Remarks at the Conference of the National Women's Advisory Committee on Civil Defense.

Mrs. Howard and ladies:

I suppose there are a dozen places in which I could logically start the little talk I should like to make to you. As one who has some acquaintanceship with war, I could go into some description of its horrors, its privations, its suffering--which would seem to be useless even if it could be a bit logical. I could roam over the whole field of our past experience in this country, and in different countries, what we might expect--talk about the probabilities of future destruction in the event of war, and all that sort of thing.

I would rather start at a very much different place, and that is spirit.

I would like first of all to make the point that we are not met--you in giving of your time and effort--are not met merely to save homes and lives. Underneath it all is a way of life--a way of life--a conception of how people ought to live, people created in the image of their Maker, and their rights, and so on. So that we want to live under a system that first of all we want to preserve.

To do that, we of course have to preserve humans, because that system is based on the theory that the human is all-important. So we start in, then, with a very wonderful conception of our duty. It is not one in which we necessarily have to fire ourselves--to work up enthusiasm. We are talking about the very basis of our living: freedom--liberty--a system that preserves those freedoms and liberties; and then of course, the lives of our loved ones and ourselves.

We know that if we would suffer great destruction, this system would be gone, to say nothing of the millions that would pay the price. Then we begin to calculate in our minds, what can we do? And your presence here is proof that you have gone through all this line of thinking, and you know there is much that you can do.

One of the phenomena of war is how easily panic can overtake humans, when they have not been prepared for some particular surprise. One of the things that I noticed in war was how difficult it was for our soldiers, at first, to realize that there are no rules to war. Our men were raised in sports, where a referee runs a football game, or an umpire a baseball game, and so forth. They had sort of the idea that there were sort of hours for fighting a war; and to catch an attack at 10 o'clock at night, with a half-dozen men killed and the rest running for their lives, you could see the resentment boiling up inside them, because they had not been quite prepared for that kind of rough stuff.

Now one of the things, then, we have to do is to prepare ourselves, in our minds and in our hearts and in our spirits, for any catastrophe that might come to us. We have got to recognize that war is no longer something that is neatly packaged, divided into parts, and there are soldiers off some place, and we are doing our best through the Red Cross, the USO, and knitting the things to send to them. It is not that remote any longer from us--it is right on our doorstep, right squarely there.

And so every woman, every child, has practically the same duties in war as does any man, no matter where he is. It is a frightening and revolutionary thought. It of course highlights the tremendous necessity that the statesmen of the world--and the so-called statesmen of the world--have for pursuing peace with all of the energies of which they are possessed, tirelessly, constantly, insistently, leaving no stone unturned in order to find it.

But in the meantime, the strength of the United States is represented first of all, then, in the spirit that you women show, not only in your comprehension of what this thing is about, and what you must do, but your readiness to do it--another attribute of free nations--volunteering to do these things. That in itself makes us stronger.

A well-disciplined company loses through a blast right in its center, they lose a third of a company, and the rest close in and form up; and they are still a fine outfit. An undisciplined, unready company loses a couple of wounded on the end from a stray shot, and it takes a very good man to find the whole company very soon. It is a difference between thinking and preparation--the readiness of the spirit and of the mind, as well as the readiness of the body.

Now you have a peculiar difficulty to overcome, which again I saw in war. Americans have a very great fear of being thought a little "boy scoutie," or maybe I should say "girl scoutie"; that is, being a little bit too naive, too child-like in their approach.

I saw individuals in the world war, when they were on bombing drill or fire drill, trying to carry a bucket of sand, and practically speaking, trying to cover it with a raincoat to hide the bucket of sand so people would not know what they were doing.

Well, you have got to overcome-you have got the job as leaders--to overcome the reluctance of people, of our people, to do something constructive, to prepare themselves just to be ready with the little bit of routine action that would be necessary in war, whether it be in the first aid, helping the wounded, or whether it be helping to put out a fire, or merely directing somewhere at a crossroads people where they could go in a hurry. There is so much that can be done, to remove the fear, the danger of panic from our lives, that I couldn't possibly find words in which to thank you people for getting into this job and helping.

And I am sure that you understand this: any man that has been married as long as I have, doesn't underrate the persuasive powers of a lady. And so I am particularly pleased that this is the Women's Advisory Committee, and there are the groups of State directors, regional directors, that are doing this work, meeting together and getting all the techniques and plans that you are going to use.

Because I will tell you: I think, first, as this is understood in the world, what we are doing, you have lessened the chances of war, exactly as we believe that a bombing squadron or a good regiment, we believe with that much, it lessens the chances of war.

And I assure you, if war ever comes, the value of your work will be so overwhelming, so incalculable, that it couldn't possibly be gauged in any mere words or by any comparison. It could well mean the difference between victory--or put it this way: between defeat and averting defeat. Because I really doubt whether, in modern times, in global war, there is any victory.

So I came over this morning, as you can see, not to attempt to make you any speech, but to attempt, rather, to express to you some of the thoughts in my mind, the instinct and the feelings that are in my heart. And above all, to thank you. Thank you, because by your presence you show your continuing indestructible interest in the United States of America--all of the system that makes up the United States, and the people that inhabit it.

I trust that you will find your meeting here, ladies, just as enjoyable as it is interesting, and that you will go back not only feeling that you have profited, I say professionally, and in the work that you have undertaken so voluntarily and so well, but that also it will be a very enjoyable memory.

Thank you very much.