NIMITZ WELCOMED IN WASHINGTON

Southland Times, Issue 25797, 8 October 1945, Page 5

NIMITZ WELCOMED IN WASHINGTON

Reasons Given For Defeat

Of Japan

(Rec. 8 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Oct. 6. Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was welcomed in the capital by 1000 naval planes overhead and a parade in Pennsylvania Avenue comprising units from every branch of the Navy and a crowd estimated at 1,000,000. The highlight was provided when a squadron of planes wrote “Nimitz” in the sky. Fleet Admiral Nimitz told a joint sitting of Congress that although Japan took a terrific whipping she ended the war with more planes and a bigger Army than at the time of Pearl Harbour. However, the Japanese had no alternative but to surrender, even before the atomic bombs were dropped and Russia entered the war, because her fleet had ceased to exist. The plight of her merchant fleet was equally grim. Fleet Admiral Nimitz urged that the United States retain a strong fleet and that the country remain strong so that freedom may continue. The Admiral said: “Let us go forth in all friendliness, but let us make certain that our olive branch is planted firmly in rich soil with a high content of uranium.” President Truman presented Fleet Admiral Nimitz with a Gold Star in lieu of a third Distinguished Service

Medal. He also presented the Congressional Medal of Honour to 14 members of the Navy and Marine Corps. Fleet Admiral Nimitz told a press conference: “The atomic bomb is just another weapon which must be brought close enough to the scene of action to use. I see no way to get them there, except in ships until we can project them from this continent to another. Hence, the atomic bomb will not mean the navy’s end during your lifetime or mine.” He added that the United States should retain seized bases in the Pacific for a great many years.