622 State Papers and Addresses

will not be taken unawares. We shall be prepared to endure the ordeal with
the minimum of losses through injury, or other causes, that thorough prepared-
ness can insure.

This isn't to say that our job here, or anywhere, is complete. Your County
Defense organization still needs volunteers, and many of them. And I can only
repeat, from the heart, what I have said before, namely, that there never was
a greater obligation laid upon the conscience of any American citizen than the
duty now upon our people with regard to this vital need of Civilian Defense.

What an unbelievable change three months of war have wrought in the
pattern of American life! Try as we did, over the years, and particularly in the
months since Belgium and France were first invaded, it simply was not possible
for our peace-loving, Democratic people to envision the possibilities of such a
war as that in which we are now engaged.

The treachery perpetrated by the Japs at Pearl Harbor, and the brutality
and ruthlessness which both our European and Asiatic enemies have shown,
simply are beyond the understanding of decent people. The thing we do under-
stand; however, is that we are pitted against opponents to whom decency and
respect for accepted international usages mean nothing—an enemy against
which there can be only one policy to pursue. That policy is to give them a
taste of their own medicine—and to make it a bitter dose!

With relentless pressure, with ever-increasing strength, the tentacles of
our Axis enemies tighten their grip. The "pincer movement" is on! Let us
not deceive ourselves with half truths, nor drug ourselves with unwarranted
optimism. To be free men—or enslaved. To be the hope and champions of
World Freedom—or not to be. To be Americans, in the ancient and honorable
meaning of that word—or to lose that distinction shortly and possibly forever.

Yes, the "pincer movement" is on! We can feel it. We can feel the clutch-
ing fingers as they try to apply the strangle hold to our National existence.
Events of the past months—past weeks—even the past few days—have given
us additional lessons in the shrinkage of geography. How far away is the
Malay Peninsula? How distant in Java? Almost close enough for us to hear
the crunch of the iron heel in streets1 once as peaceful as ours. Don't let us
make the mistake of thinking that Australia is "Down Under" the ends of the
earth. Melbourne, relatively speaking, is no farther from Tokyo than Washing-
ton is from Berlin.

Our great Allied Leaders—President Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill—have
repeatedly told us that the news is bad and that there is worse to come. We
know that they have not painted the picture too black. By every law of proba-
bility the year 1942 seems destined to be the time of our meeting here in the
United States;. We Americans do not ask to have our bitter pills sugar-coated
with false information. What's more, able to think for ourselves, we are not
foolish enough to fall for propaganda, whether that of misguided friends or
of wily foes. A clear look at the world map suggests the grand strategy likely
to be attempted before this year is many weeks older.