ON TO TOKYO

The war with Germany is over. The vilest gangsters ever to plague the peace of the world are dead, captured, or in hiding. But before we can even think of peace, we have another gangster group to crush in the Pacific, whose barbarism has even exceeded that of the Germans. Japanese have no hope of actually defeating us in this war, but they cherish another hope. To them, human lives are cheap. To us, they are very dear. Their one aim now is to involve us in a long, bloody conflict. They think we will grow tired of war and call it quits to avoid further casualties, wasting the sacrifices our men have already made, and leaving them with sufficient strength and occupied territory to prepare for another war. Our purpose is to crush Japan just as quickly as we can, with a minimum of casualties to submerge them with bombs and shells, and overwhelm them with tanks and other armor. The only way to do that is to hit them with the full fury of all our power and strength. Therefore, we are now going to transfer sufficient men and equipment to the Pacific to help those men already engaged in battle with the enemy out there, and to clean up the job as quickly and just as economically as possible. The problem of moving millions of men and their equipment over some 14,000 mi of ocean presents us with the greatest logistic challenge of all time. With every man moved overseas goes 6 tons of equipment. Thereafter, it takes one additional ton each month to maintain him with weapons, ammunition, food, and the 700,000 other items which go to make our fighting man the healthiest, the best fed, the best equipped soldier in the world. With every five soldiers sent overseas, we send one vehicle of some kind or other. This is made possible only by an abundance of ships. But it will take every ship available to bring our whole power to bear against Japan. According to certain priority, men in the European and other inactive theaters have been divided into three categories. Those who are to be used as occupation troops, those who have become nonessential and can be sent home to return to civilian life, and those who are vital to the war against Japan. Every ship available will be used to rush these groups to the Pacific. This great movement from one fighting front to the other will create many stubborn problems which must be faced courageously. Many questions are being asked, not only by the tired and homesick soldier, but by his loved ones at home. We will try to answer some of the most typical ones. General Eisenhower, the men under MacArthur and Nimitz seem to be cleaning up on the Japs. Sir, why do they need us guys from Europe? Our men in the Pacific, some of whom have been fighting for more than 3 years, have done a brilliant and sensational job with limited resources. But as yet, only the outer defenses of Japan have been cracked. The real strength of the is concentrated in the homeland and in China. We have met and defeated about 1 million Japanese. There are 4 million more still to defeat. In addition to this, every year about 1 million new Japanese recruits come up ready to die for their emperor. Nothing less than the brute power of our total force will ever defeat fanatic Japan. General Stilwell, what about the troops still in the US? Sir, why not send them to the Pacific? There's considerable misunderstanding overseas about the number of troops in the United States. All combat divisions and the major portion of our air and service forces are already overseas and have been for months. Only men manning domestic installations, most of whom are returned combat troops of limited service status, and individual replacements remain in the United States. The replacements are being trained and sent overseas as fast as possible to replace veteran combat men of the highest priority credit scores. In addition, an average of 80,000 new draftees are being called up each month to be trained for the same purpose. General Somerville, I'm a service force man Europe slated to go to the Pacific. Sir, will I get home on a furlough first? Probably not. Some service force units will be redeployed through the United States, and men of these units will get furlough. However, in the beginning, most service force units going to the Pacific will go direct. The need for them is imperative and immediate to build new bases, ports, communications, and power lines to prepare the way for and aid combat troops. Along with them will go air crews, air ground forces, and such fresh combat troops as can be utilized in immediate operations. We've got the off balance. We must not give him a single moment's breathing spell to regain his strength. General Eisenhower, I'm an infantry man in Europe with a division that has been fighting 2 years. Sir, do I get a furlough home before I am shipped to the Pacific? Yes, you probably will. Only a few, if any, of the combat divisions in Europe will be shipped directly to the Pacific. I'm one of the lucky Joes in Europe who's been called non-essential, eligible for discharge. Also, do I get home? Not right away. All available shipping will first be used to send needed men to the Pacific. It will be several months after V-E Day before the bulk of the men can be started home for release. Thereafter, it will be many additional months before all of these men can go home. This we know will be tough on you and on your families. But, which is it better to do? Send a few men home now or to concentrate on the job in the Pacific so that all men may go home sooner? Surely, the men who remain away from home a few months longer in the comparative safety of an inactive theater will be the first to agree that it is the thing to do if it will save precious American lives in the Pacific. General Somerville, aren't there enough ships to send troops to the Pacific and bring us home, too? I thought we had more ships now than we ever had. We have. The United Nations pool of shipping consists of all the ships of the United States, Britain, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, France, and Poland. All captured enemy ships. And all the ships we could charter from other United Nations and neutrals. It's an enormous fleet. We alone have built over 4,000 additional ocean-going ships in the last 3 years. But this great pool of ships has to supply 7 million American soldiers and sailors and partly supply 13 million other Allied troops in all parts of the globe. In the last war, we had only one front to maintain. And a great deal of our equipment was supplied by the French and British. In this war, we still have five widely separated theaters to supply and maintain. In addition, we're supplying a great deal of equipment, fuel, and food to our allies over sea lanes 3 to 14,000 miles long. So, although we have more ships than we ever had, there's still a critical shortage in the face of the tremendous job to be done. Even if we had many more ships available, we still would use them all to transport troops to the Pacific in order not to prolong the Japanese war by as much as a single day. Mr. Stimson, aren't a lot of ships being used in trade by countries doing business as usual? There is no business as usual. The United Nations pool, which means practically every Allied ship afloat, is controlled jointly by the United States and Great Britain. Ships are allotted only for such cargo as will directly support the war economy of the United Nations. Mr. Secretary, aren't a lot of ships being used to send relief to liberated and enemy countries? The military authorities operating in these countries are allowed only the minimum amount of food and relief supplies necessary to prevent disease, starvation, and unrest. Here, too, humanitarian efforts must yield to the uncompromising necessity of defeating Japan as quickly as possible. General Arnold, I'm a surplus man in Europe. Sir, if there aren't enough ships, why can't we fly home? Air transportation facilities will certainly augment water transportation. Naturally, we will use every airplane we can spare from fighting the Japs to get the soldier back home. The sick and the wounded will, of course, get first priority for travel by air. General Somervell, will the British use their ships to take their men home? The British have a redeployment problem of their own. But even with this, they're still making available to us some of the British troopships. Among these will probably be the great queen ships. Some British and Dominion troops, like the New Zealanders and the South Africans, who've been away from home for over 5 years, will have to be given some consideration. General Marshall, will the British fight Japan, too? The entire British fleet and the major portion of their air forces and army will now be used against Japan. There has been a large portion of the British fleet fighting in the Pacific under Admiral Nimitz for months. And in Burma, several hundred thousand British and Empire troops have been actively fighting the Japs for 3 years. I'm a man already in the Pacific. What about the rotation policy on furloughs home? Will that still go on out here? It is a military necessity to give men who have seen long service a chance at a furlough home. The rotation system of furloughs will continue in the Pacific. Ship spaces have been allotted for that purpose. General Stilwell, will the Chinese armies fight against Japan? Chinese armies, inadequately armed, have been fighting Japan since 1937. We are now doing what we can to supply them with arms and equipment so that they also may play their part in the eventual defeat of Japan. General Arnold, now that we've got air bases near Japan and we've licked the fleet, why don't we just stand off and sock them with our Navy and Air Force until they yell uncle? No one better than you men who have been fighting against Germany know that air power has two functions. Strategically to destroy the enemy's ability to make war by smashing his factories, his sources of oil and gasoline, his railroads, his bridges, his equipment. Tactically to prepare and soften the way for ground action by isolating the battlefield and cooperating in the battle itself. By both means to drive his air arm from the skies. However, there are three vital members to this war team, land, sea, and air. To win this war against Japan in the shortest possible time with the least losses, we must hit him with everything that we have using the same team play that you have seen work so successfully here against Germany. Mr. Secretary, I can understand why the British, the Chinese, the Dutch, and maybe even the Russians have to fight Japan. They've got territories to get back. But sir, what will we get out of defeating Japan? Everything. The entire Japanese philosophy is based upon their belief in a divine mission to conquer other peoples. Peacetime to them is preparation time for the next conquest. At Pearl Harbor, they finally challenged us to mortal combat for survival. We accepted that challenge. We are going to destroy Japan's armies, Japan's navy, Japan's air forces, Japan's war factories, Japan's whole power to wage war. In doing this, we shall win the right to live out our lives in peace. Peace for ourselves, our children, and their children is what we get out of defeating Japan. General Marshall, I'm ticketed to go direct to the Pacific without any furlough. Sir, will I be rushed over and then sit on some island for 6 months when I could have spent 30 of those days at home with my wife and kids? That is possible. But we hope to avoid it. Redeployment has been studied for a year. An entire priority system is planned to maintain a constantly increasing offensive against Japan. In that planning, some individuals will get better breaks than others. Wars have to be planned in terms of large masses if they're to be won. We have 8 million men to deal with. Although we do our utmost to prevent it, the individual may be lost sight of in the broad overall picture. That's one of the reasons why wars are so tragic, so un-American. That's why we are so determined that the sacrifices we are making today will serve not only to win this war, but will also result in putting an end to war itself. Mankind's greatest and oldest enemy. How long will it take us to defeat Japan? That depends on the amount of power we apply and the vigor and speed in which we apply it. If all of us at home and at the front work with renewed determination and in complete cooperation, it should not take long. But one thing is certain. Any delay, any half-hearted performance, any let up in our efforts anywhere along the line will be paid for in American lives. Japan must be completely crushed before we turn to the ways of peace. This must be the first priority for the United States of America.