OCR Text |
Show European War End; as Nazis Accept j Terms of Unconditional Surrender j not mean the etxermination or cn: lavement of the Japanase people." In these words, the president in effect called upon the Japanese people to throw off their yoke of Samurai imperialism, to cast out their feudal ideas, and to save themselves and their homeland before it is too late. The chief executive, while officially of-ficially proclaiming victory in Europe, stlongly emphasized to the people of the nation that only one war has been won and that another grim and bloody trial lies ahead. All the nation's energies ener-gies must now be fully devoted to attaining a final and crushing victory over the last of the axis enemies, he said. "Much remains to be done," he emphasized in his official proclamation. proc-lamation. "The victory won in the west must now be won in the east. "The whole world must be cleansed of the evil from which half the world has been freed. President Truman Tells Nation of German Defeat; President Truman, speaikng to a victorious nation, j Tuesday told the American people that the hour of complete victory has come in Europe and that Germany Ger-many has surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces. At the same time, the president directed a grim warning to Japan that now that the war is over in Europe the greatest military machine in all the history his-tory of the world will be unloosed upon the Japanese homeland to bring about its utter destruction and un- T I 1 1 -:':V:;-:;:. A;" .itSI United, the peace-loving nations have demonstrated in the west that their arms are stronger by far than the might of dictators or the tyranny of military cliques i that once called us soft arid weak." At this point, when the president presi-dent mentioned the phrase "once called us soft and weak," he smiled in the news conference and said in an aside that he wonders what the German people now think of this nation. "The power of our peoples to defend themselves against all enemies ene-mies will be proved in the Pa-! Pa-! cific war as it has been proved in Europe," the president said. "For the triumph of spirit and of arms which we have won, and conditional surrender. $ "This is a solemn but a glorious glori-ous hour," the president told the nation in his victory broadcast which began at 9 a. m. e.w.t. "General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the united nations. The flags of freedom fly over all Europe." Then the president declared that the job, however is only half done, j "We can repay the debt which 1 we owe to our God, to our dead and to our children only by work by ceaseless devotion to the responsibilities res-ponsibilities which lie ahead of us. "If I could give you a single watchword for the coming months, that word is work, work, work. "We must work to finish the war. Our victory is but half won. The west is free, but the east is still in bondage to the treacher-1 ous tyranny of the Japanese. "When the last Japanese divi- j sion has surrendered uncondition-1 ally, then enly will our fighting job be done." In his B-E Day proclamation of- j ficiaily notifying the nation of the end of the war in Europe, the president said: "The allied armies, through sacrifice sa-crifice and dejvotion and with God's help, have wrung from Germany Ger-many a final and unconditional surrender. The western world has been freed of the evil forces which for five years and longer have imprisoned the bodies and broekn lives of millions upon millions mil-lions of free-horn men. "They have violated their churches, destroyed thejr homes, corrupted their children and mur-I mur-I dered their loves ones. Our armies j of liberation have restored freedqm to these suffering peoples, whose . spirit and will the oppressors could never enslave." The president set aside Sunday, May 13, as a day of; national prayer. He said in a news conference, in which he read his message to . the nation and his proclamation of victory to a room full of assembled as-sembled correspondents, that it was eminently fitting that the day of prayer should also be Mother's Moth-er's day. i As Mr. Truman proclaimed the unconditional surrender of Germany Ger-many and the final cessation of hostilities in all of Europe, he di- HARRY S. TRUMAN rected this challenging warning to the last axis partner. Japan: "The Japanese people have felt the weight of our land, air and naval attacks. So long as their leaders and the armed forces continue con-tinue the war the striking power and intensity of our blows will steadily increase and will bring utter destruction to Japan's industrial in-dustrial production, to its shipping, ship-ping, and to everything that supports sup-ports its military activity. "The longer the war lasts, the greater will be the suffering and hardships which the people) of C Japan will undergo all in vain. j Our blows will not cease until the ! Japanese military and naval forces lay down their arms in uncondi. tional surrender." Then the president gave his formula of what unconditional surrender means in precise terms to Japan. "Just what does the unconditional uncondi-tional surrender of the armed forces mean for the Japanese j people? ' ! "It means the end of the war. -j "It means the termination of I the influence of the military lead- ers who have brought Japan to the present brink of disaster. "It means provision for the return re-turn of soldiers and sailors to their families, their farms, their jobs. "It means not prolonging the present agony and suffering of the Japanese in the vain hope of victory. "Unconditional surrender does for its promise to peoples everywhere every-where who join with us in the love of freedom, it is fitting that we, as a nation, give thanks t o Almighty God, -who has strengthened strength-ened us and given us the victory." vic-tory." Then the president set aside Sunday as a day of prayer. "I call upon the people of the United States, whatever their faith, to unite in offering joyful thanks to God for the victory we have won and to pray that He will support us to the end of our present struggle and guide us into the way of peace. "I also call upon my countrymen, country-men, to dedicate this day of prayer to the memory of those who gave their lives to amke possible our victory." Before the president ;vent on the air at 9 a. m., he held an extraordinary ex-traordinary news conference, beginning be-ginning shortly after 8:30 a. m. in his oval office. Around him was the military high command General George C. Marshall, Admiral Ernest J. King, Admiral William D. Leahy and his naval and military aides ' the full cabinet. Also the congressional con-gressional "big four," together with Senate President Kenneth McKellar, the heads of all' government gov-ernment agencies and the president's presi-dent's immediate personal staff, including his assistants and secretaries. secre-taries. The president wor a dark blue double-breasted suit, a blue tie and handkerchief of contrasting hue I and a white shirt. In his lapel was the bronze discharge butto? of the last war. The president's address to the nation was brief and to the point. After announcing the victory, and the price that yet must be paid to win the war against Japan, the president said: "We must work to bind up the wounds of a suffering world to build an abiding peace, a peace rooted in Justice and in law. "We can build sucn a peace only by hard, toilsome, painstaking painstak-ing work by understanding and working with our allies in peace as we have in war. "The job, ahead is no less important, im-portant, no less urgent, no les6 difficult than the task which now happily is done. "I call upon every American to stick to his post until the last battle, is won. Until that day, let no man abandon his post or slacken his efforts." |