Mr. President, as you know the United States has fought for four long years. Our armed forces are spread across the globe, with millions of men in Europe and the Atlantic, and millions more in the Pacific.
This nation has suffered over 400 thousand dead, more than a hundred thousand of those occurring during the bloody spring of 1944 which saw the D-Day and Central Pacific landings, the former of which was the greatest, most complex event in all of human history.
Daily the American people sacrifice for the war effort. An American cannot contract for new home construction, obtain a new car or new appliance. Staples like food, clothing and shoes are rationed. This spring the Selective Service announced the nation's manpower reserves were exhausted, unless you order the early call up of the class of 1946 and put the class of 1947 on notice.
The government is spending an unprecedented $120 billion this year, that's 45% of the nation's GDP. By way of example the Federal government spent just $3 billion or 10% of the nation's GDP. the Federal debt is greater than the combined GDP of the nation.
Right now, Mr. President, the mightiest fleet the world will ever know stands ready to land a great army on the Japanese coast. At the same time, General Curtis Lemay's 20th Air Force rains destruction down upon Japan the likes of which has only been imagined in the bible.
As you know, Mr. President, as the United States Pacific fleet closed on the Japanese Home Islands, enemy resistance became more fanatical. Few prisoners were taken and our troops report hundreds of incidents of civilians killing themselves. There are also the Japanese Bonsai charges and of course the now dreaded and infamous Kamikaze which sunk dozens of ships in the Okinawa campaign.
As we ready to invade Japan, Mr. President, know that the Joint Chiefs predict one million Americans will die. Many times that number of Japanese will also go to their graves. After the 8th Air Force makes it's way from Britain to our new bases on Okinawa, General Hap Arnold believes the Army Air Corps will be able to mount daily two hundred ship fire raids on cities across Japan. General Curtis Lemay plans to napalm Japanese rice paddies during the harvest. Before we even land troops, Japan will be a nation starved nearly to death.
As with everything else in this war, which to date has cost more than 50 million souls, our invasion of the Japanese Home Islands will bring death and destruction which cannot be imagined.
However, Mr. President, before you give the order to invade, you should know that we've built this new kind of bomb...
No comments:
Post a Comment