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Show TIGHT FOR FREEDOM' The President wants a name for this war. On April 14th he put forth the suggestion of 'The Survival War.' So far there has been no burst of approval for that name, probably because "survival' is a negative term, denoting a defensive attitude. It is not 'in tune with the American spirit. "Survival" is too much like the word "security." They both relate to material, physical conditions. There is nothing of the spirit in them, France built the Maginot Line and expected to "survive" in "security"-behind it. The French people still survive without security but with something very much more precious missing. They know now that this is more than a war of survival. The Poles have known the right name for this war from the start. The Czechoslovakians know what it is. The Jugoslavs know it and are still fighting for it. The Greeks know it ; they have paid the full price for it. The people of France know it now. The Belgians know it. y The Dutch know it and are fighting in every way they can for it. -The Danes know it. The Norwegians know it. The Norwegians know it and are beginning to fight like the Dutch for it. The Chinese have known it for years. The Australians .arc learning it fast. It is time Americans recognized it and started fighting for it. It is "The War for Freedom." What we are fighting for is freedom for all mankind. Let's announce that to the waiting world : to the peoples of the occupied countries, coun-tries, who are praying for it ; to the peoples of the Axis countries, who can share it when thcr throw off their tottering totalitarian tyrans; to the Russian peasants, Avho by their heroic defense of their native soil have a place for themselves among the free people of the world; to the indomitable Chinese; to the Indians, who have yet to learn the lessons of freedom. To Hitler, to Mussolini, to the war lords of Japan, to show them that we are a united nation, our heterogeneous population intent on bringing- freedom to the peoples of all the lands that have fed our national stream. To fight for freedom is the role of the United States. Born in the travail of seven years of such fighting, we later fought to free the world of the Barbary pirates, fought again to maintain the Union and free the slaves, fought Spain to free Cuba. That fight brought about the gift of freedom to the Philippines, the fruits of which we have seen in the gallant stand of the Filipinos at our side in the present defense of their isands It is far better to fight for freedom of the world than to fight "to make the world safe for democracy," which is a form of government in which some people are not interested, or which, perhaps, they could not operate. Freedom is what all people want. This is "The War for Freedom." Our battle cry: "Fight for Freedom." By John K. Hamcs Whether or not there's going to be one commonly-accepted and universally-used name for the present conflict con-flict is doubtful. At least three of our major wars have borne two or more titles, as witness "The American Revolution," and "The War of American Indepcn-i Indepcn-i dence"; "The War of 1812" and "The Second War S With England"; "The Civil War. Fhe Rebellion" and "The War Between the States." True. "The World War" is the commonly accepted name for the tragedy of 1914-18. But popular opinion has a way of deciding for itself what it will call a war and of disregarding a name that has been "hand-picked" for it. Even before Pearl Harbor many Americans, regarding regard-ing the current hostilities as a resumption of a struggle which was supposed to have ended November 11, 1918. began calling it "World War II." Now that the intent of Germany and Japan to enslave the world is clear, no one can deny that this is truly a war of treedom. But will future historians, taking their cue from popular '' opinion, write it down as "World War 11" or "The War for Freedom" or some other, as yet undisclosed, name? We wouldn't even venture a guess. But because Mr. Barnes has stated so well what it is we're fighting for, we're glad to pass along to readers of The Clarion his answer to "Wanted: A New Battle Cry." |