of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 705

FLAG DEDICATION AND AVENGE PEARL HARBOR DAY CEREMONY,

FLAG HOUSE,

June 7, 1942.

Baltimore

Just as, at this very moment, six months ago to the day, America was
shocked to the core by the deadly treachery of the Japanese at Pearl Harbor,
so this afternoon the people of America have reason to be thrilled at the signifi-
ance of this Nation-wide 'Avenge Pearl Harbor Day Ceremony. '

Our Axis foes long have taunted the American people to the effect that
democracies were incapable of waging war. If any refutation of that charge
were needed, today's mass demonstration of American loyalty and will-for-
Victory would more than suffice. The patriotism and courage that have
prompted the enlistment of the thousands of young men being inducted into the
Navy throughout the land at this moment are the patriotism and courage of
free men, free men imbued with a love of Country that surpasses any love of
comfort or peace or any other consideration.

The Axis leaders, accustomed to slavish obedience from their own down-
trodden subjects, find it impossible to comprehend the spirit of enthusiastic
patriotism that grips free men as they rally to the defense of their homes and
their freedoms.

Similarly, in launching their cowardly attack upon Pearl Harbor, they
thought to confound America and thereby cause a state of panic that would
pave the way for further depredations by their forces. How little they gauged
the American spirit!. For, instead of being swept by hysteria, as were the
the people of Japan when Tokyo was bombed, the people of America, following
Pearl Harbor, were fused into a spirit of National unity and determination
that spells defeat for not only the sneaking Japanese, but for their equally
brutal and ruthless Allies.

Back of the thousands of young men who go forth so bravely to avenge the
hero dead at Pearl Harbor, are countless other thousands ready to take up the
fight when needed; and standing squarely behind these other thousands are
millions of resolute American men and women who are ready to give their all
to back up completely the fighting men in the Army and Navy and other mili-
tary services.

How could they hope to understand the American spirit, these war lords
whose only hold upon their subjects is the might of their brutal power? How
could they appreciate the spirit that wells in the heart of an American citizen
when he recalls his Colonial ancestors who fought and toiled and endured, that
liberty might take root and flourish in this1 new Western Hemisphere?

The American citizen of today is a composite of the best racial stocks of
all the world. His ancestors came to this Country because they had courage
and independence of spirit that sought wider fields of expression. They came