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Liveblogging World War II: November 26, 1944: Eleanor Roosevelt

NewImageEleanor Roosevelt: My Day:

Today is a peaceful day in the country. The usual occupations, a walk in the woods, much writing and reading, are all that I can report.

As we read our newspapers today, I pray that the valor of our men in their determined attacks will finally discourage the enemy. These attacks are costing much in the way of ammunition, planes, guns, tanks, etc., as well as our boys' lives. It is for that reason that General Eisenhower begs the people at home not to let up in their production. Those of us who have sons on the fighting fronts realize what the work of the people at home means to them. They are grateful for what the people at home have done in the past and hope that they will find the strength to continue to the end.

It is hard to think of another Christmas approaching with hate and bloodshed intensified all over the world. If only the teachings of Christ were accepted as the actual code by which we lived, how different our world would be! There would be no labor-management problems in industry, no racial or religious hatreds, no wars to bring sorrow to men, women and children throughout the world. I wonder if it is too much to expect that Christ's ethics will someday govern the actions of human beings.

There is a symposium called 'Shall We Have Compulsory Military Training After the War?', in one of the November magazines; which I read with considerable interest. I am particularly glad whenever I see that this question is widely discussed. I do not, myself, want purely military training, but I think it is a subject that we need to discuss from many angles. It will do no harm for our enemies to know that we are thinking about building up our future strength in many different ways.

Some people say that if we really believed we could build up lasting peace, we would not trouble about building up the strength of individual nations. But since we have not yet proved that we can build a lasting peace without the physical strength to enforce it, the need to remain strong is apparent. That does not mean that moral and spiritual strength will not have great value. It simply means that as yet we cannot quite do away with the old custom, with which we have lived so long, of expecting physical strength to back up moral and spiritual strength.

Besides, we need sound minds and bodies for many other purposes in our daily lives. We can begin to give our children these from their earliest days. They certainly would benefit by a checkup in the adolescent years. The training should not be a wasted year if skills and aptitudes are studied and attention given to the building of character and the development of cooperative attitudes in the young people.

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