FDR

It will be the people of Italy who will do that, choosing their own government in accordance with the basic democratic principles of liberty and equality.

In the meantime, the United Nations will not follow the pattern set by Mussolini and Hitler and the Japanese for the treatment of occupied countries--the pattern of pillage and starvation.

Indeed, the people in Sicily today are rejoicing in the fact that for the first time in years they are permitted to enjoy the fruits of their own labors--they can eat what they themselves grow, instead of having it stolen from them by the…

In every country conquered by the Nazis and the Fascists, or the Japanese militarists, the people have been reduced to the status of slaves or chattels.

It is our determination to restore these conquered peoples to the dignity of human beings, masters of their own fate, entitled to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

It must go on, and will go on, until the Italian people realize the futility of continuing to fight in a lost cause--a cause to which the people of Italy never gave their wholehearted approval and support.

For many of our troops this was their first battle experience, but they have carried themselves like veterans.

Tunisia and Sicily have given the lie, once and for all, to these narrow-minded prejudices.

Those few Americans who grouse and complain about the inconveniences of life here in the United States should learn some lessons from the civilian populations of our Allies--Britain, and China, and Russia--and of all the lands occupied by…

The success of the Russian armies has shown that it is dangerous to make prophecies about them--a fact which has been forcibly brought home to that mystic master of strategic intuition, Herr Hitler.

The world has never seen greater devotion, determination and self- sacrifice than have been displayed by the Russian people and their armies, under the leadership of Marshal Joseph Stalin.

With a nation which in saving itself is thereby helping to save all the world from the Nazi menace, this country of ours should always be glad to be a good neighbor and a sincere friend in the world of the future.

You have heard it said that while we are succeeding greatly on the fighting front, we are failing miserably on the home front.

Every combat division, every naval task force, every squadron of fighting planes is dependent for its equipment and ammunition and fuel and food, as indeed it is for its manpower, dependent on the American people in civilian clothes in the…

The same kind of careful planning that gained victory in North Africa and Sicily is required, if we are to make victory an enduring reality and do our share in building the kind of peaceful world that will justify the sacrifices made in…

We must not relax our pressure on the enemy by taking time out to define every boundary and settle every political controversy in every part of the world.

The important thing--the all-important thing now is to get on with the war--and to win it.

While concentrating on military victory, we are not neglecting the planning of the things to come, the freedoms which we know will make for more decency and greater justice throughout the world.

They must not be demobilized into an environment of inflation and unemployment, to a place on a bread line, or on a corner selling apples.

I have assured our men in the armed forces that the American people would not let them down when the war is won.

The American people will insist on fulfilling this American obligation to the men and women in the armed forces who are winning this war for us.

But the members of the armed forces have been compelled to make greater economic sacrifice and every other kind of sacrifice than the rest of us, and they are entitled to definite action to help take care of their special problems.

First, mustering-out pay to every member of the armed forces and merchant marine when he or she is honorably discharged; mustering- out pay large enough in each case to cover a reasonable period of time between his discharge and the…

Second, in case no job is found after diligent search, then unemployment insurance if the individual registers with the United States Employment Service.

Third, an opportunity for members of the armed services to get further education or trade training at the cost of the government.