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Show You Have, Despite War's Growing Hardships, Today Something to Be Truly Thankful For Revolutionary War Brought Freedom People Now Take as Matter-of-Fact It was the successful completion of the Revolutionary War which resulted in the designation of a national day of thanksgiving thanks-giving for the benefits obtained during the year. One hundred and fifty years ago, George Washington recommended "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledsriner with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Al- mighty God, especially by affording af-fording them an opportunity to establish a Constitution or government gov-ernment for their safety and happiness." Just previous to this petition, in 1777, the 13 colonies, acting as one, celebrated a day of Thanksgiving when the British general, Burgoyne, was defeated. True, popular tradition has it that the first Thanksgiving was held at Plymouth, Mass., when the Pilgrims Pil-grims had gathered in their first harvest. But the significant fact about Thanksgiving is to be noted in Washington's recommendation for a national observance of a day of thanks because of the opportunity given the early colonists "to establish estab-lish a Constitution or government for their safety and happiness." A national, truly sincere spirit of Thanksgiving was born out of the aftermath of the nation's first war. 'MOTHER OF THANKSGIVING DAY' The daughter of a Revolutionary Revolution-ary war army captain, Mrs. Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, native of Newport, N. H., has the distinction distinc-tion of being the "Mother of Thanksgiving day." For years she tried vainly to mobilize governors of her time to have them all agree on one day which would be set aside as a day of Thanksgiving. Finally she prevailed upon President Lincoln in 1863 to proclaim pro-claim Thanksgiving as uniformly a national festival day. Mrs. Hale, who died after 91 years of great activity, was the widowed mother of five children. She was an author, pioneer feminist, fem-inist, and also editor of Godey's Lady's Book in Boston during the 1830s. N s J I 1 j i ' t. ' " fc.ViLv ..-T'fo? I Al G. Obbler, caught in the act of broadcasting a "flee for your lives" warning to his unsuspecting kin-folk, heard that not only is he going to I get the ax, but also thousands like him. He doesn't know It, but his "goose is cooked" in so far as his life on this earth is concerned. Maybe May-be you'll see him on Thanksgiving day. In a different pose. glasses and coffee cups seem to be in the way. Food, and plenty of it before you. Enough food there to feed at least eight times more starving starv-ing Frenchmen, or Poles, or Russians in territory under Hitler's Hit-ler's oppression. Something to be thankful for there it is! What do you suppose Hitler's "Master Race" in Germany would say about the "New World Order" if they had half the food in front of them that millions of Americans will have on Thanksgiving day. . Another thing: If you don't like what your congressman is doing you are free to say so. You might even write him a letter and tell him just what you think, and what you think of him. If you don't like the way the war is going you say so. You'll argue in public with someone who disagrees with you about national, state, or local political activities. Suppose you had this inherent right taken away from you. You'd be thankful for it then. So why not now? Put yourself in the place of a conquered people or imagine yourself living in an Axis country. coun-try. In those places freedom of speech is limited to saying, "Yes, yes" when permitted to hear the master's voice. Suppose the only church service you were permitted to attend was that one in which the "gospel" of the dictator was spouted by a party sycophant. Suppose your church was no longer the house of worship you remembered it, but a meeting place, a club for those who were members of the dictator's gang. Suppose you couldn't worship your God the way you wanted to, because W V i, -T i' , r 1 You can imagine what the thoughts are of these two kids as they look at the giant turkey which has just been taken from the oven. It doesn't seem that they are convinced it is true that they can believe what they see. Scenes such as this one will be multiplied thousands of times Thanksgiving day. Now, over a century and a half later, while the nation is nearing the end of the first year of another, but far more greater, war, it seems fitting that a renewed, revitalized spirit of Thanksgiving should be observed ob-served by the people of the United States. To some it might seem extremely illogical to suggest the nation should be thankful for its blessings while engaged in a war which really is just beginning in its intensity. That is not the point. That is not the reason for being thankful for what we have, what we are still enjoying en-joying in the way of worldly goods to a greater extent than are our Allies and our enemies. The reason, for a true, more sincere observance of Thanksgiving is mis': We are able to carry the war back to the enemy, and carry it back hard and furiously to him wherever he is. In the early days of the Revolutionary Revo-lutionary war the soldiers, the officers, the great majority of citizens didn't have to ask: "What are we fighting for?" They knew. For the enemy was here, on this continent. They saw him. They fought him up and down the Atlantic coast. In addition to being practical men, these early colonists were dreamers. They dreamed the great dream which has been realized today with this nation stretching from one ocean to another from our northern north-ern neighbor, Canada, to our southern south-ern neighbor, Mexico, both of whom are now fighting a common com-mon foe with us. Rationing, increased taxes, sons and husbands in the armed forces this is what confronts the whole nation na-tion as the first wartime Thanksgiving Thanks-giving in almost a quarter century is observed. Those who ask themselves what they have to be thankful for will think at first that there is no answer. an-swer. But common sense and logic will prevail. A glance at almost any newspaper will convince the reader that freedom of the press is more than an expression in America. So greatly valued is this freedom of the press in occupied Europe that thousands are risking immediate execution by the Gestapo to print underground newspapers with messages mes-sages for the unification of the oppressed. op-pressed. These newspapers, proving prov-ing the value of a free press, are often no larger than a handbill, but the importance of their message mes-sage cannot be overemphasized. But maybe your mind doesn't run in such a channel. Maybe you still will not be convinced as you sit at the table on Thanksgiving day. There before you are mountains of food turkey or goose or chicken; creamy potatoes, cranberries, all kinds of vegetables; cakes, pies, puddings, desserts. So much food that the plates, knives, forks, that way was against the "ruler's" theory. Suppose your friend's house of worship was entered by the "leader's" "lead-er's" mob, sacked, religious articles destroyed, and then the building burned to the ground? That is what has happened, and is still happening, too many times in Europe since Hitler began "saving "sav-ing the world." Something for you to be thankful for? There it is: Freedom to worship wor-ship your God as you see fit. This Thanksgiving day will be remembered re-membered as being an exceptional excep-tional one. It will be remembered as the day when Americans were fully thankful for the many rights which in the past have been taken for granted. i i ;x f r ' Kc- YC 5 ' ; f J I " " 1 " f ' |