BONDS OF VICTORY

[Music] on one memorable day not long ago we Americans from every walk of life Falls to give thanks to Providence for the end of the most vicious and horrible war in history soberly we faced one of the many new and inevitable problems that peace had brought us that of reconstructing a vast portion of the war-torn world in the Pacific area alone we are well aware now as on that day of Thanksgiving that in our charge are a thousand new islands many are mere pinpoints of lush greenery unnamed and almost unknown others our larger land areas whose names like Okinawa Saipan Palau Kwajalein are quite familiar to us all the tides of war and Japanese occupation have not spared many of these places such appalling scenes of destruction are visible almost everywhere the rubble of ruined cities paralyzed transportation centers once busy harbors now the graveyards of ships piles of masonry and splintered lumber that once were the homes and possessions of a million people now thank God we have seen the last of such sites as is personified in the days and tragic phases of our island neighbors now in the Pacific these in Congress and contrastive scenes are much at evidence Americans today are rebuilding the peace happily doing such small jobs as providing a milk supply for an undernourished native population as they are the big ones the big ones here are some of them enormous construction projects clearing and dredging the bomb blasted sea ports turning shell hole trails into modern highways rebuilding and restoring large areas of war devastated territory as well as providing new dwellings for the along with this physical rebuilding Americans likewise have commenced the job of reconstructing the lives character and government of the Islanders expert medical attention is being made available to all who needed food and the necessities of life are being supplied in ever increasing quantities training in good citizenship as well as scholarship is under the careful supervision of experienced personnel in many other ways such as in the various rehabilitation programs and in the reorganization and maintenance of discipline we are helping the Pacific War victims start a new life all of this work is under the supervision of the allied military government which has headquarters established in many strategic locations in the Pacific area our occupation forces are solving this reconstruction problem by turning our fighting military might our Pacific swords into the plowshares of goodwill and prosperity these men in the Pacific are doing their utmost to reestablish the lives homes and industry of these pitiful victims of war but they do need our aid to stay on the job and this we can give with our extra dollars to help our forces in this work our Pacific problem of building and strengthening the bonds of Commerce prosperity and humanity the bonds of victory let us invest our money now in victory bonds [Music]