The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
NOVEMBER 20, 1953
NEW YORK, Thursday—Often when I speak about the Korean War I mention the fact that the French have been fighting to prevent communism from taking over Indo–China during many months and that their losses have been heavier than the United Nations losses in Korea. So I was interested to hear the other day of the broadcast made in the French hour in New York by Lucie Wallace. She is speaking in this country in the interest of getting some help here for the Association of Veterans of French Forces in Indo–China. Paris has been raising money for the benefit of needy families of the veterans of Indo–China forces.
Mrs. Wallace tells of her experiences of seeing the trains coming in bearing the wounded and the mutilated back from the front and she says that it is well understood that the care of the wounded, the crippled, the sick, the widows, and the orphans is a responsibility of the French state. Because of the heavy military burdens and other economic problems in France, however, the aid given by the French Government is very meager. She says that many of the men who enlisted to fight in Indo–China are in need, when they return, of training in some trade but there are no centers available to give them this training. They need even more training if they return blind or crippled in any way, and while there is some retraining for these wounded men the problem of getting them jobs is doubly difficult since there is considerable unemployment in France.
It was pointed out that France has spent on the war in Indo–China twice the amount contributed by the United States which has given substantial help because the purposes for which France fought were purposes in which the United States also had an interest. But in her estimate Mrs. Wallace included all the help extended France through the Marshall Plan so it is easy to see what a costly war the war in Indo–China is and how difficult it is for the government to continue to meet adequately its obligations toward the veterans, their families, and their widows in France.
This appeal made by an American woman for the French I hope will receive generous consideration on the part of the public. The French Consul General in New York is cooperating with Mrs. Wallace in her efforts.
It took a long time to tabulate the votes in the Phillipines before we learned without question Magsaysay and his coalition were victorious. This is a nationalist-Democratic coalition and much will be expected in the way of reforms and improvements in government and in the well-being of the people. We in the United States who have such an interest in the Phillipines must wish the new government well in its objectives and hope it will succeed, for the people of these islands suffered so much during World War II, and are still far from recovery.
E.R.
(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1953, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)
Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced
Persons
- Magsaysay, Ramon, 1907-1957 [ index ]
Filipino politician; 7th president of the Philippines
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | Brittanica ] - Wallace, Lucie [ index ]
American advocate for French veterans
Organizations
- Marshall Plan [ index ]
[ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | FAST ] - United Nations [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | Other source ]
Geographic
- [ index ] New York (N.Y., United States)
Other Terms and Topics
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, November 20, 1953
Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007
Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project
Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.
TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.
XML master last modified on May 2, 2022.
HTML version generated and published on May 3, 2022.
TMs, AERP, FDRL