Speech of Senator Harry S. Truman in St. Louis, Missouri

SPEECH OF SENATOR HARRY S. TRUMAN TRUMAN for OVER RADIO STATION KMOX, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI. "NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND SUNDAY, MAY 31, 1942 RECORD'S ADMIN. FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY To take the offensive and win this war - and we must take the offen- sive - it is necessary that we produce vast amounts of the implements of war so that the forces of the United Nations may be equipped to carry the war to the enemy wherever he may be most vulnerable, and do it successfully. On the world battlefronts our fighters need planes, tanks and guns, and they need them NOW. We have suffered serious and humiliating reverses because our forces have not been adequately equipped. We must not let this happen again. I have said many times, and I say now, that American lives must not be lost because of lack of equipment. Our men must have the best and latest of modern war machines. Those of us at home who are not actually fighting the battles have a vital part to con- tribute to the war effort. We must see that an uninterrupted and overwhelming flow of war supplies will reach our fighting forces. This war will be won through the efforts of all of us, and it is now time for every citizen of the United States to realize that the sacrifices we have made in the past are as nothing to those that we must make now and in time to come. We must all make drastic readjustments in our daily lives. We must forego the luxuries to which we have become accustomed, in order that every available resource may be devoted to the making of our armed forces the mightiest in the world. Every effort of every good American must be devoted to the single purpose of winning the victory. Nothing can be allowed to impede a successful war program. I know that the people of this great country will make every required sacrifice. They will go without new automobiles, they will go without new refrigerators, they will go without new radios, they will go without many of the