Modern History Sourcebook:
Franklin D. Roosevelt:
'A Call for Sacrifice', 28 April, 1942
My Fellow Americans, it is nearly five months since we were attacked at Pearl Harbor.
For the two years prior to that attack this country had been gearing itself up to a high
level of production of munitions. And yet our war efforts had done little to dislocate the
normal lives of most of us.Since then we have dispatched strong forces of our Army and Navy, several hundred
thousands of them, to bases and battlefronts thousands of miles from home. We have stepped
up our war production on a scale that is testing our industrial power, our engineering
genius, and our economic structure to the utmost. We have had no illusions about the fact
that this is a tough job-and a long one.American warships are now in combat in the North and South Atlantic, in the Arctic, in
the Mediterranean, in the Indian Ocean, and in the North and South Pacific. American
troops have taken stations in South America, Greenland, Iceland, the British Isles, the
Near East, the Middle East and the Far East, the continent of Australia, and many islands
of the Pacific. American war planes, manned by Americans, are flying in actual combat over
all the continents and all the oceans.On the European front the most important development of the past year has been without
question the crushing counteroffensive on the part of the great armies of Russia against
the powerful German army. These Russian forces have destroyed and are destroying more
armed power of our enemies-troops, planes, tanks, and guns-than all the other United
Nations put together.In the Mediterranean area, matters remain on the surface much as they were. But the
situation there is receiving very careful attention. Recently, we've received news of a
change in government in what we used to know as the Republic of France-a name dear to the
hearts of all lovers of liberty, a name and an institution which we hope will soon be
restored to full dignity.Throughout the Nazi occupation of France, we have hoped for the maintenance of a French
government which would strive to regain independence, to reestablish the principles of
"Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity," and to restore the historic culture of
France. Our policy has been consistent from the very beginning. However, we are now
greatly concerned lest those who have recently come to power may seek to force the brave
French people into submission to Nazi despotism.The United Nations will take measures, if necessary, to prevent the use of French
territory in any part of the world for military purposes by the Axis powers. The good
people of France will readily understand that such action is essential for the United
Nations to prevent assistance to the armies or navies or air forces of Germany or Italy or
Japan. The overwhelming majority of the French people understand that the fight of the
United Nations is fundamentally their fight, that our victory means the restoration of a
free and independent France-and the saving of France from the slavery which would be
imposed upon her by her external enemies and by her internal traitors.We know how the French people really feel. We know that a deep-seated determination to
obstruct every step in the Axis plan extends from occupied France through Vichy France all
the way to the people of their colonies in every ocean and on every continent.Our planes are helping in the defense of French colonies today, and soon American
Flying Fortresses will be fighting for the liberation of the darkened continent of Europe
itself.In all the occupied countries there are men and women, and even little children, who
have never stopped fighting, never stopped resisting, never stopped proving to the Nazis
that their so-called new order will never be enforced upon free peoples.In the German and Italian peoples themselves there's a growing conviction that the
cause of Nazism and Fascism is hopeless-that their political and military leaders have led
them along the bitter road which leads not to world conquest but to final defeat. They
cannot fail to contrast the present frantic speeches of these leaders with their arrogant
boastings of a year ago, and two years ago.And on the other side of the world, in the Far East, we have passed through a phase of
serious losses.We have inevitably lost control of a large portion of the Philippine Islands. But this
whole nation pays tribute to the Filipino and American officers and men who held out so
long on Bataan Peninsula, to those grim and gallant fighters who still hold Corregidor,
where the flag flies, and to the forces that are still striking effectively at the enemy
on Mindanao and other islands.The Malayan Peninsula and Singapore are in the hands of the enemy; the Netherlands East
Indies are almost entirely occupied, though resistance there continues. Many other islands
are in the possession of the Japanese. But there is good reason to believe that their
southward advance has been checked. Australia, New Zealand, and much other territory will
be bases for offensive action-and we are determined that the territory that has been lost
will be regained.The Japanese are pressing their northward advance against Burma with considerable
power, driving toward India and China. They have been opposed with great bravery by small
British and Chinese forces aided by American fliers.The news in Burma tonight is not good. The Japanese may cut the Burma Road; but I want
to say to the gallant people of China that no matter what advances the Japanese may make,
ways will be found to deliver airplanes and munitions of war to the armies of
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.We remember that the Chinese people were the first to stand up and fight against the
aggressors in this war; and in the future a still unconquerable China will play its proper
role in maintaining peace and prosperity, not only in eastern Asia but in the whole world.For every advance that the Japanese have made since they started their frenzied career
of conquest, they have had to pay a very heavy toll in warships, in transports, in planes,
and in men. They are feeling the effects of those losses.It is even reported from Japan that somebody has dropped bombs on Tokyo, and on other
principal centers of Japanese war industries.If this be true, it is the first time in history that Japan has suffered such
indignities'Although the treacherous attack on Pearl Harbor was the immediate cause of our entry
into the war, that event found the American people spiritually prepared for war on a
worldwide scale. We went into this war fighting. We know what we are fighting for, We
realize that the war has become what Hitler originally proclaimed it to be-a total war.Not all of us can have the privilege of fighting our enemies in distant parts of the
world.Not all of us can have the privilege of working in a munitions factory or a shipyard,
or on the farms or in oil fields or mines, producing the weapons or the raw materials that
are needed by our armed forces.But there is one front and one battle where everyone in the United States-every
man, woman, and child-is in action, and will be privileged to remain in action throughout
this war. That front is right here at home, in our daily lives, in our daily tasks. Here
at home everyone will have the privilege of making whatever self-denial is necessary, not
only to supply our fighting men, but to keep the economic structure of our country
fortified and secure during the war and after the war.This will require, of course, the abandonment not only of luxuries but of many other
creature comforts.Every loyal American is aware of his individual responsibility. Whenever I hear anyone
saying, "The American people are complacent-they need to be aroused," I feel
like asking him to come to Washington to read the mail that floods into the White House
and into all departments of this government. The one question that recurs through all
these thousands of letters and messages is, "What more can I do to help my country in
winning this war?"To build the factories, to buy the materials, to pay the labor, to provide the
transportation, to equip and feed and house the soldiers and sailors and marines, and to
do all the thousands of things necessary in a war-all cost a lot of money, more money than
has ever been spent by any nation at anytime in the long history of the world.We are now spending, solely for war purposes, the sum of about $100 million every day
in the week. But, before this year is over, that almost unbelievable rate of expenditure
will be doubled.All of this money has to be spent-and spent quickly-if we are to produce within the
time now available the enormous quantities of weapons of war which we need. But the
spending of these tremendous sums presents grave danger of disaster to our national
economy.When your government continues to spend these unprecedented sums for munitions month by
month and year by year, that money goes into the pocketbooks and bank accounts of the
people of the United States. At the same time raw materials and many manufactured goods
are necessarily taken away from civilian use; and machinery and factories are being
converted to war production.You do not have to be a professor of mathematics or economics to see that if people
with plenty of cash start bidding against each other for scarce goods, the price of those
goods goes up.Yesterday I submitted to the Congress of the United States a seven-point program, a
program of general principles which taken together could be called the national economic
policy for attaining the great objective of keeping the cost of living down.I repeat them now to you in substance:
First, we must, through heavier taxes, keep personal and corporate profits at a low
reasonable rate.Second, we must fix ceilings on prices and rents.Third, we must stabilize wages.Fourth, we must stabilize farm prices.Fifth, we must put more billions into war bonds.Sixth, we must ration all essential commodities which are scarce.And seventh, we must discourage installment buying, and encourage paying off debts and
mortgages.
I do not think it is necessary to repeat what I said yesterday to the Congress in
discussing these general principles.The important thing to remember is that each one of these points is dependent on the
others if the whole program is to work.Some people are already taking the position that every one of the seven points is
correct except the one point which steps on their own individual toes. A few seem very
willing to approve self-denial - on the part of their neighbors. The only effective course
of action is a simultaneous attack on all of the factors which increase the cost of
living, in one comprehensive, allembracing program covering prices and profits and wages
and taxes and debts.The blunt fact is that every single person in the United States is going to be affected
by this program. Some of you will be affected more directly by one or two of these
restrictive measures, but all of you will be affected indirectly by all of them.Are you a businessman, or do you own stock in a business corporation? Well, your
profits are going to be cut down to a reasonably low level by taxation. Your income will
be subject to higher taxes. Indeed in these days, when every available dollar should go to
the war effort, I do not think that any American citizen should have a net income in
excess of $25,000 per year after payment of taxes.Are you a retailer or a wholesaler or a manufacturer or a farmer or a landlord?
Ceilings are being placed on the prices at which you can sell your goods or rent your
property.Do you work for wages? You will have to forgo higher wages for your particular job for
the duration of the war.All of us are used to spending money for things that we want, things, however, which
are not absolutely essential. We will all have to forgo that kind of spending. Because we
must put every dime and every dollar we can possibly spare out of our earnings into war
bonds and stamps. Because the demands of the war effort require the rationing of goods of
which there is not enough to go around. Because the stopping of purchases of nonessentials
will release thousands of workers who are needed in the war effort.As I told the Congress yesterday, "sacrifice" is not exactly the proper word
with which to describe this program of self-denial. When, at the end of this great
struggle, we shall have saved our free way of life, we shall have made no
"sacrifice."The price for civilization must be paid in hard work and sorrow and blood. The price is
not too high. If you doubt it, ask those millions who live today under the tyranny of
Hitlerism.Ask the workers of France and Norway and the Netherlands, whipped to labor by the lash,
whether the stabilization of wages is too great a "sacrifice."Ask the farmers of Poland and Denmark and Czechoslovakia and France, looted of their
livestock, starving while their own crops are stolen from their land, ask them whether
parity prices are too great a sacrifice."Ask the businessmen of Europe, whose enterprises have been stolen from their owners,
whether the limitation of profits and personal incomes is too great a
"sacrifice."Ask the women and children whom Hitler is starving whether the rationing of tires and
gasoline and sugar is too great a "sacrifice."We do not have to ask them. They have already given us their agonized answers.This great war effort must be carried through to its victorious conclusion by the
indomitable will and determination of the people as one great whole.It must not be impeded by the faint of heart.It must not be impeded by those who put their own selfish interests above the interests
of the nation.It must not be impeded by those who pervert honest criticism into falsification of
fact.It must not be impeded by self-styled experts either in economics or military problems
who know neither true figures nor geography itself.It must not be impeded by a few bogus patriots who use the sacred freedom of the press
to echo the sentiments of the propagandists in Tokyo and Berlin.And, above all, it shall not be imperiled by the handful of noisy traitors - betrayers
of America, betrayers of Christianity itself - would-be dictators who in their hearts and
souls have yielded to Hitlerism and would have this republic do likewise.I shall use all of the executive power that I have to carry out the policy laid down.
If it becomes necessary to ask for any additional legislation in order to attain our
objective of preventing a spiral in the cost of living, I shall do so.I know the American farmer, the American workman, and the American businessman. I know
that they will gladly embrace this economy and equality of sacrifice-satisfied that it is
necessary for the most vital and compelling motive in all their lives-winning through to
victory.Never in the memory of man has there been a war in which the courage, the endurance,
and the loyalty of civilians played so vital a part.Many thousands of civilians all over the world have been and are being killed or maimed
by enemy action. Indeed, it is the fortitude of the common people of Britain under fire
which enabled that island to stand and prevented Hitler from winning the war in 1940. The
ruins of London and Coventry and other cities are today the proudest monuments to British
heroism.Our own American civilian population is now relatively safe from such disasters. And,
to an ever increasing extent, our soldiers, sailors, and marines are fighting with great
bravery and great skills on far distant fronts to make sure that we shall remain safe.I should like to tell you one or two stories about the men we have in our armed forces:There is, for example, Dr. Corydon M. Wassell. He was a missionary, well known for his
good works in China. He is a simple, modest, retiring man, nearly sixty years old, but he
entered the service of his country and was commissioned a lieutenant commander in the
navy.Dr. Wassell was assigned to duty in Java caring for wounded officers and men of the
cruisers Houston and Marblehead which had been in heavy action in the Java
seas.When the Japanese advanced across the island, it was decided to evacuate as many as
possible of the wounded to Australia. But about twelve of the men were so badly wounded
that they couldn't be moved. Dr. Wassell remained with them, knowing that he would be
captured by the enemy. But he decided to make a last desperate attempt to get the men out
of Java. He asked each of them if he wished to take the chance, and every one agreed.He first had to get the twelve men to the seacoast-fifty miles away. To do this, he had
to improvise stretchers for the hazardous journey. The men were suffering severely, but
Dr. Wassell kept them alive by his skill, inspired them by his own courage.And as the official report said, Dr. Wassell was "almost like a Christ-like
shepherd devoted to his flock."On the seacoast, he embarked the men on a little Dutch ship. They were bombed, they
were machinegunned by waves of Japanese planes. Dr. Wassell took virtual command of the
ship, and by great skill avoided destruction, hiding in little bays and little inlets.A few days later, Dr. Wassell and his small flock of wounded men reached Australia
safely.And today Dr. Wassell wears the Navy Cross.Another story concerns a ship, a ship rather than an individual man. You may remember
the tragic sinking of the submarine, the United States Ship Squalus, off the New
England coast in the summer of 1939. Some of the crew were lost, but others were saved by
the speed and the efficiency of the surface rescue crews. The Squalus itself was
tediously raised from the bottom of the sea.She was repaired, put back into commission, and eventually she sailed again under a new
name, the United States Ship Sailfish. Today, she is a potent and effective unit of
our submarine fleet in the Southwest Pacific.The Sailfish has covered many thousands of miles in operations in those far
waters.She has sunk a Japanese destroyer.She has torpedoed a Japanese cruiser.She has made torpedo hits-two of them-on a Japanese aircraft carrier.Three of the enlisted men of our Navy who went down with the Squalus in 1939 and
were rescued are today serving on the same ship, the United States Ship Sailfish, in
this war.It seems to me that it is heartening to know that the Squalus, once given up as
lost, rose from the depths to fight for our country in time of peril.One more story that I heard only this morning.This is a story of one of our Army Flying Fortresses operating in the western Pacific.
The pilot of this plane is a modest young man, proud of his crew for one of the toughest
fights a bomber has yet experienced.The bomber departed from its base, as part of a flight of five bombers, to attack
Japanese transports that were landing troops against us in the Philippines. When they had
gone about halfway to their destination, one of the motors of this bomber went out of
commission. The young pilot lost contact with the other bombers. The crew, however, got
the motor working, got it going again and the plane proceeded on its mission alone.By the time it arrived at its target the other four Flying Fortresses had already
passed over, had dropped their bombs, and had stirred up the hornets' nest of Japanese
"Zero" planes. Eighteen of these Zero fighters attacked our one Flying Fortress.
Despite this mass attack, our plane proceeded on its mission, and dropped all of its bombs
on six Japanese transports which were lined up along the docks.As it turned back on its homeward journey a running fight between the bomber and the
eighteen Japanese pursuit planes continued for seventy-five miles. Four pursuit planes of
the Japs attacked simultaneously at each side. Four were shot down with the side guns.
During this fight, the bomber's radio operator was killed, the engineer's right hand was
shot off, and one gunner was crippled, leaving only one man available to operate both side
guns. Although wounded in one hand, this gunner alternately manned both side guns,
bringing down three more Japanese Zero planes. While this was going on, one engine on the
American bomber was shot out, one gas tank was hit, the radio was shot off, and the oxygen
system was entirely destroyed. Out of eleven control cables all but four were shot away.
The rear landing wheel was blown off entirely, and the two front wheels were both shot
flat.The fight continued until the remaining Japanese pursuit ships exhausted their
ammunition and turned back. With two engines gone and the plane practically out of
control, the American bomber returned to its base after dark and made an emergency
landing. The mission had been accomplished.The name of that pilot is Captain Hewitt T. Wheless, of the United States Army. He
comes from a place called Menard, Texas-with a population of 2,375. He has been awarded
the Distinguished Service Cross. And I hope that he is listening.These stories I have told you are not exceptional. They are typical examples of
individual heroism and skill.As we here at home contemplate our own duties, our own responsibilities, let us think
and think hard of the example which is being set for us by our fighting men.Our soldiers and sailors are members of well-disciplined units. But they're still and
forever individualsfree individuals. They are farmers and workers, businessmen,
professional men, artists, clerks. They are the United States of America.That is why they fight.We too are the United States of America. That is why we must work and sacrifice. It is
for them. It is for us. It is for victory.
Source:
This text is part of the Internet
Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and
copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright.
Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational
purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No
permission is granted for commercial use of the Sourcebook.
© Paul Halsall, July 1998
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 26 January 2023 [CV]
|