TRUMAN MOURNED

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33110, 28 December 1972, Page 9

TRUMAN MOURNED

CN'.Z. Press Assn. —Copyright INDEPENDENCE

(Missouri), Dec. 27

President Nixon arrives in Independence today from Washington to lead the nation in mourning Mr Harry S. Truman. the former President of the United States.

Mr Nixon declared 30 days of national mourning, with flags at half-mast. He also ordered Government offices to be closed on Thursday, when Mr Truman will be buried in the courtyard of the Truman Memorial Library in Independence, his home town, near Kansas City. Mr Truman died yesterday at the age of 88 at the Kansas City Research Medical Centre. He entered hospital on December 5 suffering from pulmonary congestion. Complications, hastened by old age, set in. and when he died he. had been in a coma for nearly three days. His wife Bess (they had been married 53 years), and his daughter, Mrs Margaret. Daniel, were at the family home not far away.

The funeral ceremonies will be kept private by the late Mr Truman’s request, but memorial services will be held at the National Cathedral, Washington, on Thursday. In a tribute to Mr Truman, Mr Nixon yesterday said: “Mr Truman will be remembered as one of the most courageous Presidents in our history, who led the nation and the world through a critical period with exceptional vision and determination.” Another former President of the United States, Mr Lyndon Johnson, said yesterday that Mr Truman was a giant’ of the twentieth century.

The Secretary of State (Mr Rogers) praised Mr Truman’s role as a leader. “The monuments to his wisdom and humanity survive in the restored vitality of nations demolished in war. in a great peace-time alliance of wartime allies, and in the hearts of once-threatened but still-free peoples,” said Mr Rogers. CONDOLENCES Messages of condolence have poured into Washington.

The British Prime Minister (Mr Heath) has sent his condolences to Mr Nixon and Mrs Truman, but a spokesman for the Prime Minister said there would be no public statement. The Queen expressed her sorrow to the American people in a telegram to Mr Nixon, and she also sent a private message to Mrs Truman. Lord Avon, who, as Anthony Eden, was the British Foreign Secretary during some of the years in which | Mr Truman was President, described Mr Truman as a forthright and staunch ally. President Pompidou said France would never forget! the role played by the United States in its restoration,'

• under Mr Truman’s stimulus. In Tokyo, a Government I spokesman said the Prime ■ Minister (Mr Tanaka) had • sent condolences to Mr • Nixon. The Mayor of Nagasaki ! (Mr Yoshitake Morotani) ex- ■ pressed deep regret, but said i he still held Mr Truman res- • ponsible for the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima ■ and Nagasaki. AUST. MESSAGE The Prime Minister of Australia (Mr Whitlam) said in a message to Mr Nixon that the Government and people of Australia joined with those around the world who deeply (regretted the passing of a ■ very great President and a {most distinguished American.

' (Obituary, page 4)