"Empty Graves; Our Harvest of Sorrow" - March 10, 1944
Speech to Select Members of Congress
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Arlington National Cemetery
Speech to Select Members of Congress
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Arlington National Cemetery
This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. I spoke these words to you 30 months ago in a moment of sorrow, and they ring true today.
Our nation has suffered deeply since December 7, 1941. Thousands of fine young men have given their lives defending our nation and its people, and we have suffered defeat after defeat. The United Nations have been evicted from Europe; their governments fleeing from the advancing tide.
Many of you have asked: "Why?" Can we not come to terms with our enemies? I ask you to judge yourselves by those who chose to wage war on you: two tyrannical empires, bent on conquest, bent on subjugation, bent on suppression. Ask yourselves if you believe that their leaders will ever satisfy their bloodlust, if they will ever look across the oceans not dreaming of pillage, if they will ever see the freedoms we cherish as anything but a mortal threat to their twisted systems of government.
I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen two hundred limping exhausted men come out of line-the survivors of a regiment of one thousand that went forward forty-eight hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.
Freshly dug graves in this cemetery, this hallowed ground, sit empty. The corpses of our brave soldiers, airmen, and sailors lie scattered across the globe and at the bottom of the sea. To many, this is a harvest of sorrow too painful to contemplate. But we cannot, must not, will not, lie down.
There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.
Thank you.
Following this speech, FDR would kick off what many would jokingly call the "Great Purge"; a complete re-organization of his cabinet, senior military staff, and the entire diplomatic corps. His burst of activity, coming after a long time away from the public eye, was greeted by a great deal of support by the demoralized citizenry, and by the United Nations.Our nation has suffered deeply since December 7, 1941. Thousands of fine young men have given their lives defending our nation and its people, and we have suffered defeat after defeat. The United Nations have been evicted from Europe; their governments fleeing from the advancing tide.
Many of you have asked: "Why?" Can we not come to terms with our enemies? I ask you to judge yourselves by those who chose to wage war on you: two tyrannical empires, bent on conquest, bent on subjugation, bent on suppression. Ask yourselves if you believe that their leaders will ever satisfy their bloodlust, if they will ever look across the oceans not dreaming of pillage, if they will ever see the freedoms we cherish as anything but a mortal threat to their twisted systems of government.
I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen two hundred limping exhausted men come out of line-the survivors of a regiment of one thousand that went forward forty-eight hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.
Freshly dug graves in this cemetery, this hallowed ground, sit empty. The corpses of our brave soldiers, airmen, and sailors lie scattered across the globe and at the bottom of the sea. To many, this is a harvest of sorrow too painful to contemplate. But we cannot, must not, will not, lie down.
There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.
Thank you.