If You Ask Me
by Eleanor Roosevelt

This is a question which I am totally unable to answer. It will have to be decided by the military authorities according to the needs of the war. The objective they now have is to end the war as quickly as possible, and the heads of the armed services will do whatever they feel will serve this objective best. However, I know nothing more about it than any other civilian in the country.

My own personal preference is a monument which will be of value to the living. Therefore, I would prefer one in any community to include recreational and educational facilities. However, in the case of war heroes, I think the feelings of the immediate families should be considered, and if they feel this type of monument does not bring home to the people of the community sufficiently poignantly what their men have done, then the more traditional monuments which you see in towns and villages as war memorials of the past should certainly be erected. The object is to give all solace possible to those who have lost men.

I can never remember being lonely, but if I feel depressed I go to work. Work is always an antidote for depression, and loneliness is just one of the manifestations of this frame of mind or state of soul which is the lot of all human beings.

I am sorry to say that I do not go to enough movies to feel that I have a wide enough range of knowledge to decide which movie should receive a prize.

I think that for all of us the first and most important thing is to face ourselves and our own prejudices and decide what we feel. Next I think we should analyze whether what we feel is justified or not justified. I f we feel it is not justified, either for personal or public reasons, then I think we should decide, taking into consideration our personal situation and the situation of our community, what are the ways in which we can help promote good feeling in our community. Sometimes it is unwise to move too fast. It is always wise, I think, if you feel something is wrong, to try to stand up for what you believe is right.

Freedom from public notice!

I cannot answer for the President because I have never asked him. I put well over 10 per cent of my income into War Bonds.

I think the idea of sending home souvenirs made from the bones of Japanese soldiers is a horrible one. I think you failed to read the full statement in regard to the President. A gentleman offered to give the President one such souvenir, but the President did not receive it.

I have never known any political party which did not have a political machine and bosses. At times there is nothing wrong either with the machinery by which the parties are run, or with the men who control that machinery. They become harmful when the rank and file of the people within the party allow them complete control. If the average citizen would see to it that the people elected, from the lowest positions on up, were of the caliber that they really wished to have represent them, there would be no question of harmful boss rule. I do not blame the bosses half as much as I blame the indifference and apathy of the average citizen.

I have no idea what the people who actually meet to discuss the terms of the armistice and of the ensuing peace will decide where Germany is concerned. Personally, I should think it almost impossible to divide some eighty million people and forcibly try to plant them among other nations for the purpose of amalgamation. I should think it would be easier to try to re-educate the youth of the nation and allow new blood to come in and youth to go out and mix with other nations on a voluntary basis. Enforced changes of this kind were made after the last war, both in breaking up racial groups and bringing other groups together, but that does not seem to have been entirely successful. Therefore, I would prefer to rely on the encouragement of the more liberal element within a nation and the possibility of education, the voluntary assimilation and mixture with other nationalities.

The idea that any such law was passed is a very popular misconception. The question of having legislation requiring a certain period of training on the part of men twenty years of age was considered by the Congress in the course of debate on the Age Reduction Bill, in October and November, 1942. The bill that passed the Senate added a provision requiring a certain period of training of certain men under twenty years of age for entering combat. The bill, as it passed the House, added no similar provision. The Senate provision was eliminated by the conferees and so there is no legislative requirement.

The above is all contained in the Congressional Record for October and November, 1942. General Marshall's letter and also Senator Hill's letter on this subject are also contained in the Legislative Record. Some of these young men, by reason of their civilian work and training, such as radio, and so on, could immediately be put into a technical assignment or an overseas assignment. Also, as it takes considerable time to train green men, many of the new men coming in are interspersed with already trained units.

I should think you were entirely justified if you were careful not to travel on the days designated as days when we should not crowd the transportation facilities, thereby making it difficult for the servicemen to reach their homes. You can probably manage to travel just before or just after those days, or in between certain specified times. I do not think we are expected not to do things which seem important, though we are expected to try to comply with the Government plans to facilitate the travel of servicemen.