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AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Saturday, April 11, 2009
New blogskin!
I'm so proud of myself. I finally learnt how to do these sort of things.
Anyway, what was I going to say?
Because I might not be coming online tomorrow, I would like to remember President Franklin D. Roosevelt today.
As all of you history buffs know (so I don't imagine anyone knows) President Roosevelt died on Thursday, 12th of April 1945, eighteen days before Adolf Hitler shot himself, twenty six before the war in Europe ended, a hundred and forty three before the Second World War finally ended.
He died at Warm Springs, Georgia, at the age of sixty three.
Most of the countries paid their respects to Roosevelt: the British adjourned the meeting at the House of Commons after a sitting which lasted eight minutes, the Russians hung black-bordered flags in Moscow and the Supreme Soviet, when it met, stood in silence. The Japanese Primer expressed "profound sympathy" to the Americans in the loss of their leader, to whom he assigned the responsibility for "the Americans' advantageous position today". Only the Germans said that "Roosevelt will go down in history as the man at whose instigation the present war spread into a Second World War, and as the President who finally succeeded in bringing his greatest opponent, the Bolshevik Soviet Union, to power." (Which is very wrong. Roosevelt didn't declare war on anyone besides Japan - it was the Germans who declared war on the Americans, making it a world war.)
Winston Churchill said of his friend and ally: "In war he had raised the strength, might and glory of the great Republic to a height never attained by any nation in history."
Franklin D. Roosevelt was indeed a great man. He did many things - pulling America out of the recession, signing the New Deal, taking revenge on Pearl Harbor, signing the Lend Lease, making memorable speeches like "There is nothing to fear but fear itself", eventually winning the war and creating a new world peace. It was he who essentially won the war because had the Americans not come in, the British would have lost. It is he to whom we owe this gratitude, this thankfulness for the peace and calm of the world we know today (excluding places like Iraq - that was Bush) and it is he we should thank. Franklin D. Roosevelt did many things for us. He never lived to see what he had done because he was overworking himself (thus his sudden death) but remember that he overworked himself for peace, for mankind, for the end of all wars. Wars haven't ended yet. They are still going on. But hopefully one day the world will realise Roosevelt's ambition and no more wars will happen.
So I'll end off with the words of Winston Churchill, his great friend and staunch ally during the entire war:
~Today In History~
1945: American forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp.
~Quote of the Day~
Tonight, I am appealing to the heart and to the mind of every man and every woman within our borders who loves liberty. I ask you to consider the needs of our nation and this hour, to put aside all personal differences until the victory is won. The light of democracy must be kept burning. To the perpetuation of this light, each of us must do his own share. The single effort of one individual may seem very small. But there are 130 million individuals over here. And there are many more millions in Britain and elsewhere bravely shielding the great flame of democracy from the blackout of barbarism. It is not enough for us merely to trim the wick, or polish the glass. The time has come when we must provide the fuel in ever-increasing amounts to keep that flame alight.
-FDR.
I'm so proud of myself. I finally learnt how to do these sort of things.
Anyway, what was I going to say?
Because I might not be coming online tomorrow, I would like to remember President Franklin D. Roosevelt today.
As all of you history buffs know (so I don't imagine anyone knows) President Roosevelt died on Thursday, 12th of April 1945, eighteen days before Adolf Hitler shot himself, twenty six before the war in Europe ended, a hundred and forty three before the Second World War finally ended.
He died at Warm Springs, Georgia, at the age of sixty three.
Most of the countries paid their respects to Roosevelt: the British adjourned the meeting at the House of Commons after a sitting which lasted eight minutes, the Russians hung black-bordered flags in Moscow and the Supreme Soviet, when it met, stood in silence. The Japanese Primer expressed "profound sympathy" to the Americans in the loss of their leader, to whom he assigned the responsibility for "the Americans' advantageous position today". Only the Germans said that "Roosevelt will go down in history as the man at whose instigation the present war spread into a Second World War, and as the President who finally succeeded in bringing his greatest opponent, the Bolshevik Soviet Union, to power." (Which is very wrong. Roosevelt didn't declare war on anyone besides Japan - it was the Germans who declared war on the Americans, making it a world war.)
Winston Churchill said of his friend and ally: "In war he had raised the strength, might and glory of the great Republic to a height never attained by any nation in history."
Franklin D. Roosevelt was indeed a great man. He did many things - pulling America out of the recession, signing the New Deal, taking revenge on Pearl Harbor, signing the Lend Lease, making memorable speeches like "There is nothing to fear but fear itself", eventually winning the war and creating a new world peace. It was he who essentially won the war because had the Americans not come in, the British would have lost. It is he to whom we owe this gratitude, this thankfulness for the peace and calm of the world we know today (excluding places like Iraq - that was Bush) and it is he we should thank. Franklin D. Roosevelt did many things for us. He never lived to see what he had done because he was overworking himself (thus his sudden death) but remember that he overworked himself for peace, for mankind, for the end of all wars. Wars haven't ended yet. They are still going on. But hopefully one day the world will realise Roosevelt's ambition and no more wars will happen.
So I'll end off with the words of Winston Churchill, his great friend and staunch ally during the entire war:
"For us it remains only to say that in Franklin Roosevelt there died the greatest American friend we have ever known, and the greatest champion of freedom who has ever brought help and comfort from the New World to the Old."
~Today In History~
1945: American forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp.
~Quote of the Day~
Tonight, I am appealing to the heart and to the mind of every man and every woman within our borders who loves liberty. I ask you to consider the needs of our nation and this hour, to put aside all personal differences until the victory is won. The light of democracy must be kept burning. To the perpetuation of this light, each of us must do his own share. The single effort of one individual may seem very small. But there are 130 million individuals over here. And there are many more millions in Britain and elsewhere bravely shielding the great flame of democracy from the blackout of barbarism. It is not enough for us merely to trim the wick, or polish the glass. The time has come when we must provide the fuel in ever-increasing amounts to keep that flame alight.
-FDR.
>>Forgotten by01:53
