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SPEECH TO BE DELIVERED BY SENATOR HARRY S. TRUMAN BEFORE THE IRISH FELLOWSHIP CLU3, AT PALMER HOUSE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS ON MARCH 17, 1943, AT 12:15 O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON. TO BE RELEASED ON DELIVERY Mr. Chairman and fellow Americans: You have extended to me the great honor of joining with the members of the Irish Fellowship Club in observance of the feast of Saint Patrick. It is our good fortune in this country to be privileged to continue traditional celebrations even in time of war. It is to your credit as Americans that you have voluntarily given up your formal banquet and are confining remembrance of your 42nd Anniversary to this gathering. It is a particular pleasure for me to share in a Saint Patrick Day celebration in the great State of Illinois, a state where I have so many friends--the state of my distinguished colleague, Senator Scott Lucas, of Raymond McKeough and of Chicago's own Mayor Kelly. Your club may well be proud of the name it bears. That name ARCHIVES AND ADMIN REDORDS the of echoes and re-echoes courage, loyalty and devotion to God and country. Ess COVE Through the ages we Irish have always fought for freedom. (Yes, I am proud to say that some of the blood of old Erin floww through my veins.) The history of America--its fight for freedom, its growth to the country that we know and love--and the history of the Irish in America are one and the same. The Irish have always answered the call to arms in defense of our country, from the five O'Briens of the Revolution to the five Sullivans in the present struggle. And now the names of Colin Kelly, Butch O'Hare, and only the other day Lt. Colonel Brian O'Neill, who led the fight against the Japs at Bismark Bay, take their places alongside the immortal Colts whose undying deeds of bravery enshrined their names in the hearts of all Americans.