A NEW ERA

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 55, 3 September 1945, Page 5

A NEW ERA

PEACE AND SECURITY

SPEECH BY MR. TRUMAN

(By Telograph—Press Association—Copyright.) WASHINGTON, September 2. President Truman, speaking after the signing of the surrender, said: "The thoughts and hopes of all America, and, indeed, of all the civilised world, are centred tonight on the battleship Missouri. There, on that small piece of American soil anchored in Tokio harbour, the Japanese have just officially laid down their arms. They have signed the terms of unconditional surrender. j "Four years ago the thoughts and fears of the whole civilised world were j centred on another piece of American soil—Pearl Harbour. The mighty threat to civilisation, which began there, is now laid at rest. It was a long road to Tokio, and a bloody one. We shall not forget Pearl Harbour, and the Japanese militarists will not forget the Missouri. "The evil done by the Japanese war lords can neyer be repaired or forgotten, but their power to destroy will have been taken from them. Their armies, and what is left of their navy are now impotent. "To all of us comes first a sense of gratitude to Almighty God, Who sustained us and our allies in the dark days of grave danger, Who made us grow from weakness into the strongest fighting force in history, and Who now sees us overcome the forces of tyranny that sought to destroy His civilisation. God grant that in our pride of the hour we may not forget the hard tasks before us, that we may approach these with the same courage, zeal, and patience with which we faced the trials and problems of the past four years. GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR VICTORY. "Our first thoughts, of course, go to those of our loved ones who have been killed or maimed in this terrible war. On land and sea and in the air, American men and women have given their lives so that this day of ultimate victory might come and assure the survival of the civilised world. No victory can make good their loss. It is our responsibility to see that this victory shall be a monument worthy of the dead who died to win it. We think of our departed gallant leader, President Roosevelt, defender of democracy and architect of world peace and cooperation. Our thoughts go out to our gallant allies, to those who resisted the invaders, to those who were not- strong

enough to hold out, but who, nevertheless, kept the fires of' resistance alive within the souls of their people, to those who stood up against great odds and held the line till the United Nations together were able to supply arms and men with which to overcome the forces of evil. "This is a victory of more than arms alone. This is a victory of liberty over tyranny. It was the spirit of liberty which gave us our armed strength and which made our men invincible in battle. We now know that the spirit of liberty and freedom and of the individual dignity of man is the strongest, toughest, most enduring force in the world.