of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 645

states of the Country in the spectacular contribution she is making to the war
of production, so vital to the success of our armed forces today.

In the great Glenn L. Martin Airplane Plant at Middle River, one of the
largest in the world, Maryland workers, alive to their responsibility to back
up the fighting men in the field, are turning out bombing and fighting planes
for the United States Army and Navy and for the United Nations in ever-
increasing numbers. Already they have begun to figure prominently in the
fighting fronts;. Undoubtedly, they will figure increasingly in the efforts now
underway to achieve the air domination that will supply the final death blow
to both Japan and Germany.

Great shipbuilding plants at Sparrows Point and Fairfield, even now due
for further expansion; the tremendous Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces at Spar-
rows Point; the innumerable war industry plants in the Baltimore industrial
area, at Hagerstown and Cumberland; the explosives plants at Elkton and
Indian Head, and a new one, at the opening of which I will assist on Thursday
at Chestertown; all these, plus the Government plants at Aberdeen and Edge-
wood and other points, combine to give to Maryland and its industrial workers
a place in the "fighting front" if I may call it such, that will be matched by few
states in the entire Country.

All this contributes with particular significance to that most important
element in our National consciousness today—Morale.

We have heard a lot of this word, possibly too much, for eternal discussion
of the subject might indicate a question in our mind as to whether we really
have the Morale necessary for final victory. What I mean may perhaps be
illustrated by the following story. A German officer, interviewing a Greek
captive asked him, "Who do you think will win the War?" Without hesitation,
the Greek replied, "The British, for I never heard a single British soldier ask
that question. "

Morale is that state of national consciousness that sends our fighting men
away to war, convinced that theirs is the just cause, and confident in their
ability to achieve the victory they seek. Their morale will be high only when
they are certain that conditions at home are as satisfactory as they are in the
field. We know that this state of mind, so necessary, is present in our own
State today, and throughout the Country. In Maryland, we have 125, 000 volun-
teers in the protective services in the Maryland Civilian Defense organization,
there can be no better assurance of State and National morale than the spirit
of patriotic service and of acceptance of individual responsibility that will
bring so many thousands into volunteer service for the possible defense of
their homeland.

The response from your own county to the latest call for enlistments in
the Maryland Minute Men, has been exceptionally gratifying. Here again
there is evidence of a sensible acceptance of the situation, and of a patriotic
determination to do something about it. These Maryland Minute Men, please
God, may never be needed. All of us here hope they won't. Nevertheless, we
do know that Crete and Greece and Russia, and others of the now-conquered