
Wa
reinforced positions were silenced in a furious firefight that cleared
and sixty enemy intruders were killed in the barrage made more deadly
Co
the way for the rest of the battalion to break through to the base of
by a thirty-minute firefight. On the western side of the volcano, where
est
Suribachi; the area had been the soft spot in the defense line. Wells
Shepard's men were dug in, twenty-eight more Japanese were cut
and Thomas received the Navy Cross for their actions; Lindberg, the
down in a fierce ten-minute melee. Butterfield's men, alerted by the
the
Silver Star.
furor, expected something, but it never came.
Action was fierce the rest of the day as artillery and mortars rained
tog
down from Suribachi, and enemy machine gunners and snipers raked
Iwd
the attacking troops in front of the slopes. At sunset things quieted
the
down, but it was eleven o'clock before the line was consolidated and
ton
"A
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
95
94
"M
fighting that had marked previous days. In some ways the weather
helped the Marines, exhausted from three days of bloody battle. With
the néar-zero visibility and curtains of rain, Japanese artillery and
2
mortar fire were sharply reduced, not only around Suribachi, but
across the entire island.
And it was now becoming apparent that the assault had taken its
D-plus three was George Washington's Birthday, a national holiday
back home, but on Iwo few men remembered or cared. Overnight,
toll of the defenders and cut deeply into their ability to hold the
mountain much longer.
se
the weather had turned miserable. A torrential cold rain soaked men
so
to the skin, and jelled with the coarse volcanic ash to clog and jam
Night was relatively quiet on the lines. No infiltrators. No savage
firefights. The weather improved, and once again the beachhead was
the
weapons. Meteorologists at Makalapa had warned about the weather at Iwo
operational. Men, equipment, and supplies came ashore. Casualties
de
were evacuated.
ho
this time of the year. Their studies found that major storms often
Offshore, aboard the Auburn, where General Smith now had his
ba
buffeted the island, that the skies were clear only twenty percent of
headquarters, losses were tallied. They were far worse than he ex-
ab
the time, that forty-five percent of the days were cloudy, twenty-seven
An
pected, and, like President Roosevelt, he shuddered. In three days
percent partly cloudy, and nine percent rainy. Now the heavy rain
they amounted to 4,574 men killed and wounded. In the push to take
wh
was driven by a twenty-knot gale that whipped up a pounding nine-
drá
foot surf. At 10:20 A.M., the beaches were closed again; it was useless
the airstrip, and in the fighting for the high ground around the quarry,
to try to land reinforcements and supplies. Angry clouds hung below
the Fourth Division had lost 2,517 on the beaches. The Fifth Division,
am
on Green Beach and in the push to conquer Suribachi, had lost 2,057.
in
five hundred feet and hid Suribachi's crest.
But a battle can't wait for weather. At eight o'clock, despite the
the
Chandler Johnson was busy long before dawn of D-plus four,
wind and the rain, the attack against Suribachi started again.
briefing his company commanders on the day's plan of action. He was
of
Tanks couldn't move in the hub-deep slush; artillery didn't fire
ter
because targets couldn't be spotted; there was no air support or naval
determined that Marines would be atop the volcano by sundown, and
An
shelling. So it was another dirty job for the infantry. They shivered
was trying to figure out the best way to get there. Shortly after day-
break he ordered out the first patrols. At eight o'clock, he sent a
ac
under the driving rain and moved out against the dreadful terrain and
runner for First Lieutenant Harold Schrier, who had taken command
the desperate, determined foe estimated by "Harry the Horse" Liv-
of Wells's platoon during the night.
did
ersedge's intelligence officers to number six hundred still alive.
ha
Drenched Marines assaulted foxhole after foxhole, pillbox after
He pointed out to Schrier a possible route up the slopes. His
orders were simple: "Take the platoon up the hill, and put this on
pillbox, bunker after bunker with rifle fire, grenades, flamethrowers,
top.'
and demolitions. It was slow and dangerous work, but they made
Co
steady progress. An eleven-man patrol worked partway up the steep,
Johnson handed him a small flag-it measured fifty-four by twenty-
eight inches-that First Lieutenant George G. Wells, the battalion
es
rocky slopes searching for a route to the summit; naval gunfire and
adjutant, had brought ashore in a map case from the transport Mis-
air strikes had wiped out existing trails.
soula. Wells knew it would be wanted when the summit was taken.
the
While Johnson's men cleared out opposition around the eastern
side of the volcano and battled up the slippery sides, Shepard's bat-
Scouts from D and F Companies already were on the steep sides
talion bolstered the line in the center. Butterfield's outfit still slugged
looking for a path to the crest and feeling out resistance. Sergeant
around the western side, bent on final encirclement of the fortress.
Sherman B. Watson and three privates were surprised at how easy
At 6:30 P.M., the push was halted for the day. Opposition had
the the ascent was going-once out of the sliding rocks near the base
the footing was good. George Mercer, who came from a small Iowa
ke
been heavy, but it had come in wild flurries, not in the sustained
96
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
97
M
town, was amazed at the quiet. Louis Charlo, an Indian from Mon-
quiet-an eerie, frightening, almost deathly stillness. One man uri-
tana's sheep country, glanced over his shoulder at the spectacular
view. Theodore White, a Kansas wheat farmer, expected that "all hell
said. nated into the cone. "This is what I think of you sonsabitches," he
IW
would break loose at any minute." So far they had met no resistance,
Sergeant Thomas and about half the patrol, weapons primed for
and within forty minutes they were on the crest, peering into the
firing, stood silhouetted on the skyline atop the rim. Others probed
cone. Still no Japanese, but they spotted several machine guns with
Fe
down the crater's sides looking for Japanese. Several men scouted for
neat stacks of ammunition nearby. It was 9:40 A.M. They scampered
something on which to raise the flag.
se
and slid down the slope to make their report.
so
Keller saw the first enemy. "The Nip started to climb out of a
Lieutenant Schrier, a lanky twenty-four-year-old veteran of a dis-
thi
deep hole with his back to me," he said in telling of the action. "I
banded Marine Raider Battalion, was ready to move out with his men.
del
fired three times from the hip and he dropped out of sight." The rifle
They had stocked up with ammunition, replenished supplies of hand
ho
fire triggered an immediate torrent of grenades from several camou-
grenades and demolition charges, and flamethrowers were full of fuel.
bat
flaged cave mouths, and the Marines answered with bullets and gre-
A radioman and two stretcher teams joined the forty-man patrol. So
ab
nades of their own in a short-lived scrimmage that ended as quickly
did Louis R. Lowery, a twenty-five-year-old staff sergeant photogra-
as it had begun.
Am
pher for Leatherneck, the official Marine Corps magazine.
wh
While the melee was at its height, two men-Leader and Private
They left in single file, moving at a fast clip until the climbing
drá
became steeper. They passed a Marine howitzer with two men sprawled
First Class Leo J. Rozek-had found a seven-foot length of iron pipe
from a rainwater cistern, and they attached the flag to it. No one in
am
across the weapon-it had taken a direct hit from artillery-as well
in
the patrol bothered to check the time, but thousands of men below,
as several dead Japanese, one of whom wore bright orange sneakers.
and aboard the ships of the offshore armada, knew to the minute when
As the slope steepened, the men stopped every few minutes for breath.
it happened.
the
Flankers went out to guard the column. At times when climbing
of
It was 10:31 A.M., February 23, 1945. An instant in history.
became difficult, the ascent was on hands and knees. Several threat-
ten
"There goes the flag!" shouted the Marines at the base of Suri-
ening cave entrances were passed, but there was no fire; nor were
bachi.
Am
any live Japanese seen.
act
Marines below watched in astonishment. Offshore, men tracked
Those on the beaches, who were aware of what was happening
and could see it, cheered the sight with their own shouts of jubilation.
ove
the snake-like column through binoculars. One sailor on a transport
die
Ships' radios crackled with news of the momentous event and flashed
said: "Those guys should be getting flight pay."
had
it to those in the fleet who couldn't see it. General Kuribayashi, if he
Schrier crested the summit first and called a halt. In thirty min-
saw Marines atop the mountain, must have known the end for Suri-
utes the patrol had climbed half-a-thousand feet up what had been a
Wa
bachi's defenders was at hand-something the Japanese on the volcano
death-dealing mountain for four days. Not a shot had been fired, not
álready knew.
Co
a man hurt. He peered into the crater, saw the unmanned machine
est
Lou Lowery focused his bulky Speed Graphic camera to capture
guns, several destroyed rocket launchers, a number of mortar pits,
the historic moment: the raising of the first flag on Iwo Jima. Robeson,
mo
and five artillery pieces, "Where the hell are the Nips?" he muttered
the
crouching at the cameraman's side, refused to be in the picture; he
aloud, and signaled the rest of the men to follow.
"didn't want to be a Hollywood Marine." As the flag blew almost
Harold Snyder, the sergeant who was "looking forward to this
horizontal to the rocky ground, four members of the platoon were
fight," was next over the lip. Harold Keller, the careful corporal from
photographed: Schrier, Thomas, Lindberg, and Private First Class
Brooklyn, Iowa, followed. Right behind was "Chick" Robeson, the
James R. Nicel, a replacement who had joined the outfit that morning.
platoon's teen-age "baby"; then came the scholar corporal, Robert
As Lowery clicked the shutter, a Japanese leaped from a cave
Leader. They felt they were in the eye of a hurricane: it was all too
and opened fire on him and Robeson. He missed. Robeson didn't; his
98
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
99
BAR cut the enemy down in midstride. The body was grasped by its
feet and dragged into the cave. An officer sprang from the entrance,
Colonel Atsuchi's body never was found, nor were those of any
snarling and swinging a broken sword in a giant half arc. Howard
of the other Japanese officers who most certainly were killed on the
Snyder squeezed the trigger of his Colt .45. It misfired and the ser-
mountain with nearly two thousand of their men.
geant ducked for his life. A rifle burst from Private First Class Clarence
Several men on the beaches and near Suribachi's base, and at
B. Garrett stopped the one-man charge. But this was just the start.
least one man aboard the hospital ship Samaritan, were more inter-
Grenades came like hailstones from several caves. Marines sprayed
ested than most in the capture of the volcano's summit.
the mouths with rifles and grenades, then flamethrowers moved in to
One was Chandler Johnson, watching from his CP. "Some so-
th
burn the openings, and demolition blasts closed many almost as soon
nuvabitch is going to want that flag," he told his adjutant, "but he's
as they were flamed.
not going to get it. That's our flag. Better find another one and get it
Lowery leaped to escape a grenade's explosion, and rolled and
up there and bring ours back." A runner, a lisping corporal called
skidded fifty feet down the steepest slope. He was unhurt; the film
"Wabbit," was sent scampering to the beach to see what he could find.
at
holder with his precious negatives was intact. His photo coverage of
Fate had placed two others on Green Beach when the flag was
the campaign became an historical treasure in Marines Corps archives.
raised. One was General Smith, and the other was the Secretary of
the Navy.
After the war he stayed with Leatherneck, first as a six-striper sergeant
and then as its civilian photographer director, until his retirement in
"Holland, this means a Marine Corps for another five hundred
ar
1982.
years," Forrestal told the Old Warrior as they watched what was
in
The frantic mini-battle was over in minutes. Within half an hour,
happening. "Howlin' Mad" nodded, his eyes filled with tears. Neither
Suribachi's commanding summit was serving the Marines as it had
knew in advance that the final push to the summit was underway.
th
the Japanese-as an observation post. High-powered binoculars and
Forrestal was on the beachhead because, over strenuous objections
electronic detection devices were in place, spotting enemy artillery
from Admiral Turner, he wanted to be there.
of
to
whenever it fired anywhere on the island.
General Smith was there to be close to his Marines, and to be
Lieutenant Schrier was puzzled as the platoon scouted the crater
with the Navy's top man if anything happened; he didn't want to be
and nearby slopes for enemy positions. He wondered why the brief,
safely aboard ship if Forrestal was hit by enemy fire. The beach was
sharp counterattack-the last organized resistance on Suribachi-
far, from quiet: twenty-three Marines had been killed within the hour
OV
di
hadn't come the instant the Marines moved over the crest. "We'd
a few yards from where the brass stood. With them were two admirals,
have been real dead ducks," he said. "They could've killed us all."
two of Forrestal's aides, and several reporters.
That afternoon, Sergeant Thomas and ten men inspected the cave
Forrestal wore khakis and a gray sweatshirt to break the cold,
from which the last attack had come. It burrowed nearly a hundred
blustery wind. Both had steel helmets, were unarmed, and Smith
yards into the mountain; in it they found more than 150 dead Japanese.
wore a zippered combat jacket over fatigues. He chomped his om-
Most died by holding hand grenades to their stomachs and pulling
nipresent unlighted cigar and was "proud as hell to be wearing my
Marine dungarees."
the pins. Demolitions men blew the entrance to kill the overpowering
stench and to give the enemy an unmarked mass grave.
Platoon Leader Wells was aboard the Samaritan and raising seven
Among the litter of documents the Marines found in the crater
kinds of hell to get ashore despite his wounds. "By God," he ranted,
was one indicating that, the night before, about one hundred troops
"they're my men, I'm sure of it, and I want to be with them and
had left in the darkness in an attempt to sneak through Marine lines
dammit, I'm going to be." An understanding doctor gave him a first-
and join General Kuribayashi's main forces in the north. Only a handful
aid pack of sulfa and morphine, and the lieutenant hitched a ride on
made it, and they probably died in the fighting for the second airstrip.
a press boat headed for shore to pick up correspondents' news copy.
He limped to the start of the path up Suribachi and found Chick
"A
6
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
101
100
Robeson and Private Robert E. Goode about to go to the top again.
bell had a Speed Graphic for black-and-white stills. The trio was about
With arms around one another's shoulders, the trio labored up the
to begin the climb when "Wabbit" returned.
He was out of breath, but he had located another flag on LST
IW
steep slope to join the valiant platoon.
Colonel Johnson professed to be livid when he heard Wells was
779 on the beachhead. It took several minutes to tell Ensign Alan S.
back on the mountain. He wasn't. "I was proud as hell of that young
Wood why he wanted it; with his excited, lisping speech he had trouble
Fe
fighter," he told a newsman, and Wells kept his platoon to finish the
making himself understood. When Wood was able to decipher the
Marine's mission, he gave him the ship's rarely used ceremonial flag.
se
mop-up of the crater.
so
Private Charles S. Rogers also had more than a casual interest in
It was twice the size of the original, measuring eight feet by four feet,
the flag-raising. He was nineteen, one of Johnson's men, and had been
eight inches.
thi
seriously wounded by mortars on D-Day. From his cot on the deck
"Must be rough up there," the ensign said, as "Wabbit" nodded
del
of the hospital ship Solace he could barely see the flag and wanted to
"yes" and took off in a dead run. He didn't want to catch hell from
lift himself for a better view. He couldn't make it, but he tried; his
the colonel for being gone too long. Johnson immediately sent a man
ab
eyes misted and he was proud of the lump in his throat.
to the summit with the new flag, and he was there with several of the
Am
Joe Rosenthal was sorry he missed being with the platoon, but
original flag-raisers when the trio of photographers arrived, huffing
that's the way things often turn out. The thirty-three-year-old Asso-
and puffing.
ciated Press photographer had been in the business a long time and
The new flag was immediately lashed to a longer length of pipe,
knew, as he put it, "you win some, you lose some."
and six Marines were having trouble shoving the staff into the rubble.
in
He'd been in the Pacific for a year, and had landed with the
The photographers watched for a moment and then scurried for po-
Marines at Guam and Peleliu, where he'd made a name for himself
sitions, to shoot the action.
as a man who could make good pictures under fire. Before shipping
Rosenthal frantically piled rocks to get better elevation to make
the
out from AP's San Francisco bureau, he'd tried to enlist but none of
his picture. He focused, and the Speed Graphic's shutter clicked just
of
the services would take him because of myopia so severe that he wore
as the struggling Marines hoisted the new flag. He had preset the
thick glasses, and had two extra sets with his photographic gear. He
exposure at one four-hundredths of a second at between f/8 and f/11.
carried 150 pounds on a five-foot-five-inch frame and had a small
Genaust caught the action with his Bell & Howell Filmo, and
mustache. Some friends said he resembled a French chef.
was, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the AP man, shooting the
Rosenthal landed early D-Day afternoon on the Fourth Division's
identical and unforgettable scene in color on the few feet of color
beaches and had made dozens of pictures of the fighting since then.
movie film that remained in his camera. As the second flag was raised,
He returned at sunset each day to the Eldorado to write captions and
the first was simultaneously lowered. Campbell snapped his shutter
see that his negatives were aboard the courier flying boat to Guam,
that instant, his photo showing both flags.
Rosenthal made two more pictures; one showing three Marines
and to eat and sleep.
When he came ashore the morning of February 23, he trudged
grasping the pipe after the large flag was raised; the other a group
through the sand and up the terrace to Colonel Liversedge's command
shot of the jubilant platoon with the Stars and Stripes snapping in the
post. "Harry the Horse" told him Schrier's platoon already was on the
wind. He went down off the volcano and continued working until late
summit, but Rosenthal decided to go up anyway; maybe he could get
afternoon, when he hitched a ride to the Eldorado for his nightly
chores.
a panoramic shot of the island, or find something else worth shooting.
Two Marine photographers had the same idea, Sergeant William
In his captions covering the day's shooting, the one for the flag-
Genaust and Private Robert Campbell. Genaust was a motion picture
raising said: "Atop 550-foot Suribachi Yama, the volcano at the south-
cameraman with several rolls of sixteen-millimeter color film. Camp-
west tip of Iwo Jima, Marines of the Second Battalion, 28th Regiment,
102
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
103
Fifth Marine Division, hoist the Stars and Stripes, signaling the cap-
fused one. When Associated Press headquarters radioed congratula-
ture of this key position."
tions on "the war's most memorable photo," he didn't know which
When the press pouch arrived at Guam, and Rosenthal's negatives
one they were talking about; he'd made dozens of shots since D-Day.
were processed, darkroom technicians knew immediately that the Sur-
The picture won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize and was the official symbol
ibachi photo was something very spècial. It didn't fit the pattern of a
of the Seventh War Bond Drive, when $220,000,000 in bonds were
F
conventional news picture; the face of only one man was clearly visible,
sold. It was later reproduced on a postage stamp and was re-created
se
the rest were either hidden by hands and arms raising the flag, or
in minute detail in the world's largest bronze statue, at the foot of
SC
their heads were turned.
Arlington National Cemetery, just across the Potomac River from
th
But it was a masterpiece of instantaneous composition and lighting
Washington, D.C.
that captured the mood of the unfolding drama on Iwo Jima. Its stage-
hd
Bill Genaust never saw what he shot; he was killed a few days
like setting and the powerful position of the men gave it the graven
later making more footage of Marines in battle. But millions saw his
look of a posed statue; so much so, in fact, that cynics and critics of
film within days in movie theaters across the nation. Decades later it
ab
the Marine Corps later suggested the photo was staged.
was being viewed by other millions almost daily in television docu-
Art
Anyone on the island, friend and foe, could plainly see the second
mentaries. That Genaust was never given credit for the footage, and
W
flag. It touched off new waves of cheers on the beaches, where un-
that he died still filming the action at Iwo, were sore spots with those
dri
shaven and weary shore parties thumped one another on the back and
who knew him. Lowery's and Campbell's pictures received scant at-
an
shouted. Those on the front, their ranks already decimated by the
tention, but they and Rosenthal remained friends.
in
hundreds, felt the battle was at last making some headway.
And what of the forty men of the Third Platoon who first scaled
Whistles, horns, and bells rang out aboard the ships surrounding
Suribachi's summit? Four made it to the end of the battle; the others
the
the island. The next day, when the photo appeared on front pages of
were killed or wounded before the island was conquered.
of
virtually every newspaper in the States, it became an instant symbol
ten
Suribachi's conquest cost the 28th Regiment 510 men in four days
for millions on the homefront-an indelible portrait of patriotism and
Am
of fighting. Since D-Day, its total casualties-including those killed
determination.
or wounded on the beaches before the assault on the volcano began-
act
It took days to track down the names of Rosenthal's flag-raisers,
were 895, nearly thirty percent-and the battle for the island had
a frantic quest touched off by a clamor at home to identify the men.
just begun. The regiment stayed on and around Suribachi for another
die
They were, from left to right, Private First Class Ira H. Hayes, a Pima
week, cleaning out die-hard Japanese, reorganizing and taking on new
ha
Indian from Arizona; Private First Class Franklin R. Sousley, a Ken-
men, and refitting before swinging north.
tucky mountaineer; Sergeant Michael Strank, from central Pennsyl-
Years later an official Marine Corps monograph summed up the
Wa
vania's coal country; Pharmacist's Mate Second Class John Bradley,
capture of the fortress. "The Japanese had conducted an effective
Co
from the farmlands of Wisconsin; Private First Class Rene A. Gagnon,
defense," it said. "Making maximum use of their artillery, mortars,
est
of French-Canadian descent, from New Hampshire's Green Moun-
and automatic weapons, they did not waste themselves in costly all-
tains; and Corporal Harlon Block, from the southernmost tip of Texas.
the
out counterattacks. Forcing the Marines to come to them, the enemy
Sousley, Strank, and Block were killed before ever learning of
inflicted heavy casualties before being blasted or burned out of their
their fame. Bradley was wounded and evacuated; only Hayes and
fortifications.
tog
Gagnon left the island physically unhurt, but both would die as al-
Men who had been on the mountain thought the forty-seven
coholics-a situation, friends said, brought on by their inabilities to
words weren't enough to tell the story.
the
cope with fame the two felt was undeserved.
Rosenthal became an overnight celebrity of sorts, albeit a con-
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
104
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
105
a ship whenever they wanted to hitch a ride. Those who stayed afloat
covered the action through binoculars, monitored radio reports from
3
the island, interviewed men returning from the beaches, and had
regular press briefings.
Only a few of the bravest and most dedicated reporters went
Correspondents, those on the beachhead and those on the Eldorado,
ashore on D-Day, or-as Bob Sherrod, who landed early that after-
filed a flood of copy daily, a graphic word picture of a battle mounting
noon, put the most foolhardy or stupid." The Associated Press's
se
in intensity and casualties. Photographs of the wreckage-strewn beaches
James S. Lindsley was the first civilian ashore. He scrambled across
so
and of Marines struggling up the deep black sand of the terraces took
Yellow Beach I shortly after 1:30 P.M. with Captain John W. Thomason
th
over the front pages of newspapers from coast to coast.
III, the Fourth Division's public relations officer.
de
From the time Marines landed on D-Day, Navy censors blue-
Scattered in the maelstrom were some fifteen Marine writers and
penciled all mention of specific losses. Reports said only that "no
photographers, mostly sergeants who had been newsmen in civilian
estimate of casualties is yet available." But on February 22, Admiral
life and who had landed with their units in the earlier assault waves.
ab
Nimitz's communiqué shocked the nation. "At 1800, as of February
Lindsley and Thomason were told at the Line of Departure that
Ar
21, our casualties on Iwo Jima were estimated at 644 killed, 4,108
"the beach had been stabilized." Seconds after they had bolted from
W
wounded and 560 missing." The invasion was just fifty-one hours
a Higgins boat and plunged into a shell hole, artillery blew a following
dr.
under way.
landing craft out of the water. The next round killed several Marines
an
This was worse than anything the Americans had suffered any-
yards away.
in
where in World War II; worse than Tarawa, worse than Normandy,
"Doesn't look like it's stabilized to me!" Thomason yelled over
worse than on the beachhead at Anzio. There was no doubt that
the din.
the
Marines were in the bloodiest battle since Gettysburg.
They worked up the terrace, darting from hole to hole as machine
of
An anxious homefront bought newspaper extras by the thousands
gun bullets kicked up the black sand around them. The rest of the
to
and listened for radio bulletins about the battle's progress. Theaters
day they were pinned down most of the time. At sunset, Thomason
An
showed newsreels of the assault, sometimes updating them daily as
left Lindsley in a foxhole they'd dug along the edge of the airstrip,
ac
new footage arrived. For the first time live broadcasts were beamed
and helped carry wounded to the beach.
ov
to the States from a' beachhead under fire. As the fighting roared on
Lindsley wondered "what in the hell am I doing here?" He spent
and casualties skyrocketed, editorials began to appear to question
the night amid the dangers and fears of thirty thousand other Amer-
Marine tactics and to demand "Howlin' Mad" Smith's scalp.
icans on the beachhead.
Somewhere in the confusion were Keith Wheeler, the Chicago
W
As the European war thundered to an end, more and more cor-
Daily Times man, and John Lardner, a sports writer-humorist-col-
respondents moved to the Pacific for the final chapter in the global
umnist turned correspondent for Newsweek and the New Yorker. They
conflict. More than a hundred were scattered among the Iwo invasion
were neck deep in a crater, and having the same troubles as Lindsley
fleet on D-Day, turning out an unprecedented flow of copy.
and Thomason. Within hours, Wheeler would be seriously wounded
Except for Marine combat correspondents, it was strictly a per-
by a sniper's bullet that struck his jaw.
sonal matter whether or not reporters went ashore or covered the
Sherrod tried all morning to get ashore. Finally, as he descended
to
action from the relative safety and comfort of the transports and com-
mand ships; no one had authority to order the civilians to land. Those
the gangway of the Eldorado to head for the beach, he met a filthy
and exhausted Marine debarking from the Higgins boat. "I wouldn't
who went to the beachhead shared the same dangers and hardships
go in there if I were you," he said. "There's more hell in there than
as the troops, but with one glaring difference-they could go back to
I've ever seen in the rest of the war put together."
to
"M
106
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
Once ashore, the Time-Life man remembered that Al Crocker of
107
the St. Paul Dispatch had decided not to land until the next morning.
the States for use in newspapers the next morning. During the first
"Smart man that Crocker, smart man," Sherrod mused.
twelve days 1,168,875 words were filed from the command ship-no
Washington's new policy of "more aggressive" news coverage was
one ever knew who took the word count or why it was made.
Fe
one of the few things going according to plan at Iwo. Five specially
too good.
In some respects, the admiral was right and the coverage was
designated landing craft, with the word PRESS painted in four-foot
se
letters on their sides, shuttled newsmen to and from the Eldorado,
Much of the writing, composed in the heat of battle within sight
so
this
picking up copy and film.
of blood and smell of death, upset millions of readers. Many stories
Once aboard the command ship, dispatches were passed through
carried graphic comparisons to Tarawa, Saipan, Peleliu-at that time
det
censors and sent by high-speed radioteletypes to Guam for instant
the most costly of Marine campaigns-and some brought up the
hor
relay by powerful short-wave transmitters to the mainland. Each day
carnage of Soissons and the Marne in World War I, where Marine
bot
at sunset, a Navy Catalina flying boat ferried still negatives and news-
casualties had been staggering.
ab
reel footage, radio recordings, and other copy from civilian and Marine
Secretary Forrestal added to the wave of concern in a live broad-
Am
correspondents to CinCPac headquarters for processing and trans-
cast from Guam after he had flown there from Iwo. He described "the
wh
mittal to the States.
terrible Japanese guns set on that grim and barren island so that there
dra
In all invasions before Iwo, beachhead news copy had been flown
were streams of coverging fire at the beachhead over which the Ma-
am
to Honolulu on hospital planes evacuating wounded. It was a hap-
rines had come scrambling from the sea."
in
hazard system; newsmen first had to wait until an airstrip could take
While Joe Rosenthal's photo gave the homefront a mighty
the aircraft. Then they had to see that their dispatches were aboard
of pride, it also fanned the flames of tension and anxiety. To millions surge
the
of
a plane and hope they would reach Navy press headquarters once the
it mirrored, as nothing before had done so dramatically, the courage
aircraft landed at Pearl Harbor. It was a time-consuming process to
and heroism of all American fighting men-soldiers, sailors, airmen,
ter
get anything through censorship and radioed or cabled to the mainland
and Marines. But to publishers Hearst and McCormick, it symbolized
Am
for publication. The time lag created a worrisome vacuum of hard
a tragic and needless waste of Marine lives, and gave them added fuel
act
news for the homefront, especially when the action was heavy and
to stroke their editorial fires seeking to make General MacArthur the
Supreme Commander, Pacific.
costly.
die
Sometimes days went by before eyewitness stories were in print
In addition to the chain of twenty-two Hearst newspapers and
to put flesh on the bare bones of information released in scrimpy official
those controlled by the volatile colonel-The Tribune in Chicago and
communiqués. Tarawa's bloody three-day battle was over before the
The Daily News in New York-the howling, well-orchestrated chant
first on-the-spot account of the savage fighting reached the mainland.
was taken up by powerful supporters in Washington led by The Times-
Co
Civilian newsmen were disgruntled and angry that the first beachhead
est
Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson.
Herard, owned and edited by McCormick's niece, the flamboyant
copy was from Technical Sergeant Jim G. Lucas, an enterprising Ma-
rine combat correspondent, who landed in the first waves with the
But the scathing editorials of the Hearst-McCormick-Patterso
assault forces. The delay was even worse for pictures. It was eight
press failed to recognize, or attempt to explain, the shrewdness of
days after the Saipan invasion that the first of them reached San Fran-
General Kuribayashi and the do-or-die determination of his troops to
cisco.
defend the doorstep to the Japanese homeland. Nor did they face
Kelly Turner thought the new system worked too well, and that
to the fact that the Marines were taking Iwo Jima in the only way up it
the
correspondents were being pampered. Twelve hours after H-Hour on
could be conquered-by an amphibious landing and direct, head-on
Iwo, more than eighty thousand words of copy had passed through
frontal assault. The incredible logic of the press lords and their lady
censors on the Eldorado, been radioed or flown to Guam, and on to
boiled down to a position of "to hell with everything else, we want
MacArthur.' The raging battle, ten thousand miles away in the Pacific,
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
108
109
hadn't reached its climax, and Marines were being killed or wounded
in his unmistakable style-short sentences and paragraphs, key words
at the rate of more than a thousand a day, when the bombastic con-
in capital letters, pithy and searing prose throughout-and was the
troversy exploded in headlines.
lead editorial in the Examiner. It read:
On February 27, Hearst's San Francisco Examiner printed a front-
page editorial with a heavy black border. It said Marines certainly
"GENERAL MacARTHUR is our best strategist.
would capture Iwo Jima, but "there is awesome evidence in the sit-
"He is our most SUCCESSFUL strategist.
Se
uation that the attacking American forces are paying heavily for the
"He wins all his objectives.
so
island, perhaps too heavily."
"He outwits and outmaneuvers and outguesses and outthinks
Hearst himself had written the words in his crisp, inimitable style
the Japanese.
th
from his sprawling multimillion-dollar mountaintop castle at San Si-
"HE SAVES THE LIVES OF OUR OWN MEN, not only for the future
hd
meon, south of San Francisco. It smacked of a scene from Orson
and vital operations that must be fought before Japan is de-
Welles's movie Citizen Kane, which Hearst abhorred.
feated, but for their own safe return to their families and
at
In an unmistakable attack on the leadership of Admiral Nimitz
loved ones in the American homeland after the peace is won.
Ar
and General Smith, the tirade continued: "It is the same thing that
"It is our good fortune to have such a strategist as General
happened at Tarawa and Saipan. If it continues the American forces
MacArthur in the Pacific war.
dr
are in danger of being worn out before they ever reach the really
"Why do we not use him more, and indeed, why do we not
an
critical Japanese areas." In Tokyo, and on Iwo, there was no doubt
give him supreme command in the Pacific war, and utilize
in
that the island was "really critical" to the Japanese, that it would be
to the utmost his rare military genius of winning important
defended to the last man, and that many more thousands of Americans
battles without excessive loss of precious American lives?"
the
would fall in the fighting.
of
Hearst had tight-fisted claim to the barony of a press lord. Not
Hearst, with the combined power of his millions and his com-
only did he own the nation's largest chain of newspapers, he also was
munications empire, not only printed news; he created it. The editorial
An
absolute master of International News Service, the sole wire service
blazed from the pages of his mass-circulation dailies in New York,
news source for more than four hundred newspapers and radio stations
ac
Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and Detroit. It snapped
in all parts of the country. Hearst Metrotone News turned out three
out in the smaller ones in Albany and Syracuse, New York; in Omaha,
die
newsreels every week, and they were seen by millions in more than
Nebraska; San Antonio, Texas; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His wire
two thousand theaters. Seven high-powered radio stations were under
service carried it verbatim, and many client papers printed it. Asso-
the Hearst banner, as well as a complex of highly profitable mass-
ciated Press and United Press found its torrid contents legitimate
circulation magazines.
news, and their teletypes clattered it out in newsrooms from coast to
But the Examiner was his personal voice, his pride and joy, the
coast.
es
first newspaper he ever owned-a gift from his doting father, a tycoon
William C. Wren, the Examiner managing editor, expected a
United States Senator who had made millions in mining gold. The
wave of excitement, to put it mildly, when the paper hit the streets-
paper was the nerve center from which the sprawling communications
although, he wasn't prepared for what came. But he'd taken heat many
domain took unequivocal direction. When "The Chief"- name by
times before because of his chief's scathing editorials. Wren was hard-
which overworked and underpaid staffers knew him-wrote for The
boiled, a trademark of all Hearst executives who kept their jobs, and
Mighty Monarch of the Western Slope, as the paper called itself on
he was cool and imperturbable when pressure was the heaviest. He
its masthead, he expected all his editors to get the signal and follow
was sitting at his desk, chewing an unlit cigar and working on copy,
the lead.
when he heard a rumbling commotion in the dingy city room.
On February 28, Hearst unleashed the next salvo. It was written
It was shortly after 10:00 P.M. and the next edition was on dead-
tor
IWO JIMA: PART FOUR
110
THE MEN OF SURIBACHI AND TWO FLAGS
111
line. Nearly a hundred Marines stormed toward the editor's cluttered,
glassed-in office. Their eyes blazed, and they pushed aside anyone
in the San Francisco Chronicle, whose offices were a few blocks away.
The lead editorial in the competing morning paper said:
blocking their advance. A frightened staffer turned in a riot call as
Marines surrounded Wren.
"Look," he said, "I take orders from my commanding officer, just
"The recapture of the Philippines remains competent,
like you do, and they came from Mr. Hearst at San Simeon. He said
energetic and immensely heartening to the American people.
S
We are proud of that job.
to run the editorial as he wrote it, and I did."
S
Furious Marines demanded that Hearst be called, and Wren got
"To slur the United States Marines in one type of op-
eration, however, to draw odious comparisons between theirs
on the direct line. "Mr. Hearst is too busy to be disturbed," he was
di
and the type of operations conducted by General MacArthur,
told. The Chief had spoken, and would have nothing more to say-
is to raise a sinister fantasy. To hint that the Marine and
at least for the moment. Wren calmed the Marines by promising they
would have their say in the next day's paper, and the explosive episode
Naval leadership in that assault is incompetent is an attempt
at a damnable swindle of the American people.
was defused.
When San Francisco police and the Navy Shore Patrol tramped
"The Chronicle does not propose to engage in a contro-
versy over the relative merits of our fighting forces in the
up the stairs to the confused scene, the sullen and bitter Marines left.
Asked if legal action would be taken against the men, a Marine officer
various theaters of war. But neither does the Chronicle pro-
said: "Probably not. They were off duty and acting as individuals.
pose to remain mute when the United States Marines, or
in
any force on the world battle line, is butchered at home to
Apparently they read the editorial and didn't like it." He was a man
make a Roman holiday."
of rare understatement.
th
Deeply concerned citizens wrote congressmen and senators-
of
and Secretary Forrestal-about the heavy and still mounting casual-
The paper was owned by four sisters. One was Mrs. Phyllis de
to
Young Tucker. She had been informed three days earlier that First
ties at Iwo. The secretary's office released a letter from one woman,
Lieutenant Nion R. Tucker, Jr., her only son, had been cut down on
who was not identified, nor was it known if she had a son or close
ao
D-Day while assaulting Green Beach with the Fifth Division, and had
relative in the battle. It read:
died of his wounds.
"Please, for God's sake, stop sending our finest youth to be mur-
Admiral Nimitz and General Smith were keenly aware of the
dered on places like Iwo Jima. It is too much for boys to stand, too
much for mothers to take. It is driving some mothers crazy. Why can't
furor raging stateside; but there was nothing they could do to stop it.
Marines in the raging battle knew nothing of the blazing controversy-
objectives be accomplished in some other way? It is almost inhuman-
they knew only that they wanted to win the battle, to leave Iwo alive
stop, stop!"
and unhurt.
Forrestal answered: "On December 7, 1941, the Axis confronted
es
us with a simple choice: fight or be overrun. There was then, and is
now, no other possibility. Having chosen to fight, we had then, and
we have now, no final means of winning battles except through the
valor of the Marine or Army soldier who, with rifle and grenade, storms
enemy positions, takes them, and holds them. There is no shortcut
or easy way. I wish there were."
Next day's Examiner mentioned the near-riot in a three-paragraph
story buried in the paper's back pages: there was no rebuttal from the
Marines on the editorial page-or elsewhere. It was a different story
STATE 111 the
OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20301-1400
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
DATE: 14august 1989 THIS PAGE PLUS
9
PAGE (S) FOLLOW
TO: NAME Kurt Smith
FROM:
Jeff Salmon
LOCATION: White House
LOCATION: Pentagon
DIVISION: Speechwriter
DIVISION: Speechuriter
EXTENSION:
EXTENSION: 6978191
IF TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES ARE NOT RECEIVED OR ARE ILLEGIBLE,
PLEASE CALL (202) 697-5007 or 695-6993.
Meals ) wh oxford
100 colta
Ralyh 5 Valls
STRATEGIC MODERNIZATION: THE REAL BUDGET ISSUE
by
Dick Cheney
U.S. Secretary of Defense
Congress is about to go through a tough exercise. I know it
will be tough, because I have been through it myself. So have
members of the committees with jurisdiction over the Department
of Defense. Put simply, the Congress must decide how this
country can prepare for its long term security with a shrinking
defense budget.
Ful as live,
The source of the problem is not hard to find. The DoD
budget has been cut for each of the past five years, after
inflation, for a cumulative 12 percent cut between 1985 and
1990. There is no easy fat left to trim.
Faced with this reality, President Bush and I thought it was
time to cancel some programs. For the five years of 1990-94,
our recommended cancellations would have saved $19.3 billion.
Unfortunately, the House Armed Services Committee took a
different approach. Rather than terminate programs, the
committee voted to keep practically everything alive and stretch
programs out. As a result, the government would have to pay
excessively high unit costs for assembly lines that would have
to run at inefficiently low rates of production.
-2-
At least as important as the waste is the fact that the
funds have to come from somewhere to keep lower priority
programs alive. The committee took most of the coming year's
money out of strategic modernization -- and especially out of
the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and B-2 Stealth Bomber.
MODERNIZATION
Earlier this decade, the nuclear freeze movement argued that
because both the United States and Soviet Union could destroy
each other many times over, it made no sense to build new
strategic weapons of any kind. The fallacy is that the weapons
needed for deterrence must change over time. If the Soviet
Union improves its ability to strike first, we have to make
improvements of our own to maintain the same level of
deterrence.
Some contemporary opponents of modernization question
whether the United States has any reason to be fearful of the
Soviet Union in an age of perestroika and glasnost. The problem
is that we have to base our procurement decisions not on Mr.
Gorbachev's apparent intentions, but upon the capabilities --
the actual weapons -- that any potential Soviet leader would
have available over the next 25 years. Intentions or leaders
can change overnight, but an effective weapons system takes
years to produce.
Of course, merely asserting a generalized need for
modernization will not help a planner decide which weapons to
build. Those choices have to be guided by a broad sense of
-3-
purpose. The purpose of modernization is to assure that enough
of our strategic forces will continue to be able to survive any
seriously imaginable first strike, given foreseeable or
potentially dangerous developments in future offensive
technologies. Individual programs ought to be judged not as
abstractions, taken one a time, but as pieces of a whole
strategic package that has to act as a deterrent against a
comparable package on the other side.
TRIDENT
There has been relatively little controversy this year over
the submarine portion of the U.S. deterrent. The Trident
program is a major success story. The increased quietness of
the submarine, and the extended range and increased accuracy of
its D-5 missile, will ensure that the sea-based leg of the
deterrent triad can survive into the foreseeable future.
Today, the U.S. deploys a mixed force of Trident and
Poseidon submarines. Built more than 20 years ago, the Poseidon
is nearing obsolescence. All will be retired by the late 1990s.
To take their places, 16 Tridents have been authorized as of
1989. Eight are fully operational, two are undergoing sea
trials, and six are under construction. While the full size of
the Trident force has yet to be determined, the President has
called for one to be authorized in 1990 and another in 1991.
The Trident force would be difficult, if not impossible, for
the Soviet Union to destroy during a first strike against the
United States. As a result, its ability to respond promptly
-4-
against hard targets will remain a critically important part of
the U.S. deterrent.
MOBILE ICBMs
Although submarines currently look safe against a first
strike, it would be dangerously imprudent to rely solely upon
them for the indefinite future. We cannot place all our bets on
the assumption that the Soviet Union will never develop advanced
anti-submarine capabilities capable of neutralizing the
Tridents. Therefore, it remains essential to retain a land-
based capability.
The Peacekeeper or MX multi-warhead ICBMs are the country's
most capable, most accurate missiles. These fifty missiles,
with a total of 500 warheads, have already been built and are
deployed in Wyoming. The problem is that they are sitting in
fixed silos. For about $5.4 billion, they can deployed between
1992 and 1994 in a rail mobile garrison. This is the least
costly way to make a substantial portion of our ICBM force more
survivable, quickly.
The single warhead, small ICBM will be ready for deployment
by 1997. Once it is deployed in a road mobile configuration,
Soviet planners would have to use more than one accurate missile
to take out each single warhead. By making a first strike more
difficult, building this missile can contribute to stability.
The decision to move more slowly with the small ICBM than
with redeploying the Peacekeeper was not based on any doubt
about the small missile's potential contribution. Financial
-5-
considerations prevent us from funding both programs fully at
the same time. It is important to insure that at least one
mobile missile is made operational quickly, and the Peacekeeper
is a lot closer to being ready.
Some questions have been raised about how we can propose to
build two mobile missiles while at the same time proposing to
ban such missiles at the Strategic Arms Limitation (START)
talks. The positions may look contradictory, but they really
are interdependent. We cannot agree to a situation in which the
Soviet Union has mobile missiles and we do not. That means we
cannot allow even a limited number of mobile missiles under
START unless Congress agrees to build both of our mobile ICBMs
and we can verify whatever limits end up in the treaty. Once
both of these problems are solved, we will be prepared -to
reconsider our negotiating posture.
This raises a more basic question about the relationship
between negotiation and modernization, The Soviet Union already
has two mobile missiles roughly comparable to the Peacekeeper
and small ICBM. Experience teaches us that the Soviets will not
agree to a treaty limit if they feel they can achieve a better
result by waiting for the U.S. to limit itself unilaterally.
For negotiating as well as strategic reasons, therefore, we have
to respond to the Soviets' capability.
B-2 BOMBER
The B-2 manned bomber is in some ways the most stabilizing
element of the triad. Because bombers are so much slower than
missiles, it is not credible to think of them as first strike
-6-
strategic weapons. In addition, bombers can be recalled,
retargeted and reused: they are the most versatile element of
the triad.
Far from being outdated in a missile age, manned bombers
work synergistically with ballistic missiles to make planning
for a first strike against the United States more difficult.
Assume for the sake of argument a day when the Soviets might
have figured out a way to neutralize our submarines. It still
would be impossible for them to destroy a mixed force of bombers
and missiles all at once, because of the differences between the
flight times for missiles and the time it takes to get bombers
in the air.
Some of the congressional debate about the B-2 so far has
turned on questions about how it would be used. Some critics of
the program questioned that we would ever send a bomber to do a
job a missile could do. But the fact that there may be some
redundancy in targeting is not a drawback. The whole point
about synergism is that the bombers are meant to deter even if
our ICBMs are destroyed. And in addition, there are some jobs a
bomber can do better than a missile.
The B-1 bomber is a useful advance over the B-52 for now,
but we cannot expect the B-1 to penetrate the heaviest Soviet
defenses against prime targets into next century. Although I
did have some concerns about the B-2, I am now persuaded that
this airplane will give us important and in some ways amazing
capabilities. The B-2's revolutionary stealth characteristics
will allow it to penetrate and attack heavily defended targets,
whether fixed or moving. In addition, its superior range (6,000
-7-
miles, or 10,000 miles with one refueling) will make it a
superior aircraft for other long range missions. This may
become particularly important over time, considering the
declining availability of overseas bases.
Yes, the B-2 is expensive -- but not remarkably so for what
it will do. Its cost is only 25 percent more than the flyaway
cost of a B-1, in constant dollars. Moreover, we have
procedures in place to control risks as we move through the
testing phase to begin production.
SDI
A successful Strategic Defense Initiative could potentially
mean more for America's future security than any one of the
other elements of our strategic modernization program. We must
move forward with the other elements because SDI is still in a
research phase, years away from deployment. But if the program
bears the kind of fruit that is looking increasingly likely, SDI
will contribute a great deal to deterrence -- not only against
a Soviet threat, but against the large number of other countries
that are on the verge of having their own nuclear and chemical
missiles.
Part of the skepticism about SDI comes from the way it once
was portrayed by some as a means for protecting the whole
population against nuclear attack. In reality, the program
assumes defensive systems will be introduced in phases, with the
goals of the first phase being less ambitious than those of the
follow-on phases. Initial defenses would strengthen deterrence
-8-
by disrupting an attack and denying its objectives. Later more
capable defenses would provide better protection.
In each phase, the program envisions a layered defense
system, with both ground and space based components. Even in
the first phase, a space based layer would intercept a
significant percentage of the enemy's missiles before the
warheads could separate from their delivery vehicles. The
mission of the ground based layer would be to destroy warheads
that get past the space based layer.
Even though a Phase One system would be less than "perfect",
it would leave Soviet planners completely uncertain about what
targets might be damaged in a first strike. At a minimum,
therefore, SDI can supplement missile mobility, bomber
redundancy, and a host of other stabilizing measures. Moreover,
it can achieve these results in a way that might finally move us
away from a deterrence based solely on offensive weapons to one
based increasingly on defense.
SDI research has already made remarkable progress. But a
significant cut in our budget request could disrupt the entire
program. This year, many Phase One projects are moving into the
testing and validation phase. A major cut will make it
impossible to maintain a balance between testing the feasibility
of mature Phase One systems and funding more basic research for
the later phases. Unlike past years, when funding determined
how quickly new research could get started, a major cut this
year would shut down existing projects and turn some of the
nation's premier scientists and engineers away from the field.
** 010 PAGE TOTAL **
-9-
The SDI program therefore is at a crossroads. A $1.1
billion cut would all but preclude even the possibility of
deploying militarily significant defenses this century. SDI
would be forced to retrench into a technology-only program.
This would be deeply disturbing, particularly since the programs
being funded with the same money are ones that would have
considerably less military utility over the long term.
CONCLUSION
Fiscal austerity demands choices. When choices are hard, it
is always tempting to cut long range programs to save short term
pain. Building a constituency for strategic modernization is
made even more difficult, because our objective is to create an
environment in which the weapons will not be used.
As politically unrewarding as the hard choices may. be, we
need to modernize our strategic forces, and to pursue arms
control, because the danger of not doing so is too great. The
Soviet Union is the only country that can put our continued
survival at risk. We ought to face up to this fact soberly.
Congress should resist the temptation to give in to today's
pressures to make sure the United States can continue to defend
itself well into the next century.
- RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-25-89 ;10:39AM ;
2028612728-
4566218;# 3
2
The majority of Americans would like to see the American flag
protected by a constitutional amendment. A recent Gallup Poll
revealed that twe-thirds (65%) of the nation said that, if asked,
they would sign a petition asking for a constitutional amendment to
make flag burning illegal.
The poll was conducted by The Gallup Organisation of Lincoin,
Nebraska with a national random sample of individuals age 18 and
older living in the continental United States.
Completed during July, 1989, the sample was controlled for age, sex
and region to match 1980 U.S. Census data. A three call-back system
was used to guarantee the representativeness of the sample.
The Poll showed that for the mest part it appears that Americans
were not pleased with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that
ruled that while offensive, flag burning was protected under the
free speech guarantee of the First Amendment. Six-tenths of the
respondents interviewed said that they disagreed with the Supreme
Court ruling. Respondents with lower incomes and less education
vere much more likely to disagree with the Supreme Court ruling than
were there higher income, higher educated counterparts.
When asked how they felt when they first learned of the Supreme
Court ruling concerning burning the American flag, the majority said
that they were angry/upset (48%) or disappointed (24%). only 94
said that they thought it was a good ruling.
In further support of the flag, almost two-thirds (cer) of the
respondents said that they think a constitutional amendment should
be enacted which would allow federal and state governments to make
flag burning illegal. Oncis again, lower income groups in particular
(70%), agreed that such an amendment should be enacted.
Less than three-tenths (27%) of the respondents thought that such a
constitutional amendment would place their freedom of speech rights
in jeopardy. Minorities were much more likely to think such an
amendment would result in loss of rights than were whites (40% to
25% respectively).
Barttett's
682
Wilson
Albee Conrad
Woodrow Wilson
11
1856-1924
best. Armed neutrality is ineffectual enough
Edward Frar
1857-1
1
The United States must be neutral in fact
Address to Congress, asking for
as well as in name.
We must be impar-
declaration of war [April 2. 1917
Never give a sucker a
tial in thought as well as in action.
12
Message to the Senate [August 19,
racy.2 The world must be made safe for demo
1914]
13 It is a fearful thing to lead this great peace
2 You deal in the raw material of opinion,
Joseph C
ful people into war, into the most terrible and
and, if my convictions have any validity,
tuo
1857-1
disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seem
opinion ultimately governs the world.
ing to be in the balance. But the right is more
A work that aspires,
Address to the Associated Press
precious than peace, and we shall fight for
the condition of art shou
[April 20, 1915]
the things which we have always carried
tion in every line.
3 There is such a thing as a man being too
nearest our hearts-for democracy, for the
The Nig
proud to fight.
right of those who submit to authority to
Address to Foreign-Born Citizens
have a voice in their own governments. for
But the artist appeal
[May 10, 1915]
the rights and liberties of small nations, for
being which is not depe
4
[The Civil War] created in this country
a universal dominion of right by such a con
that in us which is a gif
what had never existed before-a national
cert of free peoples as shall bring peace and
tion-and, therefore, m
consciousness. It was not the salvation of the
safety to all nations and make the world itself
during. He speaks to ou
Union; it was the rebirth of the Union.
at last free. To such a task we can dedicate
and wonder, to the se
Memorial Day Address [1915]
our lives and our fortunes, everything that
rounding our lives: to o
5
The flag is the embodiment, not of senti-
we are and everything that we have, with the
beauty, and pain.
ment, but of history. It represents the experi-
pride of those who know that the day has
ences made by men and women, the experi-
come when America is privileged to spend
The ship, a fragmen
ences of those who do and live under that flag.
her blood and her might for the principles
earth, went on lonely a
Address [June 14, 1915]
that gave her birth and happiness and the
planet.
6
We have stood apart, studiously neutral.
peace which she has treasured. God helping
her, she can do no other. 3
Goodbye, brothers! Yc
Message to Congress [December 7,
11,
As good a crowd as ever
1915]
14 1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived
the beating canvas of a h
7 America cannot be an ostrich with its head
at.
ing aloft, invisible in the
in the sand.
2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the
for yell to a westerly g
Speech at Des Moines
seas.
5. A free, open-minded, and absolutely im
I am a great foe of fav
[February I, 1916]
8 There must be, not a balance of power, but
partial adjustment of all colonial claims
in private life, and ever
a community of power; not organized rival-
Address to Congress (The Fourteen
tionship of an author to
Points) [January 8. 1918
Lord Jim
ries, but an organized common peace.
Address to the Senate [January
15
14. A general association of nations must
There is a weird pow
formed
22, 1917]
for the purpose of affording mu
And a word carr
9 It must be a peace without victory
tual guarantees of political independence
deals destruction throug
Victory would mean peace forced upon the
and territorial integrity to great and small
go flying through space
loser, a victor's terms imposed upon the van-
states alike.
That faculty of behold
quished. It would be accepted in humiliation,
16 Sometimes people call me an idealist Well
of his desire and the sha
under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and
that is the way I know I am an American
out which the earth wou
would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter
America is the only idealistic nation in the
no adventurer.
memory upon which terms of peace would
world.
rest, not permanently, but only as upon
Address at Sioux Falls
You shall judge of a m
quicksand. Only a peace between equals can
[September 8. 1999
by his friends.
last.
Ib.
17 The highest and best form of efficiency
Vanity plays lurid tri
10 A little group of willful men, representing
the spontaneous cooperation of a free people
no opinion but their own, have rendered the
From BERNARD BARUCH.
great Government of the United States help-
Industry at War: A Report
Only a moment; a m
less and contemptible.
War Industries Board [March
of romance, of glamour-
Statement made in reference to cer-
sunshine upon a stra
tain members of the Senate [March
bill authorizing the arming of American merchan
4, 1917]¹
sels.
tienary [1923]. He made the q¹
Puppy 'Often attributed to W. C.
2See James Harvey Robinson, 703.2.
of Word and Phrase
³See Luther, 155:13.
F.P. Adams, 773:13.
1 Eleven senators had conducted a filibuster against a
4See Clemenceau, 643:11.
Wilde, 674:26.
D25
DE
1977
THE
ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF MILITARY
HISTORY
from 3500 B.C. to the present
R. ERNEST DUPUY and TREVOR N. DUPUY
don University
Revised Edition
vy, Rtd.
,
George Washington
S Marine Corps, Rtd.
States Air Force Re-
University
College
ty of Illinois
1817
I States Army, Rtd.,
HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS: New York
eering, United States
Cambridge, Philadelphia, San Francisco, London,
Mexico City, São Paulo, Sydney
edieval History, Har-
es Military Academy
ST
THE WAR IN THE WEST, 1944
1103
ralized. By June 6, Normandy
Operations in Italy, 1944
1944, January 23-February 16. German
ny were in effect isolated from
Build-up. Under General Hans Georg
ider of France. In all, some 4
ANZIO-RAPIDO CAMPAIGN
Mackensen the quickly extemporized
is of bombs were dropped dur-
Fourteenth Army pinned Lucas to his
eriod, nearly 60 per cent by
1944, January 5-15. Drive to the Rapido.
beachhead.
aircraft.
Stubborn assaults through the mountains,
from the confluence of the Liri and Gari-
1944, February 16-29. German Counterat-
August. Shuttle Bombing from
tacks. A series of brutal blows drove
'o permit American bombers to
gliano rivers north to the Apennines, ad-
vanced the Fifth Army nearly 7 miles to
back the outlying Allied units. Lucas was
ther east into Germany with
the final German Gustav Line along the
relieved (February 23) by Clark, Major
mb loads, and also to confuse
Rapido, with Monte Cassino the key ter-
General Lucius K. Truscott, Jr., U.S. 3rd
ir-defense efforts, arrangements
e for them to fly east to bases
rain obstacle in the bulge's center. Alex-
Division commander, replacing him.
e rapidly advancing Russian
ander planned a frontal attack, assisted
1944, March-May. Stalemate. The amphibi-
pite operational success, the co-
by an amphibious landing at Anzio (Oper-
ous assault became a siege for 3 more
with the Russians was never
ation "Shingle"), some 60 miles from the
months with all the elements of World
Rapido front. The Anzio force would
War I trench warfare. All portions of the
tive. Also the Russian air de-
then advance inland to cut the German
narrow beachhead were under continuous
e unable to cope effectively with
communications line. Although the 2
observation and fire, while the Luftwaffe
counterraids on the American
operations were beyond mutual-support
swept the harbor area, disrupting supply
ussia, resulting in severe Amer-
and reinforcement efforts.
The effort was therefore soon
capabilities, it was believed the dual oper-
ation would force evacuation of the
1944, February-May. Operations on the
1.
Gustav Line. The Eighth Army, mean-
Rapido. Fifth Army battered at the
December. Climax of the Stra-
while, would continue its advance on
Gustav Line. The U.S. 34th Division as-
Offensive. The long-range
Pescara, on the Adriatic coast.
sault on Monte Cassino, the so-called
eturned to their primary mis-
1944, January 17-21. Rapido-Cassino As-
First Battle of Cassino, was repulsed (Feb-
tacking Germany's warmaking
saults. The X Corps attacked across the
ruary 12). The New Zealand Corps then
ave for a few diversionary at-
Garigliano, attaining a bridgehead. On its
tried, supported by aerial bombardment
tactical targets to assist in the
right the II Corps U.S. 36th Division at-
(General Bernard C. Freyburg mistakenly
rom the Normandy beachhead
tempted to force the Rapido, but was re-
thought the Germans were using the
p. 1107). The pattern of opera-
pulsed with heavy loss (January 17-19).
monastery for observation), in the Second
as before, save that the growing
The French corps nibbled north of Cas-
Battle of Cassino (February 15-18), and
f planes permitted even more
sino to make slight but costly gains. As
also failed. The Germans quickly occu-
perations. Principal targets were
expected, German reserves were drawn to
pied the ruined monastery and repulsed
oil-production facilities and
the New Zealanders. The most massive
the Rapido front, and the amphibious op-
tion system. All large industrial
eration was launched from Naples (Janu-
close air support attack attempted to date
e struck, however, including
ary 21).
brought no different result in the Third
S, electric-power facilities, and
Battle of Cassino (March 15-23).
ctories. The attacks on oil pro-
Anzio Operations, January 22-
February 29
COMMENT. Since the objective of the
rastically reduced the available
Anzio-Rapido operation was to pry the Ger-
rplanes, tanks, trucks, and sub-
1944, January 22. The Landings. Major
mans out of the Gustav Line by utilizing Al-
hus affecting Germany's ability
General John P. Lucas' VI Corps-some
lied sea power to cut their line of communi-
n land, in the air, and at sea.
50,000 Anglo-American troops, with 5,200
cations, Anzio should have been the main
el reduced the new fighter-pilot
vehicles-began landing without opposi-
effort, the Rapido merely a holding attack.
creating a vicious cycle; inad-
tion. Forty-eight hours later, most of the
But insufficient sea transportation (because
trained German pilots were
troops were ashore, the initial- objectives
of the demands of the 2 coming amphibious
ot down by the attacking bomb-
attained, and - beachhead established, 7
invasions of France) was available to ensure
heir fighter escorts. The attack
miles deep. Lucas, however, made no at-
a sledge-hammer blow at Anzio. So the joint
n transportation also had a wide
tempt to drive inland toward the Alban
operation-and the responsibility must rest
king the flow of raw materials
Hills-the vital terrain. Instead, he con-
on Alexander-became a weak planning
:S, and of finished products to
solidated his position, awaiting the land-
compromise: 2 main efforts, entirely incapa-
an fighting forces and popula-
ing of heavy weapons, tanks, and addi-
ble of mutual support, neither of them pow-
Ily the curve of German pro-
tional supplies. General Clark, who was
erful enough to do the job alone. It can be
gan to drop sharply; the Com-
present, concurred. But Kesselring's quick
argued that had Lucas immediately and
nber Offensive was wrecking
reaction brought German reinforcements
boldly pushed ahead to his final objective-
capability to continue the war.
from the north as well as from quiet sec-
the Alban Hills-the Gustav Line must have
tors of the Gustav Line.
collapsed, with Rome quickly occupied. But
1104
WORLD WAR II IN THE WEST
Lucas' commander, General Clark, was
1944, May 26-June 4. Advance on Rome.
ashore on D day and concurred in the de-
General Clark's shift of the Fifth Army
cision to consolidate before driving inland.
toward Rome now saved the German
Some 23,860 American and 9,203 British
Tenth Army from possible envelopment.
casualties were evacuated during the 4-month
Skillfully handled rear guards checked
hell on the beachhead. In the end the Gus-
American advances at Valmontone and
tav Line collapsed only as a result of the
Velletri (May 28-June 2), while the re-
very type of frontal attack the amphibious
mainder of the Tenth Army fell back.
operation was designed to avoid.
Rome was entered (June 4), hot on the
1944, March 15-May 11. Operation "Stran-
heels of a general German retirement.
gle." U.S. Major General Ira C. Eaker's
1944, June-August. Advance to the Arno.
Anglo-American Mediterranean Allied
The Allies pushed rapidly up the penin-
Air Forces undertook a systematic air in-
sula. But withdrawals of troops-both
terdiction campaign to cut off supplies
ground and air-to mount the invasion of
to German troops south of Rome. Despite
southern France (see p. 1108) reduced
severe punishment, the Germans did not
Alexander's strength, while German re-
withdraw as Allied air planners had
inforcements bolstered Kesselring. In a
hoped. However, the effect would soon
series of masterly delaying actions the
be evident when intensive ground pres-
Germans-despite Allied air superiority-
sure was combined with the air interdic-
retired to the Gothic Line, extending
tion campaign.
across the peninsula south of Bologna,
its outposts running generally from Pisa,
ROME CAMPAIGN
through Florence, to Ancona.
1944, May 11-25. Breakthrough. Regrouped
1944, August-December. Advance to the
to bring the weight of the 15th Army
Gothic Line. The Fifth Army crossed
Group into his main effort, Alexander
the Arno (August 26). Leese's Eighth
launched a full-scale surprise assault in
Army took Rimini (September 21), and
the 20-mile zone between Cassino and
Clark, committing all his reserves, made
the sea. The interdiction pressures of
an unsuccessful bid for Bologna (Octo-
"Strangle" were intensified. In the com-
ber 1-20). Another Italian winter settled
bined air-ground offensive, "Diadem,"
on an exhausted Allied army group.
French, Polish, British, Canadian, and U.S.
Alexander, promoted to Supreme Allied
units smashed through the German lines.
Commander in place of Wilson (trans-
The Poles took Cassino (May 17-18). At
ferred to head the British military mission
Anzio the reinforced VI Corps attacked
in Washington), was replaced by Clark.
(May 23) toward the Alban Hills; contact
Truscott took over the Fifth Army and
was made between the two Allied forces
Lieutenant General Richard L. McCreery
two days later.
took over the Eighth from Leese.
The Allied Invasion of Western Europe
THE PRELIMINARIES, MAY, I943-MAY, 1944
Allied Situation and Plans
At the Trident Conference (see p. 1090), Président Roosevelt and Prime
Minister Churchill agreed on a major cross-Channel invasion of Europe in 1944.
Planning was under Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Morgan; the target date__
was set as the first week of June 1944. A gigantic amphibious operation from
southern England to France, with nearly 3 million men, was planned. After all
possible landing sites were considered, the area east of the Cotentin Peninsula of
Normandy was selected, because of (a) its proximity to Allied fighter bases in
England, (b) the short water distance for carrying supplies and reinforcements in
limited numbers of landing craft, (c) the nature of the beaches, (d) the nature
of the inland area, and (e) the German defenses. In February, General Eisenhower,
designated to command the invasion, established Supreme Headquarters Allied
Constellation Visiting Information
A unique opportunity to visit two of
Hours:
our most historic national shrines, just
June 15 through September 7: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
a few blocks apart.
Visit Frigate
September 8 to October 14: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
October 15 to May 14: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Only seven blocks apart on Pratt Street, the Frigate
May 15 to June 14: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Constellation and the Star Spangled Banner Flag
Constellation
(Last tickets are sold 15 minutes before closing time.)
House combine to give the visitor a new understand-
Admissions:
ing of the birth of our nation, and a new appreciation
and the
for the struggles it endured in its early years to survive
Adults, $2.00; Senior Citizens, $1.50; Children 6-15, $1.00
as "the land of the free, and the home of the brave."
Free to Children under 6, to Constellation Members and
Star Spangled Banner
active Military.
Special group rates are available, call (301) 539-1797.
Museum Shops
Constellation's Museum Shop, "The Ship's Store,"
Flag House
Flag House Visiting Information
offers many one-of-a-kind items on a nautical theme.
Books, prints, natural-material Scrimshaw, crystal
Hours:
and pewter are on hand, as well as many delightful
gifts for under $5.00.
10-4, Monday through Saturday; 1-4 Sunday; Closed
The Flag House Museum Shop sells flags of all
Sundays in Winter and some holidays.
nations and all states in the U.S., in addition to unique
Admissions:
items related to the collections.
Adults, $1.50; Children 13-18, $1.00; Children 6-12, 50c;
Credit cards are accepted in both shops. Proceeds
Members, Active Military and Under 6 free; Over 65, $1.00
help to support the maintenance of both national
Special group rates available, call (301) 837-1793.
historic landmarks.
Transportation between Constellation and Flag House:
Pratt Street Trolley
When planning your visit, contact:
The Star Spangled Banner
Flag House Association
844 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
(301) 837-1793
.50c OFF ADULT ADMISSION
WITH THIS COUPON
]
SARATOGA ST.
]
GREENE ST.
HOPKINS PL.
HOLLIDAY
FAYETTEST
U.S.F. CONSTELLATION
PACA ST.
LOMBARD
ST.
is
Constellation Dock
LOMBARD ST.
PRATT ST
INNER HARBOR PROJECTS
Pier One, Pratt Street
PRATT ST.
THE FLAG
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
HOUSE
FRIGATE
(301) 539-1797
SHARP ST.
CHARLES ST.
CONSTELLATION
LIGHT ST.
N
.50c OFF ONE ADULT ADMISSION
POINT
FELLS
WITH THIS COUPON
FEDERAL
HILL
Frigate Constellation
Feel her history and relive her glory as you explore
the decks of the first commissioned ship of the U.S.
Navy.
The first of our fledgling Navy to put to sea, U.S.F.
Constellation was also first to engage and first to
defeat a man-o-war from the old world, the French
Frigate l'Insurgente in 1799.
From her launching in Baltimore on September 7,
1797, she served with distinction until 1945, earning a
lasting place of honor in naval history.
For nearly a century and a half, she and her gallant
crews protected our nation from pirates and priva-
teers, and distinguished herself in the War of 1812, the
Civil War, and as the Flagship of the Atlantic Fleet
during World War Two.
The Constellation is now permanently displayed
as a national historic landmark and major tourist
attraction at Constellation Dock, in the Inner
Harbor.
Above Photos Courtesy-Oliver C. Shipley
The Flag House
To visit The Flag House and the adjacent 1812
Museum, is to experience history, culture, patriotism,
and charm. Small in size, The Flag House has a doll
house magic for children, while its authenticity and
historical significance attract their elders.
In this corner row house at E. Pratt and Albemarle
Streets, built in 1793 in Baltimore's Old Town, Mary
Pickersgill made by hand the massive 30 X 42 feet
Star Spangled Banner. This most famous of all
American flags was the one that was "still there" over
the ramparts of Fort McHenry in the dawn of Sep-
tember 14, 1814. A lawyer named Francis Scott Key
was so moved by the sight of the flag still flying after
the intensive 25 hour bombardment by the British
that he penned the emotional words that became our
National Anthem.
A guided tour through the authentically restored
and furnished Flag House, is a charming visit to one
of the proudest periods in our nation's history.
Above Outdoor Photos Courtesy-Oliver C. Shipley
Above Indoor Photos Courtesy-George A. Torney
100M-2-88
D25
D'S
1977
it
THE
ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF MILITARY
HISTORY
from 3500 B.C. to the present
R. ERNEST DUPUY and TREVOR N. DUPUY
idon University
Revised Edition
vy, Rtd.
,, George Washington
es Marine Corps, Rtd.
States Air Force Re-
University
College
1817
ity of Illinois
d States Army, Rtd.,
HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS: New York
eering, United States
Cambridge, Philadelphia, San Francisco, London,
1.
Mexico City, São Paulo, Sydney
ledieval History, Har-
tes Military Academy
AM. 1965-1973
OPERATIONS, 1969
1217
5 and major South Vietnamese
Operations. Activities took place along
Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF) Joint
owns. Saigon and Hue were the
inland waterways of Mekong Delta.
General Staff was to facilitate increasing
targets of the Communist as-
1968, May 5-9. Communist Spring Offensive.
Vietnamese responsibility for operations
ting went on block by block
Attacks were launched on 122 military
and to improve and modernize the
city of Hue until February 25,
installations, airfields, and towns through-
RVNAF.
gon combat reached inside the
out South Vietnam, including Saigon. The
1969, February 23-March 29. Communist
Embassy grounds. All of the
attacks were unsuccessful.
Offensive. This began with a series of
re repelled, and fighting sub-
1968, May 10. Paris Peace Talks Begin.
rocket and mortar attacks against over 100
te February with the exception
U.S. and North Vietnamese officials began
cities and bases throughout South Viet-
around the U.S. Marine base at
discussions.
nam, including Saigon; attacks peaked on
which remained under siege.
1968, May 19-June 21. Nightly Rocket At-
February 26 and March 6 and 16.
he offensive was not militarily
tacks Against Saigon. More than 100,000
1969, April 24. Intensive B-52 Raids. Some
for the Communists, it was a
civilians were left homeless within the
100 B-52s dropped bombs on targets
cal victory since the American
city.
northwest of Saigon near the Cambodian
Vietnamese forces were taken
1968, July 3. General Creighton W. Abrams
border.
by surprise.
Assumes Command. He replaced Gen-
1969, April 26. First "Vietnamization"
ry 24. Air Attack on Hanoi.
eral William Westmoreland (who became
Transfer. The 6th Battalion 77th Field
m the carrier U.S.S. Enterprise
Army Chief of Staff) as Commander of
Artillery completed turnover of equip-
he port area.
USMACV.
ment to the 213th ARVN artillery Bat-
16. My Lai (Song My) Mas-
1968, July 14-18. Intensified B-52 Opera-
talion in ceremonies at Can Tho, Phong
ing a search-and-destroy opera-
tions. They struck supply bases and
Dinh Province, in the Mekong Delta.
task force of the U.S. 23rd
troop concentrations 15 miles north of the
1969, April 30. Peak U.S. Troops Strength
Infantry Division, C Company,
DMZ (July 14) and North Vietnamese
in South Vietnam: 543,482. (See Statistical
Infantry, some 200 unarmed
SAM sites for the first time (July 18).
Summary for additional forces in Thai-
nen, women, and children—
1968, August 17. Third Communist Offen-
land and at sea.)
ered in the village of My Lai
sive. This was mounted throughout South
1969, May 8-20. Battle of "Hamburger
hn Ngai Province (northern sec-
Vietnam except the Delta; rocket attacks
Hill." As part of an operation against
outrage remained unpublicized
on Saigon resumed August 21.
North Vietnamese infiltration routes, U.S.
han a year, and when it was
1968, September 30. U.S.S. New Jersey Be-
troops took Hill 937 (Ap Bia Mountain
shocked the Free World and
gins Combat Operations near DMZ. This
or "Hamburger Hill") in the northern A
1 antiwar sentiments in the
was the first combat use of a U.S. battle-
Shau-Valley, Quang Tri Province, after
tes.
ship since July 1953.
fierce fighting and 10 attempts.
-15. Operation "Pegasus." A
1968, October 18. Operation "Sea Lords."
1969, May 11-14. Communist Summer Of.
,000 U.S. and ARVN soldiers,
This was launched by three U.S. naval
fensive. This began with coordinated
m the 1st Cavalry Division
task forces to interdict Viet Cong infiltra-
ground attacks throughout South Viet-
), attacked to free the Marines
tion routes from Cambodia into the
nam.
Khe Sanh. The North Viet-
Mekong Delta and coordinate naval
1969, May 14. President Nixon Announces
d already begun to withdraw
operations in the Delta.
Planned Withdrawal from Vietnam.
1968, October 31. U.S. Ceases Attacks on
1969, June 5. U.S. Aircraft Resume Bom-
8. Operation "Complete Vic-
North Vietnam. President Johnson or-
bardment of North Vietnam. Strikes on
er 100,000 men from 42 U.S.
dered complete cessation of air, naval,
North Vietnamese targets were the first
RVN battalions undertook an
and ground bombardment north of the
since the November 1968 bombing halt.
gainst Communist forces in 11
DMZ, effective at 0800 EST November 1,
1969, June 17. Communists Retake "Ham-
round Saigon.
in an effort to encourage peace negotia-
burger Hill."
19-May 17. Operation "Dela-
tions.
1969, July 8. U.S. Withdrawal Begins. The
offensive was launched into
1968, December 31. U.S. Military Strength
3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Brigade, 9th
base areas in A Shau Valley,
in South Vietnam: 536,040; U.S. combat
Infantry-Division, left Tan Son Nhut Air
and Thua Thien provinces
deaths in Southeast Asia in 1968: 14,437.
Base near Saigon for Ft. Lewis, Wash-
ector), by 1st Cavalry Division
ington.
101st Airborne Division, ele-
OPERATIONS, 1969
1969, July 25. U.S. Bombing Authorized in
he 196th Light Infantry Bri-
Laos. Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma
ARVN Division, and ARVN
1969, January 25. First Substantive Peace
announced that he had authorized U.S.
Bravo (Airborne), designed
Talks in Paris.
bombing along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
an expected attack against
1969, February 6. American-Vietnamese
1969, September 3. Ho Chi Minh Dies in
Staff Organized to Facilitate "Vietnamiza-
Hanoi.
Mobile Riverine Force Begins
tion." The combined U.S.-Republic of
1969, October 1. Vietnamese Forces Assume
152. Annual Message
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look
forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression - everywhere
in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God ir
his own way- everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want which, translated into
world terms, means economic understandings which will secure
to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -
everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear-which, translated into
world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to
such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation
will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression
against any neighbor anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis
for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.
That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new
order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash
of a bomb.
To that new order we oppose the greater conception - the
moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world
domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.
Since the beginning of our American history, we have been
engaged in change- - in a perpetual peaceful revolution - a revo-
lution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing
conditions - without the concentration camp or the quick-lime
in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation
of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and
hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in
freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the su-
premacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to
those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our
strength is our unity of purpose.
To that high concept there can be no end save victory.
672
152. Annual Message
NOTE: In the decade since 1931,
tions contained in our Neutrality
ure, we look
international lawlessness practiced
Act, which operated to the detri-
ian freedoms.
successively by Japan, Italy, and
ment of peace-loving nations, and
-everywhere
Germany, has been casting a length-
for the benefit of the dictators (see
ening shadow over the world. Re-
Item 93, 1939 volume). But those
rship God ir
pudiation of solemn treaty pledges,
who claimed "better private in-
invasion of independent countries,
formation" about the danger of war
anslated into
bombing of civilians, enslavement
refused to act to remove this handi-
of captive peoples - those are the
cap against the democracies.
h will secure
principles which have seemed to
When Hitler plunged Europe
inhabitants-
guide the aggressor nations.
into war, I again asked, and this
The policy of our government
time secured, the repeal of the arms
anslated into
has been consistently designed to
embargo (see Item 130, 1939 vol-
rmaments to
keep war out of the Americas.
ume). Yet, as the cruel forces of law-
at no nation
Clearly this will become impossible
lessness crushed nation after nation,
if the last European bulwark of
America's peril became greater and
al aggression
democracy, Great Britain, falls be-
greater. We needed time to expand
fore the Axis powers. For over a
our productive facilities to meet the
definite basis
century, Britain's fleet has been
threat of aggression in this hemi-
d generation.
standing guard in the Atlantic
sphere. We needed time to build up
Ocean, complementing our own
our land and naval defenses. And
so-called new
fleet in an almost consistently
time was getting short, with ag-
with the crash
friendly fashion, and helping to
gression on the quick march which
give us in 1941 the naval protec-
modern warfare had developed.
ception the
tion which we otherwise should not
In June of 1940 it became clear
nes of world
be able to build quickly enough for
to us that it was necessary immedi-
fear.
the present crisis. We now under-
ately to send to Great Britain much
re have been
stand that one of the ways in which
more aid than the matériel which
we must defend America is by en-
she and France had ordered in
tion a revo-
abling the British fleet to stay on
America, and which was then com-
f to changing
guard so as to preserve the integrity
ing off the assembly line. Accord-
e quick-lime
of the seas.
ingly, in that month we sent to
: cooperation
Our defense policy has had to be
Great Britain more than $43,000,-
ilized society.
developed in response to the spread
000 worth of our surplus stocks of
nd heads and
of international brutality. In my
rifles, machine guns, field artillery,
message to the Congress on Janu-
ammunition, and aircraft. This was
I its faith in
ary_4, 1939, I proclaimed the need
equipment which would have taken
leans the su-
for methods to curb the aggressors
many months to manufacture and
bort goes to
(see Item 1, 1939 volume). Even
which, with the exception of the
them. Our
before the outbreak of the Euro-
aircraft, had been produced during
pean War, I urged the repeal of
the World War period at a cost of
the embargo upon arms and muni-
$300,000,000. Most of this material
victory.
673
E300
7
.R6
1940
WHRC
THE PUBLIC PAPERS
AND ADDRESSES OF
FRANKLIN D.
ALISM
ROOSEVELT
WITH A SPECIAL INTRODUCTION
AND EXPLANATORY NOTES BY
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
E PLURIBUS
UNUM
See
1940 Volume
WAR-AND AID TO DEMOCRACIES
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK . 1941
152. Annual Message
results from
152 [The Annual Message to the Congress.
These condi-
forced upon
January 6, 1941
be far lower
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Seventy-seventh Congress:
ring the past
d, as I hope
ADDRESS you, the Members of the Seventy-seventh Con-
en the com-
I
gress, at a moment unprecedented in the history of the
ecome possi-
Union. I use the word "unprecedented," because at no
e restored.
previous time has American security been as seriously
tined during
threatened from without as it is today.
ficult task-
Since the permanent formation of our Government under
al needs can
the Constitution, in 1789, most of the periods of crisis in our
history have related to our domestic affairs. Fortunately, only-
national pro-
one of these - the four-year War Between the States-ever
of things to
threatened our national unity. Today, thank God, one hundred
and thirty million Americans, in forty-eight States, have for-
h armament
gotten points of the compass in our national unity.
turn of fate
It is true that prior to 1914 the United States often had
peace-loving
been disturbed by events in other Continents. We had even
engaged in two wars with European nations and in a number
se we are a
of undeclared wars in the West Indies, in the Mediterranean
defend. The
and in the Pacific for the maintenance of American rights and
een set.
for the principles of peaceful commerce. But in no case had
en prepared
a serious threat been raised against our national safety or our
ahead. One
continued independence.
arker carries
What I seek to convey is the historic truth that the United
d our demo-
States as a nation has at all times maintained clear, definite op-
position, to any attempt to lock us in behind an ancient Chinese
wall while the procession of civilization went past. Today,
thinking of our children and of their children, we oppose en-
forced isolation for ourselves or for any other part of the
Americas.
That determination of ours, extending over all these years,
was proved, for example, during the quarter century of wars
following the French Revolution.
While the Napoleonic struggles did threaten interests of the
66₃
152. Annual Message
United States because of the French foothold in the West Indies
and in Louisiana, and while we engaged in the War of 1812
to vindicate our right to peaceful trade, it is nevertheless clear
that neither France nor Great Britain, nor any other nation,
was aiming at domination of the whole world.
In like fashion from 1815 to 1914-ninety-nine years-no
single war in Europe or in Asia constituted a real threat against
our future or against the future of any other American nation.
Except in the Maximilian interlude in Mexico, no foreign
power sought to establish itself in this Hemisphere; and the
strength of the British fleet in the Atlantic has been a friendly
strength. It is still a friendly strength.
Even when the World War broke out in 1914, it seemed to
contain only small threat of danger to our own American future.
But, as time went on, the American people began to visualize
what the downfall of democratic nations might mean to our
own democracy.
We need not overemphasize imperfections in the Peace of
Versailles. We need not harp on failure of the democracies to
deal with problems of world reconstruction. We should remem-
ber that the Peace of 1919 was far less unjust than the kind of
"pacification" which began even before Munich, and which
is being carried on under the new order of tyranny that seeks
to spread over every continent today. The American people
have unalterably set their faces against that tyranny.
Every realist knows that the democratic way of life is at this
moment being directly assailed in every part of the world-as-
sailed either by arms, or by secret spreading of poisonous
propaganda by those who seek to destroy unity and promote
discord in nations that are still at peace.
During sixteen long months this assault has blotted out the
whole pattern of democratic life in an appalling number of in-
dependent nations, great and small. The assailants are still on
the march, threatening other nations, great and small.
Therefore, as your President, performing my constitutional
duty to "give to the Congress information of the state of the
664
152. Annual Message
Union," I find it, unhappily, necessary to report that the future
West Indies
Var of 1812
and the safety of our country and of our democracy are over-
theless clear
whelmingly involved in events far beyond our borders.
Armed defense of democratic existence is now being gallantly
ther nation,
waged in four continents. If that defense fails, all the population
and all the resources of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia will
e years-no
be dominated by the conquerors. Let us remember that the total
areat against
ican nation.
of those populations and their resources in those four continents
, no foreign
greatly exceeds the sum total of the population and the re-
sources of the whole of the Western Hemisphere - many times
:re; and the
over.
n a friendly
In times like these it is immature - and incidentally, un-
it seemed to
true - for anybody to brag that an unprepared America, single-
handed, and with one hand tied behind its back, can hold off
rican future.
the whole world.
to visualize
No realistic American can expect from a dictator's peace in-
nean to our
ternational generosity, or return of true independence, or world
disarmament, or freedom of expression, or freedom of religion -
he Peace of
mocracies to
or even good business.
ould remem-
Such a peace would bring no security for us or for our neigh-
bors. "Those, who would give up essential liberty to purchase a
the kind of
and which
little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
As a nation, we may take pride in the fact that we are soft-
ly that seeks
hearted; but we cannot afford to be soft-headed.
rican people
We must always be wary of those who with sounding brass
nny.
life is at this
and a tinkling cymbal preach the "ism" of appeasement.
e world - as-
We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men
of poisonous
who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to
feather their own nests.
and promote
I have recently pointed out how quickly the tempo of modern
warfare could bring into our very midst the physical attack
tted out the
which we must eventually expect if the dictator nations win this
umber of in-
are still on
war.
There is much loose talk of our immunity from immediate
all.
and direct invasion from across the seas. Obviously, as long as
onstitutional
state of the
the British Navy retains its power, no such danger exists. Even
665
152. Annual Message
if there were no British Navy, it is not probable that any enemy
would be stupid enough to attack us by landing troops in the
United States from across thousands of miles of ocean, until it
had acquired strategic bases from which to operate.
But we learn much from the lessons of the past years in Eu-
rope - particularly the lesson of Norway, whose essential sea-
ports were captured by treachery and surprise built up over a
series of years.
The first phase of the invasion of this Hemisphere would not
be the landing of regular troops. The necessary strategic points
would be occupied by secret agents and their dupes - and great
numbers of them are already here, and in Latin America.
As long as the aggressor nations maintain the offensive, they -
not we - will choose the time and the place and the -method
of their attack.
That is why the future of all the American Republics is today
in serious danger.
That is why this Annual Message to the Congress is unique
in our history.
That is why every member of the Executive Branch of the
Government and every member of the Congress faces great re-
sponsibility and great accountability.
The need of the moment is that our actions and our policy
should be devoted primarily - almost exclusively - to meeting
this foreign peril. For all our domestic problems are now a part
of the great emergency.
Just as our national policy in internal affairs has been based
upon a decent respect for the rights and the dignity of all our
fellow men within our gates, so our national policy in foreign
affairs has been based on a decent respect for the rights and
dignity of all nations, large and small. And the justice of morality
must and will win in the end.
Our national policy is this:
First, by an impressive expression of the public will and with-
out regard to partisanship, we are committed to all-inclusive
national defense.
666
152. Annual Message
it any enemy
Second, by an impressive expression of the public will and
roops in the
without regard to partisanship, we are committed to full sup-
tean, until it
port of all those resolute peoples, everywhere, who are resisting
aggression and are thereby keeping war away from our Hemi-
years in Eu-
sphere. By this support, we express our determination that the
essential sea-
democratic cause shall prevail; and we strengthen the defense
It up over a
and the security of our own nation.
Third, by an impressive expression of the public will and with-
e would not
out regard to partisanship, we are committed to the proposition
ategic points
S and great
that principles of morality and considerations for our own se-
merica.
curity will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace dictated by
nsive, they-
aggressors and sponsored by appeasers. We know that enduring
the method
peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom.
In the recent national election there was no substantial dif-
blics is today
ference between the two great parties in respect to that national
policy. No issue was fought out on this line before the Ameri-
ess is unique
can electorate. Today it is abundantly evident that American
citizens everywhere are demanding and supporting speedy and
ranch of the
complete action in recognition of obvious danger.
ices great re-
Therefore, the immediate need is a swift and driving increase
in our armament production.
d our policy
Leaders of industry and labor have responded to our summons.
- to meeting
Goals of speed have been set. In some cases these goals are being
e now a part
reached ahead of time; in some cases we are on schedule; in
other cases there are slight but not serious delays; and in some
S been based
cases - and I am sorry to say very important cases - we are all
ty of all our
concerned by the slowness of the accomplishment of our plans.
:y in foreign
The Army and Navy, however, have made substantial progress
e rights and
during the past year. Actual experience is improving and speed-
e of morality
ing up our methods of production with every passing day. And
today's best is not good enough for tomorrow.
I am not satisfied with the progress thus far made. The men-
ill and with-
in charge of the program represent the best in training, in ability,
all-inclusive
and in patriotism. They are not satisfied with the progress thus
far made. None of us will be satisfied until the job is done.
667
152. Annual Message
No matter whether the original goal was set too high or too
low, our objective is quicker and better results.
To give you two illustrations:
We are behind schedule in turning out finished airplanes;
we are working day and night to solve the innumerable problems
and to catch up.
We are ahead of schedule in building warships but we are
working to get even further ahead of that schedule.
To change a whole nation from a basis of peacetime produc-
tion of implements of peace to a basis of wartime production of
implements of war is no small task. And the greatest difficulty
comes at the beginning of the program, when new tools, new
plant facilities, new assembly lines, and new ship ways must first
be constructed before the actual matériel begins to flow steadily
and speedily from them.
The Congress, of course, must rightly keep itself informed
at all times of the progress of the program. However, there is
certain information, as the Congress itself will readily recognize,
which, in the interests of our own security and those of the
nations that we are supporting, must of needs be kept in con-
fidence.
New circumstances are coñstantly begetting new needs for
our safety. I shall ask this Congress for greatly increased new
appropriations and authorizations to carry on what we have
begun.
I also ask this Congress for authority and for funds sufficient
to manufacture additional munitions and war supplies of many
kinds, to be turned over to those nations which are now in
actual war with aggressor nations.
Our most useful and immediate role is to act as an arsenal
for them as well as for ourselves. They do not need man power,
but they do need billions of dollars worth of the weapons of
defense.
The time is near when they will not be able to pay for them
all in ready cash. We cannot, and we will not, tell them that
668
152. Annual Message
) high or too
they must surrender, merely because of present inability to pay
for the weapons which we know they must have.
I do not recommend that we make them a loan of dollars with
ed airplanes;
which to pay for these weapons - a loan to be repaid in dollars.
able problems
I recommend that we make it possible for those nations to
continue to obtain war materials in the United States, fitting
S but we are
their orders into our own program. Nearly all their matériel
e.
would, if the time ever came, be useful for our own defense.
time produc-
Taking counsel of expert military and naval authorities, con-
production of
sidering what is best for our own security, we are free to decide
test difficulty
how much should be kept here and how much should be sent
W tools, new
abroad to our friends who by their determined and heroic re-
ays must first
sistance are giving us time in which to make ready our own
defense.
flow steadily
For what we send abroad, we shall be repaid within a reason-
able time following the close of hostilities, in similar materials,
self informed
or, at our option, in other goods of many kinds, which they
ever, there is
can produce and which we need.
ily recognize,
Let us say to the democracies: "We Americans are vitally con-
those of the
cerned in your defense of freedom. We are putting forth our
kept in con-
energies, our resources and our organizing powers to give you
the strength to regain and maintain a free world. We shall send
ew needs for
you, in ever-increasing numbers, ships, planes, tanks, guns. This
icreased new
is our purpose and our pledge."
hat we have
In fulfillment of this purpose we will not be intimidated by
the threats of dictators that they will regard as a breach of inter-
nds sufficient
national law or as an act of war our aid to the democracies
blies of many
which dare to resist their aggression. Such aid is not an act of
are now in
war, even if a dictator should unilaterally proclaim it so to be.
When the dictators, if the dictators, are ready to make war
as an arsenal
upon us, they will not wait for an act of war on our part. They
man power,
did not wait for Norway or Belgium or the Netherlands to com-
weapons of
mit an act of war.
Their only interest is in a new one-way international. law,
pay for them
which lacks mutuality in its observance, and, therefore, becomes
11 them that
an instrument of oppression.
669
152. Annual Message
The happiness of future generations of Americans may well
depend upon how effective and how immediate we can make
our aid felt. No one can tell the exact character of the emer-
gency situations that we may be called upon to meet. The
Nation's hands must not be tied when the Nation's life is in
danger.
We must all prepare to make the sacrifices that the emer-
gency almost as serious as war itself-demands. Whatever
stands in the way of speed and efficiency in defense preparations
must give way to the national need.
A free nation has the right to expect full cooperation from
all groups. A free nation has the right to look to the leaders of
business, of labor, and of agriculture to take the lead in stimu-
lating effort, not among other groups but within their own
groups.
The best way of dealing with the few slackers or trouble
makers in our midst is, first, to shame them by patriotic example,
and, if that fails, to use the sovereignty of Government to save
Government.
As men do not live by bread alone, they do not fight by arma-
ments alone. Those who man our defenses, and those behind
them who build our defenses, must have the stamina and the
courage which come from unshakable belief in the manner of
life which they are defending. The mighty action that we are
calling for cannot be based on a disregard of all things worth
fighting for.
The Nation takes great satisfaction and much strength from
the things which have been done to make its people conscious
of their individual stake in the preservation of democratic life
in America. Those things have toughened the fibre of our
people, have renewed their faith and strengthened their devo-
tion to the institutions we make ready to protect.
Certainly this is no time for any of us to stop thinking about
the social and economic problems which are the root cause of
the social revolution which is today a supreme factor in the
world.
670
152. Annual Message
ans may well
For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a
we can make
healthy and strong democracy. The basic things expected by our
of the emer-
people of their political and economic systems are simple. They
) meet. The
are:
n's life is in
Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
at the emer-
Security for those who need it.
S. Whatever
The ending of special privilege for the few.
preparations
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider
eration from
and constantly rising standard of living.
he leaders of
These are the simple, basic things that must never be lost
ad in stimu-
sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our
n their own
modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic
and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which
S or trouble
they fulfill these expectations.
tic example,
Many subjects connected with our social economy call for im-
ment to save
mediate improvement.
As examples:
ght by arma-
We should bring more citizens under the coverage of old-age
hose behind
pensions and unemployment insurance.
ina and the
We should widen the opportunities for adequate medical
e manner of
care.
that we are
We should plan a better system by which persons deserving
hings worth
or needing gainful employment may obtain it.
I have called for personal sacrifice. I am assured of the will-
rength from
ingness of almost all Americans to respond to that call.
le conscious
A part of the sacrifice means the payment of more money in
nocratic life
taxes. In my Budget Message I shall recommend that a greater
ibre of our
portion of this great defense program be paid for from taxation
their devo-
than we are paying today. No person should try, or be allowed,
to get rich out of this program; and the principle of tax pay-
nking about
ments in accordance with ability to pay should be constantly
30t cause of
before our eyes to guide our legislation.
ictor in the
If the Congress maintains these principles, the voters, putting
patriotism ahead of pocketbooks, will give you their applause.
671
1965-1973
OPERATIONS, 1969
1217
d major South Vietnamese
Operations. Activities took place along
Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF) Joint
S. Saigon and Hue were the
inland waterways of Mekong Delta.
General Staff was to facilitate increasing
ets of the Communist as-
1968, May 5-9. Communist Spring Offensive.
Vietnamese responsibility for operations
went on block by block
Attacks were launched on 122 military
and to improve and modernize the
of Hue until February 25,
installations, airfields, and towns through-
RVNAF.
combat reached inside the
out South Vietnam, including Saigon. The
1969, February 23-March 29. Communist
assy grounds. All of the
attacks were unsuccessful.
Offensive. This began with a series of
epelled, and fighting sub-
1968, May 10. Paris Peace Talks Begin.
rocket and mortar attacks against over 100
bruary with the exception
U.S. and North Vietnamese officials began
cities and bases throughout South Viet-
nd the U.S. Marine base at
discussions.
nam, including Saigon; attacks peaked on
ch remained under siege.
1968, May 19-June 21. Nightly Rocket At-
February 26 and March 6 and 16.
ffensive was not militarily
tacks Against Saigon. More than 100,000
1969, April 24. Intensive B-52 Raids. Some
he Communists, it was a
civilians were left homeless within the
100 B-52s dropped bombs on targets
ictory since the American
city.
northwest of Saigon near the Cambodian
namese forces were taken
1968, July 3. General Creighton W. Abrams
border.
urprise.
Assumes Command. He replaced Gen-
1969, April 26. First "Vietnamization"
4. Air Attack on Hanoi.
eral William Westmoreland (who became
Transfer. The 6th Battalion 77th Field
e carrier U.S.S. Enterprise
Army Chief of Staff) as Commander of
Artillery completed turnover of equip-
ort area.
USMACV.
ment to the 213th ARVN artillery Bat-
My Lai (Song My) Mas-
1968, July 14-18. Intensified B-52 Opera-
talion in ceremonies at Can Tho, Phong
search-and-destroy opera-
tions. They struck supply bases and
Dinh Province, in the Mekong Delta.
force of the U.S. 23rd
troop concentrations 15 miles north of the
1969, April 30. Peak U.S. Troops Strength
ntry Division, C Company,
DMZ (July 14) and North Vietnamese
in South Vietnam: 543,482. (See Statistical
ntry, some 200 unarmed
SAM sites for the first time (July 18).
Summary for additional forces in Thai-
women, and children—
1968, August 17. Third Communist Offen-
land and at sea.)
in the village of My Lai
sive. This was mounted throughout South
1969, May 8-20. Battle of "Hamburger
ai Province (northern sec-
Vietnam except the Delta; rocket attacks
Hill." As part of an operation against
ge remained unpublicized
on Saigon resumed August 21.
North Vietnamese infiltration routes, U.S.
a year, and when it was
1968, September 30. U.S.S. New Jersey Be-
troops took Hill 937 (Ap Bia Mountain
ked the Free World and
gins Combat Operations near DMZ. This
or "Hamburger Hill") in the northern A
tiwar sentiments in the
was the first combat use of a U.S. battle-
Shau-Valley, Quang Tri Province, after
ship since July 1953.
fierce fighting and 10 attempts.
Operation "Pegasus." A
1968, October 18. Operation "Sea Lords."
1969, May 11-14. Communist Summer Of-
U.S. and ARVN soldiers,
This was launched by three U.S. naval
fensive. This began with coordinated
e 1st Cavalry Division
task forces to interdict Viet Cong infiltra-
ground attacks throughout South Viet-
cked to free the Marines
tion routes from Cambodia into the
nam.
Sanh. The North Viet-
Mekong Delta and coordinate naval
1969, May 14. President Nixon Announces
eady begun to withdraw
operations in the Delta.
Planned Withdrawal from Vietnam.
1968, October 31. U.S. Ceases Attacks on
1969, June 5. U.S. Aircraft Resume Bom-
eration "Complete Vic-
North Vietnam. President Johnson or-
bardment of North Vietnam. Strikes on
0,000 men from 42 U.S.
dered complete cessation of air, naval,
North Vietnamese targets were the first
battalions undertook an
and ground bombardment north of the
since the November 1968 bombing halt.
Communist forces in 11
DMZ, effective at 0800 EST November 1,
1969, June 17. Communists Retake "Ham-
d Saigon.
in an effort to encourage peace negotia-
burger Hill."
ay 17. Operation "Dela-
tions.
1969, July 8. U.S. Withdrawal Begins. The
nsive was launched into
1968, December 31. U.S. Military Strength
3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Brigade, 9th
areas in A Shau Valley,
in South Vietnam: 536,040; U.S. combat
Infantry Division, left Tan Son Nhut Air
Thua Thien provinces
deaths in Southeast Asia in 1968: 14,437.
Base near Saigon for Ft. Lewis, Wash-
by 1st Cavalry Division
ington.
t Airborne Division, ele-
OPERATIONS, 1969
1969, July 25. U.S. Bombing Authorized in
6th Light Infantry Bri-
Laos. Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma
I Division, and ARVN
1969, January 25. First Substantive Peace
announced that he had authorized U.S.
VO (Airborne), designed
Talks in Paris.
bombing along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
expected attack against
1969, February 6. American-Vietnamese
1969, September 3. Ho Chi Minh Dies in
Staff Organized to Facilitate "Vietnamiza-
Hanoi.
: Riverine Force Begins
tion." The combined U.S.-Republic of
1969, October 1. Vietnamese Forces Assume
965-1973
OPERATIONS, 1972
1219
ident Nixon announced
was the beginning of escorting merchant
in South Vietnam: 158,119; U.S. combat
had begun a ground
ships carrying fuel and ammunition to
deaths in Southeast Asia in 1971: 942.
t Communist bases in
Phnom Penh.
J.S. 1st Cavalry Division
1971, January 30. Operation "Dewey Can-
OPERATIONS, 1972
Airborne Division, total-
yon II." This operation by U.S. forces,
,000 troops, launched the
just south of the DMZ, was to secure that
1972, March 30. Communist Easter Offen-
: "Fish Hook" and "Par-
area and establish lines of communication
sive. In the biggest offensive since the
S immediately across the
to support a planned South Vietnamese
1968 Tet campaign, some 20,000 North
der in Cambodia. Presi-
thrust into Laos.
Vietnamese forces launched a four-
: (5 May) announced that
1971, February 3. Renewed South Viet-
pronged attack into South Vietnam across
d penetrate no more than
namese Offensive in Cambodia. USMACV
the DMZ with the goal of taking Quang
Cambodia and that all
announced that it was providing full air
Tri City, capital of South Vietnam's
uld be withdrawn from
support for the offensive into the Fish
northernmost province, and driving the
une 30.
Hook and Parrot's Beak areas of Cam-
South Vietnamese 3rd Division from 15
itensified U.S. Air Raids.
bodia.
border outposts. In retaliation U.S. air-
largest north of the DMZ
1971, February 8-April 9. South Vietna-
craft and naval forces began bombing
aber 1968 bombing halt.
mese Operation "Lam Son 719" in Laos.
military supply facilities near Hanoi and
ierce Fighting Breaks Out
This had the objective of disrupting
Haiphong. Some 50,000 Communist
Communist forces began a
North Vietnamese logistics along the Ho
troops, poised along the Cambodian and
concentrated shelling of
Chi Minh Trail. The U.S. Command in
Laotian borders, drove into Binh Long
at Danang, Quang Nam
Vietnam announced that no U.S. ground
Province north of Saigon (April 5), tak-
hern coastal sector).
forces or advisors would enter Laos. The
ing Loc Ninh (April 7) and securing half
U.S. Troops Withdrawn
South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division
of An Loc, the provincial capital (April
1. The U.S. Command re-
and 1st Armored Brigade seized Tche-
13). In the central coastal region Com-
of 155 tons of weapons,
pone, Laos (directly west of Quang Tri
munist forces attacked Binh Dinh Prov-
nmunition, and 6,877 tons
City), the main objective of their opera-
ince in an effort to cut the counrty in two
rces lost 388 killed and 1,-
tion and the primary supply center for
(April 18). Four North Vietnamese di-
enemy dead were estimated
forces coming down the Ho Chi Minh
visions attacked in the central highlands
Trail (March 6). Preliminary reports at
in Kontum Province (April 22), taking
U.S. Close Air Support for
the conclusion of the action on April 9
Dak To (April 24) and encircling the pro-
Reported. U.S. air attacks
listed 13,462 Communists killed and 56
vincial capital of Kontum (April 29).
abled the Cambodians to
captured; 5,066 individual and 1,935
1972, April 7. Relief of U.S. Air Commander
; Thom in central Cam-
crew-served weapons, 106 tanks, 422
in Vietnam Announced. General John
village of Skoun, a suburb
trucks, and 1,250 tons of rice were cap-
Lavelle was removed as Commander of
nh.
tured. Friendly losses were listed as 1,707
the U.S. Seventh Air Force in Vietnam in
C. Daily B-52 Raids along
(176 U.S.) killed, 6,466 (1,042 U.S.)
March, retired, and demoted to lieutenant
er. This was to prevent
wounded, and 693 (42 U.S.) missing.
general when it was revealed that he had
unist troop build-ups and
1971, July 9. Northern Province Defense
ordered some 20 unauthorized air strikes
ie estimated 40,000 troops
Responsibility to Vietnamese Forces. The
against North Vietnamese targets be-
red and poised for an offen-
turnover of "Fire Base Charlie 2," 4 miles
tween November 1971 and March 1972.
south of the DMZ, marked the comple-
1972, April 26-May 1. Battle of Quang Tri
21. Son Tay Raid. In an
tion of the transfer of the defense re-
City. The city fell to North Vietnamese
scue U.S. POWs, a specially
sponsibility for that area by U.S. forces.
forces as the ARVN 3rd Division re-
teer commando force carried
1971, August 11. All Ground Combat Re-
treated to Hue. Heavy fighting continued
pter raid on the Son Tay
sponsibility Turned Over to South Viet-
elsewhere, particularly at An Loc and
in North Vietnam, 23 miles
namese. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird
Kontum.
however, the camp was
announced the completion of the first
1972, May 8. President Nixon Orders Min-
oned.
phase of the Vietnamization program.
ing of North Vietnamese Harbors. Hai-
r 31. U.S. Military Strength
1971, December 26-31. U.S. Fighter-Bombers
phong harbor and the harbors of 6 other
tnam: 335,794; U.S. combat
Attack North Vietnamese Targets. Air-
North Vietnamese ports were to be mined
itheast Asia in 1970: 7,171.
fields, missile sites, antiaircraft batteries,
and all land and sea routes interdicted.
and supply depots were struck in retalia-
1972, June 28. Appointment of General
RATIONS, 1971
tion for Communist attacks on Saigon,
Frederick C. Weyand to Commander U.S.
DMZ violations, and attacks on unarmed
Forces in Vietnam. He replaced General
12. Vietnamese Navy Convoys
U.S. reconnaissance planes.
Creighton W. Abrams.
ils for Cambodia River. This
1971, December 31. U.S. Military Strength
1972, June 28-September 15. Second Battle
(Smith/Blessey)
Draft Five
August 18, 1989
LEGION
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: AMERICAN LEGION
advance
WASHINGTON, D.C. BALTIMORE, MD
John Minnick
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1989
Justice Gierke [GER-kee] -- and let me salute the first Viet
Advance
Nam veteran to be selected National Commander. And all of you
who represent our Nation's largest and fastest-growing veterans
VA
organization -- now 2.8 million strong.
As always, it is a great privilege to join you. And a deep
personal pleasure to renew old ties. And to greet new friends.
Today is September 7th -- and I'm determined not to repeat
the mistake I made last year when I referred to this date as
Pearl Harbor Day. Now that I've dispensed with that
announcement, I want to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving.
Not surprisingly, anniversaries were on my mind as I
traveled here from Washington. Past the Pentagon. The Congress.
And then Fort McHenry. And so I got to thinking how 1989 marks
the 175th anniversary of the "Star-Bangled Banner." And how your
advance
convention lies a few yards from its birthplace.
aug 31 Yesterday, you did something that would have pleased Francis
AL
Scott Key. For by supporting a Constitutional Amendment making
it illegal to desecrate the American flag, you joined the crusade
to protect the symbol of America's honor. Fellow veterans, what
our flag embodies is too sacred to be abused.
2
Your action hailed America's greatest symbol of liberty. As
the Legion did, also, at the beaches of Anzio, the steep cliffs
of Normandy, and shell-torn hills dubbed Pork Chop and Dak To.
For 71 years, you have helped write the American Story. And
today you write it still. A well-known commercial says, "Don't
leave home without it." Well, here's my American Legion card.
In my heart, I never do leave home without it.
This morning, I want to talk about home and heart. The home
we call America. And the freedom which forms its heart.
Fifty years ago this very week, a bold-faced chapter in
American history unfurled its opening page. For as panzer tanks
crossed the Polish frontier, and Stuka bombers leveled Warsaw,
this planet watched in horror as World War II began.
In the end, that conflict took more than 55 million human
lives. And symbolized, as few things have, man's inhumanity to
man. In China and Monte Casino, in Belgium and Bataan -- men and
women fought gallantly -- dared greatly -- so that freedom could
prevail.
Perhaps George S. Patton put it best. "It takes very
little yeast to leaven a lump of dough," he began, undoubtedly
twirling his pearl revolver. And then "Old Blood and Guts" went
on to add: "It takes a very few veterans to leaven a division of
dough boys."
Well, those veterans, and dough boys, helped win World War
dough boys?
II --- Ike, and Nimitz, and Jimmy Doolittle, and millions of other
heroes who fought in the front lines, and on the home front. And
3
today, we can honor them with the lives we lead. For by
defending what Franklin Roosevelt called the Four Freedoms of
speech, religion, and from want and fear, we can preserve a world
bereft of violence and tyranny.
What, after all, does freedom mean? It means self-
expression and individuality. It means the triumph of democracy
-- not merely the absence of war. It means the strength
necessary to defend that democracy -- moral and intellectual,
economic and military. It means knowing what the British
strategist, Robert Thompson, meant by saying: "National strength
equals manpower, plus applied resources, times will."
Fifty years ago, that will meant shooting bullets. Today,
that will means --- thank goodness -- counting ballots. But each
sought -- and seeks -- what then-Vice President Nixon, in a 1958
Curt
address at historic Guildhall, called "the victory of plenty
over want, of health over disease, of freedom over tyranny."
To achieve that victory will require the sacrifice, and
courage, that Americans have shown before. And must again. Both
here and abroad, we seek a freer, fairer life. Here's how the
American Legion can lead the way. And has. Saying yes to hope.
And no to fear.
O
Already, you have brought community service to every
State through what I call a "thousand points of light. " Aiding
AL
handicapped kids. Or building good government through Boys State
and Girls State programs. And I know you will build on these
beginnings: Since 1985 -- Money given to scholarships -- $13
4
million; and to all causes -- $144 million; blood donated
and hours given to charity -- count 'em: over 60 million.
And I know, too, you will act on this related front: For a
truly free America must break the chain of drugs. Two days ago,
Bunnett
I announced a program to take back the streets from the con-
artists and thugs. Our drug program will cost $ . And put
funding where the problem is -- the community. You know how
battles are often fought -- block-by-block, house-by-house.
Well, this battle will do the same.
We need your help. And I know we'll have it. Because for
years you've done your part. In Minnesota, for instance,
Rosemont Post Number 65 runs the program "Drug Talk." And in
Russellville, Arkansas, I especially like Post Number 20's
giveaway of thousands of rulers. Their message says it all.
"You really measure up when you say 'No' to drugs
"
O
Freedom means stemming drugs. Freedom also means
combatting other illness and disease -- and here, too, you've led
the way. At last count, over 11,000 Legion and Auxiliary members
volunteered at VA hospitals. Now, let us take an even bigger
step toward ensuring veterans' access to quality health care. By
supporting our proposed National Commission to review the
alignment of VA medical facilities.
This Commission will outline the future structure of the VA
system. And it will be modeled after the Department of Defense
Base Closure Commission. But here's the difference: Our bill
will forbid the closing of a single, solitary medical center.
5
We will ask Congress to approve or disapprove our proposals
as a single package. And it's a good package. For it will
create specialized centers from ambulatory to community-based
care. And strengthen veterans' overall care. So I ask you to
support VA's realignment commission. And let its goal match your
need: Veterans care that is accessible to all.
O
Well and good and yet: No freedoms are possible
without freedom from oppression. Not speech. Not religion. Not
from want or fear We learned that in World War II. And this
lesson, also: If the best way to ensure war is for America to be
militarily weak, the best way to ensure peace is for America to
be militarily strong.
Winston Churchill was referring to this strength when he
fun
called World War II "the most preventable in history." The
strength of arms to deter aggression. The strength of character
to respond if tyrants act. In the late 1930s, democracies chose
to use that strength belatedly. And so began the conflict in
which Americans paid the ultimate price.
Today, that hesitancy seems far away. For as tyranny's tide
is running out, democracy's tide is running in. In Poland and
Hungary, in the gulag and ghetto, liberty is sweeping our globe.
Yet with even hopeful change comes uncertainty. And with
uncertainty comes the need for vigilance. This is no time to
declare freedom's victory before the fact.
Half-a-century ago, our challenge was to defeat Rommel's
Afrika Corps, island-hop from Guadalcanal to Okinawa, and destroy
6
what Churchill dubbed "Hitler and his gang. " Today, our
challenge is less dramatic, but just as vital: To make fragile
peace strong, and temporary peace permanent. For ours remains a
global stage, and America remains its leading player -- whether
we like it or not. If we don't use our strength to keep the
peace, others will use their strength to break the peace.
Yes, defense funds are finite --- our authorization bill
reflects that. So we want to cancel unneeded programs that would
save nearly $20 billion from 1990-94. But the House has voted to
keep -- not erase -- them, and lengthen their funding. Making
the budget hostage to pork-barrel that will strip money from
projects crucial to strategic modernization.
This modernization is vital --- vital because America must
base its procurement decisions not on perestroika and glasnost --
but on the future capacity -- the actual weapons -- that any
Soviet leader might have available. As decades change, so do the
weapons needed to deter first-strike ability. This President --
any President -- would betray his office if he failed to view
America's deterrence against those of other Nations.
That is why I have called for two Trident submarines to be
funded in 1990 and 1991. And why I am committed to the second
part of our deterrent triad: strategic land-based missiles.
Already, the Soviet Union has two mobile systems. And we need to
match them. Not only to modernize our forces into the 21st
Century. But to gain leverage for arms control.
7
What we're talking about is simple logic. Or as Sam Rayburn
said, "If a man has common sense, he has all the sense there is."
We want to ban all mobile missiles in the Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks. But common sense warns us: We can't ban any
until the Congress makes our level comparable to the Soviets.
Well, our new single-warhead ICMB missile -- the Midgetman
-- makes common sense. For when deployed, it would require more
than one enemy missile to take out a single warhead. And our MX
multi-warhead ICBM -- it makes sense. For the Midgetman won't be
ready until 1997. And to fill the void, I have asked Congress to
shift existing MXs to mobile, less vulnerable rail cars.
The third part of our deterrent triad -- the B-2 or Stealth
Bomber -- can avoid radar. Its range is perfect for long-range
missions. And here's the kicker: the B-2 makes it impossible
for any country to destroy a mixed force of bombers and missiles.
Finally, I want to mention the Strategic Defense Initiative.
For SDI will supplement missile and bomber mobility. Begin the
movement from offensive to defensive deterrence. And deter not
merely existing threats but also Nations on the verge of
possessing nuclear and chemical missiles. If that's not common
sense, I don't like fishing.
Fellow veterans, peace is not an accident. Not the peace
which ensures FDR's Four Freedoms of speech, religion, and from
want and fear. Not real peace -- the peace which lasts.
Real peace evolves from planning and preparedness,
engagement and reality. Real peace springs from democracies who
8
know that when it comes to national defense, finishing second
means finishing last.
So, let us modernize our strategic forces. And, thus,
encourage arms control. We need the Trident and Midgetman. We
need the MX, B-2, and SDI. Yes, each involves short-term funding
pain. But they form a package where each part assists the
others. To approve them today will protect America tomorrow.
years ago, Douglas MacArthur returned to the Plain at
—
West Point, where he gave a speech to the cadets. "The soldier,"
he told them, "above all other people, prays for peace --- for he
must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."
Fellow veterans, General MacArthur knew -- as we do -- how
war can be glorious from a distance -- but hateful and grotesque
up-close. At times, it is inevitable -- at times, even
necessary. But not here. Not now. Not if we summon our
"manpower, plus applied resources, times will."
What a wonderful legacy -- for this, and future generations.
What a tribute to the men and women who toiled at Inchon and
Bastogne. In the gulleys and the hills. Valiant Americans --
heroes all -- now part of our history, and of our lore.
Let us close by saluting them, and you. And by saying:
Together, let us build a more secure and peaceful world. And let
me thank you for the privilege of sharing this occasion. God
bless you, Godspeed All the American Legion, and God bless the
United States of America.
#
#
#
#
Star spangled Banner - when, where
written?
quote: Robert Thompson, British
strategist, "national strength equals
manpouer plus applied resources
times will."
How many americano were killed
in WWII ?
Churchill - refuning to Herman
as "Nitles and his sang. Y
has common and he has all
Sam Rayburn quote "df a man
the senal there is."
a speech at Weat Point ?
What year did Mai arthur give
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FAX TRANSMISSION
Date:
8-11-89
From:
VA
Public Affairs
Contact:
Bob Putnam
Phone:
FTS:
COM:
233-558
Fax #:
FTS: 376-8778
COM: (202) 376-8778
To:
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white House Speectiwriters
3
# of pages:
Comments:
Let Me Know If you need
anything else.
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SPEECH MATERIAL/TALKING POINTS ON VETERANS ISSUES
(for consideration by the President)
ISSUE #1: "WINNING THE PEACE" THROUGH PATRIOTISM
AROUND THE WORLD, WE'RE SEEING INCREASED RESPECT FOR, AND
INTEREST IN, DEMOCRATIC VALUES OF OPENNESS, HUMAN DIGNITY AND
INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE. THIS PROVIDES THE STRONGEST
CONFIRMATION VET OF THE PREFERENCE FOR DEMOCRACY AMONG THOSE
WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THE FAILURE OF SOCIALISM.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE NEED TO BE REALISTS -- OUR WORLD
REMAINS A DANGEROUS PLACE.
WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE,
AND THE BALANCE THAT HAS BEEN RESTORED ON THE INTERNATIONAL
SCENE, CAME FROM A WESTERN POLICY OF STRENGTH AND REALISM.
AMERICA'S FOREIGN POLICY MUST REMAIN GROUNDED ON OUR OWN
VALUES, ALONG WITH THE STRENGTH AND DETERMINATION TO SAFEGUARD
OUR INTERESTS AND THOSE OF OUR ALLIES AND FRIENDS.
THE AMERICAN LEGION HAS RAISED A STRONG AND CONSTANT VOICE
IN THIS CONTEXT. THE POSITIONS THE LEGION HAS TAKEN, BASED ON
THE PROFESSIONAL ANALYSES OF YOUR NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN
RELATIONS COMMISSIONS, HAVE MADE IT CLEAR THAT WE MUST REMAIN
EVER VIGILANT TO PROTECT THE PEACE AND FREEDOM WE ENJOY.
ISSUE #2: "WINNING THE PEACE" THROUGH NATIONAL SERVICE:
YOU'VE HEARD ME SPEAK OF A "THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT." THE
LEGION'S VOLUNTEER PROGRAM IS ONE OF THEM.
IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, LEGION AND LEGION AUXILIARY MEMBERS
HAVE GIVEN OVER 60 MILLION HOURS OF THEIR TIME, SOME 144
MILLION DOLLARS, AND -- PERHAPS MOST REPRESENTATIVE OF WHAT
THEIR PROGRAMS ARE ALL ABOUT -- TWO AND HALF MILLION UNITS OF
BLOOD TO THE COMMUNITY.
THAT PERFECTLY EXEMPLIFIES THE VALUE OF NATIONAL SERVICE.
THE FACT IS, I'VE BEEN TALKING A GREAT DEAL LATELY ABOUT
NATIONAL SERVICE, BASED ON MY CONVICTION THAT -- WITH
PARTICIPATION FROM YOUNG AND OLD, FROM INDIVIDUALS AND
BUSINESSES, AND, REALLY, FROM ALL SEGMENTS OF OUR SOCIETY
THIS CAN BE THE ANSWER TO OVERCOMING THE DISINTEGRATION
OF OUR COMMUNITIES.
WHEN I SEE WHAT THE LEGION IS ACCOMPLISHING, I'M MORE SURE
OF THIS THAN EVER.
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SECRETARY DERWINSKI TELLS ME THAT THE VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
SIMPLY COULDN'T DO WITHOUT THE HELP IT GETS FROM VOLUNTEERS,
AND THAT -- IN PARTICULAR -- THE MORE THAN 11,000 REGULARLY
SCHEDULED LEGION AND AUXILIARY VOLUNTEERS MAKE A TREMENDOUS
DIFFERENCE IN THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR HOSPITALIZED VETERANS.
I THINK THE LEGION AND THE LEGION AUXILIARY CAN SERVE AS A
POWERFUL ROLE MODEL IN ACCOMPLISHING THIS VITAL NATIONAL
SERVICE MISSION.
ISSUE #3 -- THE FLAG: (Theme of Legion Convention is tied into
the Flag; this is the 175th Anniversary of the Star Spangled
Banner, written in Balto near site of the convention):
YOU PROBABLY KNOW BY NOW THAT I DID NOT TAKE LIGHTLY THE
SUPREME COURT'S DECISION THAT A PERSON COULD NOT BE CONVICTED
FOR DESECRATION OF THE AMERICAN FLAG.
SOME PEOPLE SAY THIS IS A DEAD ISSUE NOW. BUT IT'S NOT
DEAD, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, UNTIL A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
IS ENACTED PROHIBITING DESECRATION OF THE FLAG.
I KNOW VETERANS HAVE A SPECIAL STAKE IN THIS DECISION,
SINCE IT WAS THEIR -- YOUR -- SACRIFICES THAT MADE THIS FLAG
MORE A SYMBOL OF AMERICA THAN A SIMPLE PIECE OF CLOTH.
WE MUST CONTINUE SPEAKING OUT: BURNING THE AMERICAN FLAG
IS UTTERLY WRONG -- PERIOD.
ISSUE #4 - ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH CARE SERVICES (If
possible, Secretary Derwinski would appreciate support for VA's
proposed realignment commission along lines outlined below)
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFITS VETERANS EARNED IN
SERVICE TO THEIR COUNTRY IS MEDICAL CARE. IT HAS BECOME
INCREASINGLY APPARENT IN RECENT MONTHS THAT IMPROVEMENTS ARE
NEEDED IN THE EXISTING SYSTEM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE THAT CARE.
ACCESS TO SERVICES HAS BECOME UNEVEN AROUND THE COUNTRY,
AND NEEDS. THE SYSTEM HAS HAD DIFFICULTY KEEPING UP WITH NEW EQUIPMENT
FURTHERMORE, NEW NEEDS ARE BEING POSED BY THE INCREASINGLY
AGING VETERAN POPULATION. AND THE MEDICAL WORLD IS CHANGING
FAST, WITH HOSPITAL-BASED MEDICAL CARE SYSTEMS EVOLVING INTO
MANY NEW MODES OF NON-INSTITUTIONAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES.
TO RESPOND TO THESE PRESSURES, SECRETARY DERWINSKI SENT
CONGRESS (ON JULY 17) OUR PROPOSAL FOR A NATIONAL COMMISSION TO
REVIEW COUNTRY. THE ALIGNMENT OF VA MEDICAL FACILITIES THROUGHOUT THE
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THIS COMMISSION WILL PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT THE
FUTURE STRUCTURE OF THE VA SYSTEM, INCLUDING ANY SUGGESTIONS
FOR MISSION CHANGES.
THE COMMISSION IS MODELED AFTER THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
BASE CLOSURE COMMISSION WITH ONE IMPORTANT EXCEPTION -- THIS IS
NOT A CLOSING COMMISSION. THE LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL DEVELOPED
BY VA ANTICIPATES NO MEDICAL CENTERS WILL BE CLOSED.
APPOINTING SUCH A BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION OF INDEPENDENT
MEDICAL EXPERTS SERVES TO TAKE THE POLITICS OUT OF THE
DISCUSSION ABOUT THE FUTURE OF VA MEDICAL SERVICES. AND THAT'S
SOMETHING THAT'S BADLY NEEDED, BECAUSE THE VA SYSTEM HAS GROWN
AND BEEN SUBJECT TO PATERNALISTIC DIRECTIONS FROM CONGRESS FOR
MANY YEARS. UNDER THIS NEW PROPOSAL, CONGRESS WOULD BE ASKED
TO APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE THE RECOMMENDATIONS AS A SINGLE
PACKAGE.
THE HEALTH CARE MIX OF THE FUTURE SHOULD INCLUDE
SPECIALIZED CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE, AMBULATORY CARE,
COMMUNITY-BASED CARE AND HOME HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS. WE WANT
THE VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE VETERANS WITH
THE MOST MODERN AND MOST APPROPRIATE KINDS AND LEVELS OF CARE
AVAILABLE. THIS COMMISSION WILL HELP US MOVE TOWARD THAT GOAL.
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
NATIONAL SECURITY DIVISION
COVER SHEET
NUMBER OF PAGES:
3
DATE:
8/11/89
(EXCLUDING COVER SHEET)
TO:
Stephaine Blessey
AGENCY & ROOM NO.: Speechwriting
OFFICE NO.:
395-7750
TELEFAX NO. :
456-6218
FROM: David Morrison
AGENCY:
OMB/NSD
OFFICE NO.:
395-4734
TELEFAX NO.:
395-3307
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:
Look at marked text for speech input.
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CC: Official File -
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
NSD/SP
DO Records -
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
030948
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
White House Liaison
Rm. 91 - Control #
JUN I 5 1989
013933
" NSD Chron
SP Chron
NSD:DMorrison:rvw:
06/12/89
Mr. Arthur R. Piccolo
The Campaign for New York
City's Future
26 Broadway - Suite #400
New York, New York 10004
Dear Mr. Piccolo:
Thank you for your letter of April 17, 1989 to
President Bush suggesting a way to increase spending for
local domestic programs.
on February 9th of this year, President Bush presented
to Congress a statement of his priorities in a report
entitled Building a Better America.
For defense, President Bush proposed to "freeze" the
1990 budget at the real 1989 level. In April, the President
and Congress agreed to a $305.5 billion budget for national
defense in 1990 as part of a bipartisan budget agreement.
This is almost $4 billion below the "freeze" level proposed
in February and about $10 billion below the level proposed
by President Reagan in January. For the fifth consecutive
year, defense funding will decline in real terms. As a
result, defense spending will account for only 5.5% of the
Gross National Product in 1990, a level similar to those of
the post-Vietnam years and well below the post-World War II
average of 8%. Further reductions in the defense budget
would increase the risk that basic national security
objectives would not be met.
For domestic programs, the President proposed a variety
of initiatives. For example, he proposed funding of $1
billion to combat homelessness in America, an increase of
$400 million over the 1989 level. To fight drug abuse,
President Bush proposed funding of nearly $6 billion for
educating the young, expanding drug treatment programs and
enhancing drug-related law enforcement activities. Also,
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the President proposed an additional $4.5 billion to
strengthen general law enforcement activities at all levels
of government - Federal, State and local. Since February,
the President has made other proposals which would increase
funding for drug abuse and law enforcement programs by
roughly $.5 billion more. The bipartisan budget agreement
reached in April includes funds for these and other
proposals to improve domestic programs.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) R.B. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Deputy Associate Director
for National Security
-2-
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FYI
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
CC: Official File * NSD/SI
DO Records
STATE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
STATE
AUG
1989
DO Chron
WH Liason 04813
Mr. Scully
Mr. Hodsoll
NS Division Office (2
$P Chron
NSD:DMorrfson:rvw:8/31/89
Honorable William L. Dickinson
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Dickinson:
Thank you for your June 16th letter to President Bush which
provided your observations on this year's Paris Air Show and on
Soviet military aviation.
The President shares your concern that we avoid becoming
complacent over national defense as a result of Mr. Gorbachev's
recent proposals and remain aware of the Soviet's improved
military capabilities.
The Administration's defense budget proposal will provide
for a strong national defense in a fiscally constrained
environment. It will permit the Department of Defense to
maintain current operational readiness, attract and retain
quality people, and develop and efficiently procure needed
weapons. In military aircraft, for example, the budget
emphasizes efficient procurement of systems already in
production, such as the F-16 and F/A-18. It also includes funds
for continued development of advanced fighter, attack, and bomber
aircraft including the ATF, A-12, and B-2.
We must ensure Congressional support of the President's
program. Your effort in committee and your hard work to promote
the President's budget on the floor were greatly appreciated.
We look forward to working with you to ensure that our
national defense is never compromised.
Sincerely,
Signed]
Thomas A. Scully
Associate Director
for Legislative Affairs
WORKING DRAFT
MY IMPRESSIONS -- WORLD WAR II
December 7, 1941
I was walking across the campus at Andover when I heard the news.
I was 17. It came as a shock -- a jolt -- an awakening. I did
not fully comprehend world affairs. My interests were our
undefeated soccer season just finished, basketball -- baseball
coming up. Christmas vacation only a couple of weeks away,
graduation, then college. Things changed instantly. I knew
right then that I wanted to go into the service.
December 8, 1941
Our headmaster, a great historian and tough disciplinarian,
summoned us all into George Washington Hall, the school's
assembly place. There was the normal joking, kidding, sloppy
Clande M.
posture. Dr. Fuess called to order the 800 students by saying
X
something like this: "your country is at war. We have just
played the Star Spangled Banner. From now on when the Star
Spangled Banner is played you will stand at attention, hands at
your sides and you will show respect." From that day on, without
fail, I have stood at attention when the Star Spangled Banner was
played.
Stephanie
1
Here is the latest draft -
There will be Some deletions at the
request of LIFE, the Pres. has ole'd
them.
KG Thanks/
2
WORKING DRAFT
Early June 1942
Secretary of War Henry Stimson, an alumnus of Andover, gave the
commencement address. He encouraged the graduating class to get
some college education before serving. I was determined not to
go on to college but to become a Navy pilot. Secretary Stimson
was a towering world figure but I wondered about this call of
his.
June 12, 1942
On my 18th birthday I was sworn into the Navy as a Seaman 2nd
Class, the first step towards becoming a Navy pilot. The Navy
had just changed the rules. It no longer required two years of
college before becoming a Navy pilot; pilots were urgently
needed. The Navy moved to accept High School graduates for pilot
training. Walter Levering, LT USNR, swore me in at Boston. I
went on active duty as an Aviation Cadet August 6, 1942.
August 6, 1942
Active duty at last. I climb on a southbound train at Penn
Station. My dad was a big, strong guy. He put his arm around me
and said goodbye. I'd never seen my dad shed a tear before.
3
WORKING DRAFT
June, 1943
Having been stationed at Chapel Hill for preflight, Minneapolis
for Primary Training, and Corpus Christi for Advanced, I received
my Navy wings and Ensign's Commission June 4. I was still 18
years old. I wanted to fly in combat. All my classmates wanted
to fly in combat. Our country was at war -- united. I selected
Torpedo Bombers.
.I fell in love early on with the 'low and
slow' TBF. The Grumman Avenger carried 2,000 lbs. of bombs, the
biggest single engine aircraft in the fleet. It had a crew of 3.
I went off to Fort Lauderdale to learn to fly it. Training up
and down the East coast, dropping torpedoes off Cape Cod, bombs
and torpedoes in Lake Okechobee, Florida, Chincoteague, Virginia,
Charleston Rhode Island, Miami.
I saw 'em all. I had an
Ensign's stripe and an Admiral's confidence. I was a Navy pilot.
Spring - Summer 1944
I was assigned to Air Group 51, the first air group to be aboard
the new fast Carrier San Jacinto, CVL 30. We went on a "shake
down cruise" to Trinidad, put San Jac into Commission at
Philadelphia, headed for the Pacific via the Panama Canal,
touched the USA one last time at San Diego and then went West.
4
WORKING DRAFT
Many of the Air Group and ship's company had spent no time at
sea. One roommate, subsequently killed, Tom Waters had a red
face, but the seas were so bad that his face literally turned
green.
We struck Wake Island on May 23, 1944. My close friend and
roommate, Jim Wykes went off on a search mission, and never came
back. I lay in my upper bunk and cried for my friend. No-one
saw me -- that wouldn't do.
September 2, 1944
Over Chi Chi Jima, my plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire at
about 8:30 a.m. The submarine FINBACK picked me out of the water
close to the Japanese held island of Chi Chi Jima. I learned
later that my crewmen were killed. In that life raft for about 2
hours, wondering if my life would be spared, I prayed to God, I
was sick to my stomach and again I shed a tear. I was a very
scared kid, just 20, away from his mother and dad, paddling
against the wind trying to get further away from the Japanese
held island.
5
WORKING DRAFT
Don Rhodes
September 1944 -- aboard the FINBACK in Japanese waters
Keeny
The Submarine stayed on its war patrol, and I along with 2 other
rescued pilots and 2 crewmen spent the next 30 days standing
watch and
blessings. We got depth charged by
Japanese S
Life says Looking Forward
heene's even
concerned
3
rescued p.
has 3 creevmen, not 2.
a Shud
won
silver st
October 1
Dhades
Back in Pearl Harbor for a week at a "rest home" -- some flying,
then hitch 1
Admiral
Bull Halsey
Rane Life says a bio, by Nickolas
S
Naval
power quotes 20 days of
oll.
You could f R&R, not a week.
ures
of Japanese
;
beginning t
one
unifying S)
wanted badly to rejoin my squadron -- to fly more, CO part.
November 1944
bak
I flew my final combat mission over Luzon Bay, November 19, 1944.
like
the Puffs concer of a Is it Luzon Bay, Manilla Island
Don Rhodes
or Manilla bay or what?
6
WORKING DRAFT
There was a sense of exhilaration in our ready room. We were
going home. We'd probably make it in time for Christmas.
Several of our VT 51 squadron mates had been killed, but that was
accepted. The war had us together on one track. In a sense, the
ferocity of the battle helped heal the hurt for our fallen
comrades. It was our duty, our honor. We were fighting for the
USA against tyranny. The Country was united. We, on a carrier,
were a part of something great and good. At times we were
scared, but there were never any doubts.
Christmas Eve 1944
I arrive home. I stop at the Rye Station on the way to
Greenwich. There my fiancee, Barbara, climbs on the train. We
go the 10 minutes to Greenwich. My mother and dad meet us. I
was glad to be home for Christmas. I was glad to be surrounded
by love. At church the next day, Christmas Day, I counted my
blessings. I thanked God I was home -- and in the quiet of our
church I thought about Jim Wykes, Dick Houle, Ted White, John
Delaney, and the others who would never come home for Christmas.
I think I asked "Why," but there was not any agony about the
cause. There were no divisions about the War. We were right,
God was on our side.
7
WORKING DRAFT
We had suffered a surprise attack and, now three years later we
were winning; and I, a 20 year old Lt. (j.g.) was part of the
greatest fighting force in the world. I had grown up. I had
flown with the best off a great carrier that flew the Texas flag
into battle. I was part of a team. We cared about each other in
our squadron. We understood each other's fears and loves. We
played together, sang together, flew together. We bitched about
our Squadron Commander -- too tough, too demanding, too serious.
But we loved to fly on his wing -- we respected Don Melvin.
If we hot dogged it or risked the lives of the ship's crew by
Harold M. m Harold M.
some careless maneuver, Captain Beauty Martin would kick some
serious butt, but he was our Captain and we bragged about him.
He didn't know me from Adam's off Ox. But why should he -- I had
one stripe, finally 1 1/2, and he had 4. We gave him a lot of
room. We gave him a lot of respect.
We were the best pilots. When we ground-looped on land, it was
that damned gust of wind, or it was low hydraulics in the left
brake. When we missed the proper wire landing on the carrier, it
was that crazy landing signal officer.
"Damn fool, had me too
high all the way in, or too fast, or too slow"; but we never told
him. He held our lives in his hands.
8
WORKING DRAFT
And besides, the skipper always thought he was right.
We were the best.
cocky devils, sure of our ability, sure of
our mission. 20 years old, and we knew exactly what had to done.
We knew we were right and that we would win.
Winter - Spring 1945
Barbara and I were married January 6th. We had time for a
honeymoon, then off we went to carrier re-qualification in the
Great Lakes. We bought our first car -- a 1941 Plymouth -- price
$350 and drive across Canada to join our squadron in Lewiston,
Maine. Up and down the East Coast in VT 153, a new torpedo
squadron manned by some of my pals from VT 51. I checked out in
the F4U, the hot-shot gull wing Corsair fighter.
and for a
moment I wondered if "low and slow" was good enough for me
anymore. A fleeting thought only, since by now the feel of the
TBF was a part of my very existence. The TBF was a forgiving
airplane -- and though I was a pretty good pilot, I'd still make
some pilot's errors that needed forgiveness.
9
WORKING DRAFT
August 1945
I'm just 21 now. We are based in Virginia. Barbara and I are
having more time together. As our new squadron, with orders in
hand to go back to the Pacific, starts our final training.
the
war ends. I'll never forget the screaming and the cheering and
the dancing in the street and the praying. Bar and I went to
church and we said thanks. The War's end meant we would not have
to be separated, and that I would not have to cover any more
landings of marines on beaches -- seeing them get slaughtered as
the Japanese dug in to defend their homeland.
September 18, 1945
I am discharged from the Navy on "points" and now I go to
college. The togetherness of it all disperses. We all re-focus.
It's soccer, baseball -- it's our first baby, and Economic
classes. Barbara and I know family joy, and the happiness of
being at school and looking forward shortly thereafter to a new
life in our west. We have lots of new friends. The letters from
the shipmates slow down. They are finding their new way too.
10
WORKING DRAFT
June, 1948
A brand new college grad, my first job ahead, I drive to Odessa,
Texas. The war seems long ago, far behind -- ahead lies a whole
new exciting life.
January 20, 1989
I am sworn in as President of the United States. A TBF on a
float goes by in our Inaugural parade. On it are some squadron
mates from VT 51 and a couple of old submariners who were aboard
Finback when she picked me out of the drink off Chi Chi Jima.
They are smiling and waving. No-one knows who they are. But I
know.
February, 1989
I am in Japan for the funeral of Emperor Hirohito. It is an icy
cold day and the long ceremony is beautifully done. Sitting
there in the cold, surrounded by World leaders, I had time to
think. Yes, I thought about the burst of anti-aircraft fire from
Chi Chi Jima that killed my friends, but that thought did not
dominate. I thought about Hirohito going to call on MacArthur,
about Japan's remarkable recovery and about her democracy. I
thought about the quiet little man and his love of nature and how
that contrasted with the horrible pictures we saw 45 years
ago. .I thought of Japan. And I thought of forgiveness.
11
Our alliance is strong, our friendship is genuine. They are now
a democracy. How remarkable that is. Maybe Ted White, Jack
Delaney, and Jim Wykes did not die in vain. It was right that I
went back to Japan to the Emperor's funeral.
# # #
Horold M.
Milton Moore
WASH 08-13-89
Cheney Warns
DEFENSE BUDGET HEARTBURN ISSUES
HOUSE
SENATE
ADMINISTRATION
Defense Bill
VERSION
VERSION
REQUEST
"Star Wars" missile defense
Risks a Veto
$3.1 billion
$4.5 billion
$4.9 billion
Existing MX missile on rail cars
$600 million for research
$1.1 billion for research
$1.1 billion for research
alone
and production
and production.
Unrequested Arms
New Midgetman mobile missile
$0
$100 million
$100 million
May Force Troop Cuts
New Navy F-14D fighter plane
$857 million
$0
$0
4/60/162
V-22 Osprey transport plane for Marines
$508 million for testing
$255 million for testing
$0
By George C. Wilson
and production
alone.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Stealth Bomber
President Bush will have no
$3.9 billion; no spending
$4.6 billion; no spending
$4.9 billion; no restrictions.
until fleet is cut.
until more testing is
choice but to veto the defense mon-
completed.
ey bill this year and sharply reduce
THE WASHINGTON POST
the number of men and women in
uniform in future years if Congress
rival defense authorization bills that
costly weapons as its stealth bomb-
keeps resurrecting weapons the
is to be convened shortly after Con-
er and fighters, also is shrinking
Pentagon wants to kill, Defense
gress returns Sept. 6 from its re-
dramatically. The Air Force has
Secretary Richard B. Cheney
cess.
gone from an active-duty force of
warned in firing the first shots in
Asked what would happen beyond
905,000 in 1968, the Vietnam War
the battle of the budget to resume
this year's budget battle if Con-
peak, to 571,000 today. Plans call
after Labor Day.
gress, as is likely, refuses to ap-
for the service to shrink to 567,474
"A veto is a real possibility" if the
prove Bush's request to increase
by the end of fiscal 1990.
House insists on a defense author-
the defense budget in real terms by
The Navy, which had 765,000
ization bill it recently passed rather
one percent in fiscal 1991 and 1992
men and women in uniform in 1968,
than accepting a measure close to
and by 2 percent in fiscal 1993, the
is scheduled to be reduced to
the Senate version, which Bush fa-
usually ebullient Cheney turned
591,541 by the end of fiscal 1990.
vors, Cheney said in an interview
glumly silent.
The Marine Corps totaled
with The Washington Post Thurs-
After a pause, the secretary re-
307,000 in 1968; it will number
day. "The president is clearly pre-
plied: "Then we've got a big prob-
197,159 at the end of fiscal 1990
pared to do that."
lem-even tougher" than the one
under the lowered force levels.
Pentagon officials complain that
that required him to cancel weap-
Cheney declined to predict how
the House subjected them to the
ons to accommodate Congress's
much the armed forces will shrink
triple whammy this year by refusing
demand for a zero-growth budget
after 1990 because of budget con-
to go along with weapons cancel-
for fiscal 1990.
straints and the apparent ending of
lations, financing programs the
In those circumstances, he said
the Cold War. But he did say that he
president did not want by taking
"my bias" is to reduce further the
money from ones he advocated and
size of the active-duty Army, Navy,
is determined to avoid going back to
the hollow forces of the 1970s
keeping the total defense budget at
Air Force and Marine Corps. This
would get people off the Pentagon
where the emphasis was on quan-
the no-growth total of $305 billion
rather than raising it to pay for the
payroll, resulting in immediate sav-
tity of people and weapons rather
add-ons.
ings in spending, without forcing
than quality.
Lawmakers counter that voters
the military to go without modern
"I'd rather have capable forces,
even if they're smaller, than I would
did not send them to Washington to
weapons.
Many career budget officers at
preserve the fiction of a larger
rubber stamp the Pentagon's bud-
the Pentagon say there is no way to
force," Cheney said. He said former
get request but to make their own
avoid deep manpower cuts during
battalion commanders reinforced
choices on how the billions for de-
Bush's first term, given Congress's
his bias in favor of going small rath-
fense should be apportioned.
refusal to increase defense appro-
er than hollow by telling him re-
What the Pentagon calls the main
priations and the bow wave of bills
cently: "We remember when we
"heartburn" issues are the House
falling due in the mid-1990s from
had insufficient manning and large
decisions to keep the Navy's F-14D
weapons ordered in the boom years
vacancies in our roster of officers,
Tomcat fighter plane and the Ma-
of the Reagan administration. The
serious drug problems, lack of
rines' V-22 Osprey transport alive
Army, the largest service, will take
equipment, lack of spare parts,
rather than cancel them as Bush
the biggest hits, they predicted.
equipment that wouldn't work, in-
recommended, cutting money from
Today the Army is a little more
ability to train. We never want to go
the Strategic Defense Initiative and
than half of its Vietnam war size of
through that again."
the two newest strategic land mis-
1.5 million men and women. It is
Cheney said, "I've come away
siles-Midgetman and the rail mo-
slated to shrink further to a force of
from those kinds of discussions gen-
bile MX-to pay for the additions.
764,021 people by the end of the
erally with the view that we ought
"That's the veto bait," said one of
coming fiscal year.
to maintain the most capable force
the congressional staffers preparing
The Air Force, already reducing
possible. And if that means some-
for the House-Senate conference on
manpower to free money for such
what smaller forces, so be it."