Grandpa mentioned in his last letter that he was listening to an address by President Roosevelt. FDR delivered the following speech on the date that Grandpa wrote to his beau in Ohio.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Address over the radio on Navy Day concerning the attack upon the destroyer U. S. S. Kearny, October 27, 1941
"The forward march of Hitler and of Hitlerism can be stopped -- and it will be stopped."
Five months ago tonight I proclaimed to the American people the existence of a state of unlimited emergency.
Since then much has happened. Our Army and Navy are temporarily in Iceland in the defense of the Western Hemisphere.
Hitler has attacked shipping in areas close to the Americas in the North and South Atlantic.
Many American-owned merchant ships have been sunk on the high seas. One American destroyer was attacked on September 4. Another destroyer was attacked and hit on October 17. Eleven brave and loyal men of our Navy were killed by the Nazis.
To continue reading...
I thought you might be interested in sharing in the historical context of what your parents and grandparents experienced as they wrote to each other. As their relationship was growing and giving them life and excitement, I wonder what it felt like for parts of their world to be crumbling around them.
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