Commencement Address at Montana State University By Commissioner Of Education Earl McGrath, Personal Responsibility For National Security

Extracted text

OCR Page 1 of 15
'PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR. NATIONAL SECURITY* Members of the Class of 1951: The general rejoicing normal on occasions like this is doubtless somewhat dulled=by a lurking apprehension about the troubled condition of the world and the tenseness of international relations. Many of our people feel that the future is dark. To some, another global war appears inevitable. To their way of thinking it seems futile to try to plan their lives beyond a few weeks at a time. Under the circum- stances, their best plan seemis to be to drift with the current of every- day events. In my judgment, present circunstances, do not justify such a dismal view. There are bright spots. in the present scene. If each of us assumes a personal responsibility to understand and to take part in the direction of public affairs, our age may yet excel all others in human freedom and general well-being. The Nation is rapidly girding itself to stop aggression against the free peoples of the world. Our armed forces, together with the fighting men of other UN nations, are repelling the aggressors in Korea. More important than these present successes, however, is the fact that our military and industrial machines are being geared up to any possible future emergency. Our goal of complete preparedness has, to be sure, not been reached. But we are well on the way. The military forces are rapidly expanding. Because of the adaptability and efficiency of our industrial enterprise, all forms of armament and the other machinery *Commencement address by Earl James HcGrath, U. S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C., at Montana State University, Missoula, Hontana, 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., MST, June 4, 1951.