VOICE OF TRUTH
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Year Published: 1956
Format: 16mm
Description: Produced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in support of the 7th War Loan, "Voice of Truth" and "Hands" are terrific examples of WWII propaganda films. "Voice of Truth" uses a Tokyo Rose broadcast as its conceit, to remind the audience of the stakes in the war. Tokyo Rose (alternative spelling Tokio Rose) was actually a generic name given by Allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II to any of approximately a dozen English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. However, Iva Toguri is the most famously linked name behind the Tokyo Rose. She was a native to Los Angeles who was stranded in Japan when the war broke out. The intent of these enemy broadcasts was to disrupt the morale of Allied forces. American servicemen in the Pacific often listened to the propaganda broadcasts to get a sense, by reading between the lines, of the effect of their military actions. Toguri often undermined the anti-American scripts by reading them in a playful, tongue-in-cheek fashion, even going as far as to warn her listeners to expect a "subtle attack" on their moral. Farther from the action, stories circulated that Tokyo Rose could be unnervingly accurate, naming units and even individual servicemen; though such stories have never been substantiated by documents such as scripts and recorded broadcasts. Toguri's prominence saw her branded as one of the war's most notorious propagandists, but evidence shows that she was not a Japanese sympathizer. Toguri's program became conflated with more vicious propaganda, and she was arrested and convicted of treason after the Japanese surrender. She was released from prison in 1956, but it would take more than 20 years before she finally received an official presidential pardon for her role in the war.
Complete Record:
Transcription
[Music] [Music] [Music] all [Music] [Music] diamond bracelet for Do Me Baby till that lucky day you'll know darn [Music] well I can't give you anything but [Music] [Applause] can't anything but love hello Yankee Brothers this is your Japanese sister The Voice of Truth reaches out to you from the peacefulness of Japan Laden as always with love but today also with sorrow because of what your superiors are making you do this morning they are forcing you to attempt The Impossible is that Tokyo Rose brother yeah I guess so the impossible and no accident for it is impossible for you to dislodge our forces on eima eima why on this she's got the straight dop I am filled with sadness for you because of the thousands of Japanese soldiers safe in caves and pillboxes your bombs and shelves can't touch reluctantly waiting to slaughter you they do not want to harm you because they know that what you are attempting to do this morning is not of your own choice they know as I know and you know that you are making this feudal sacrifice for people who sit snug and secure 11,000 M away who have never seen a grenade burst in an American stomach or an American arm blown from an American shoulder of people who are not interested in the headlines you try to make who make their own headlines listen Yankee Brothers to these headlines 5,000 donors desert blood bank as Eisenhower sweeps into Rin land B man on horse racing leaves public heavy with war coin no place to spend it strike continues in critical War Industry three-year buying spree cleans retail shelves as public clamors for more merchandise workers claim nightclub curfew limits Amusement spending does that sound like a people who want war who are supporting you and your sacrificial attempts to carry on this useless War think it over Yankee brother they do not want war they are doing their best to let you know they are not behind you in this war this is the voice of truth I will be with you again tomorrow those of you who are left to listen but this morning my heart is heavy with all right you Yankee Brothers you want to live forever get the letter on la [Music] [Music] that stuff Rose was saying those headlines could there be anything in that a [Music] [Applause]
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