LQIEkl!..llQll§~DQ~Q~t_[IQILfAill ,aEil__!la....!2il GOOD EVEIIIG, EVERYBODY: I aa apeakin& froa Paria tonisht. A group of ua who haYe been up in Geraan1, with the Aaericaa linth Air Force, andauch of the tiae with General Siapaon's linth Ara7, flew in to Paris toaether this aorning. Our reason for lea•ing the troop• in the field was that we wanted to be in touch with the outside world. On this, the day following the traaic news of the death of the President of the United States. le knew what the reaction to that news bulletin from the White Bouse would be so far as our troops oyer here are concerned. But we wanted to see and hear what the reaction would be in t h is, one of the world's great capitals, and we wanted to get the word of what was being said in other countries toda7. Aad then, too, radio tranaaisaioa fro ■ the yarioua araiea by ahort wave to Aaerica ia uncertaia. Mast aigbt, ahortl7 after aidnight, whea four of ua went to a radio tranaai tter with the Twelfth Ar■J Group, I apparently was the onl7 one who got throuaa, and we were ao\ too sure about that. A ■oaelt later the abort wave •ii nal grew so weak that •1 oolleaauea were not on the air at all. So aow we have co ■• dowa to Paris, to aake ue of the aore powerful radio tranaaitter here. As for the reaction to the new a of the d eat.la of President Roosevelt, aaong our aoldiers over here, iL aeema to be th• sa■e as it was at aidnigat when I spoke to you from Germany. Every ■an you get into conversation with tells you that he is stunned, that he did not expect it, and is unable to ooaprehend it. Riding in to Paris today,in a bua,fro ■ a big ailitary airfield with its s ■ ashed hangars and its wrecked lazi planes that haven't yet been cleaned up, I talked to on• young Lieutenant who Juat about auaaed it up for all the 7oun1 Aaericus of his a•neration. Be said: •1 can't believe it. To ae the office of Prwaident, and Ir. Roosevelt, have alwaya been 1ynon7aoua. Be ia the only President we have ever had ao far as I aa concerned.• And then he added: •tou aee, he had been President since I was ~ight years old!• le used to hear that reaark last Fall, during the caapai · gn. But itnever hit ae with such force as it did today, over here with the Aaerican Aray. Of course it's i ■portant to know what the reacti o n is going to be in Germany, and what those la11 propaganda wizards are saying. Many over here have been listening to the Geraan radio toda7, wait- ing to get the Goebbela,-Bitler reaction. So far it hasn't come. I haYe just beea discusslDg this with one of our Allied experts on propaganda, an~ he 1a71 •• aay not get the German reaction for another da7 or two. Then he added: •You aay be aure they will try aad tram late it into a lazi Yictory. • As forrrance, you aay have heard what the ••••papers here in Paria had to 1ay this aorning. Ile two aoat iaportant eveaiag papers are Le londe, which is conservative, and Ce Soir, which is the leading Coaauniat sheet. Le Monde, which is the successor to Le Temps, after praising Ir. looseYelt for the part he ilayed in building the victory, sa7s: •But peace bad become his greatest preoccupation, and his greatest task. Animated by the same idealiaa aa Wilson, he added to~ a sense of the practical and a diploaacy that lilaon lacked.lany will haye the opinion,• continues the editor of Le Monda, •that hi• experience, hi• savoir faire, hie preati1e, will not easily be replaced.• And he concludes with the•• worda: •France will n•••r foraet that he waa one of her principal liberators.• Ce Soir, the •••ning paper that ia aa far to tbe Left•• Le load• ia to the Right, teniaht ain11 t~• praiaea of th• Aaerican President who baa paaaed fro ■ the world atage. ••• 1alute in hi ■ the patriot who ne•er doubted Yictory,• ••1• the Coaauniet editor, •the de ■ ocrat who has DeYer despaired of liberty; and the citizen of the world who has never lost his faith in France.• And then CeSoir concludes: •The same message that told us of the death of the President also told us that Aaerican tanks were within twenty-five kilometers of Berlin. The Good Workman ■ ay rest in peace!• As for detailed news fro ■ the yarious fronta, •• ha•• lesa of it than usual here in Paria tonight. Ir. Gibson will give you a aua■ ary of that. But there ia bi1h hope over here that the Allied Arai•• aad the luaaiaaa will ■eet •ithia the next few daya. There alao ia a bel1ef that the Ger ■ aaa are not goiag to pat up any atitf fi&ht for Berlin. Thea will co ■e a bia job of aopping up, and the far far bi&&•r oae of the Peace and of educating the seventy-odd ■ illion •urvi•ing Germans ao that in a aeneration or two•• will aot. have a third lorld lar. ---o--- By the way, I have just learned on good authority that German losses in thia war in killed, atriously wounded and aade prisoner total between nine and ten million aen. Another good Patton story -- released f«a publication. The atory of how General Patton an4 one of his araored spearheads slaued into a Ger■ an town, up beyond Iassel, where there was a priaon caap. The General'• aon-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel John latera, baa been a German pri1oner, and the word was brought to Patton that hie son-in-law was in tbe prison caap in that towa. Whereupon the General shouted that be wanted fourteen tanks right away. Be got tbea, and ott tbe7 roared. They headed for that pri1on caap, and all but tore it apart. There was a fi1ht. And it ended up with the prisoners getting away -- including the Patton son-in-law, wbo ia restin1 up in Paria tonight. So long, and back to Bugh Gibson in lew York. account of how one Aaerican citizen spent the day - aza■at a 1aall slight graying aan naaed Barry Truaan. lhat a new president, a president zk•• thrust so auddenly into aati~nal leadership, does on hi• tirat day in office ii lit 17 to be interesting, and I believe an account of what President Tru■ an did today i• ot large political 1igniticance - for this nation and tor the world. ~ Thi• morning be l eft ~i• ■ 1i11t apart ■ent where he has lived as Senator and Vice-President, and arrived, a.fnine o'clock sharp at the presidential offices in the - lbite Bouse. Bis step was brisk and buoyant. I \ ' "'* a erewd ot news ■•• and uvu1 - 2 be ,ailed and called to t~ea, , i1,, I••••, ~ 1 _ _/ oc pupa ar thi■ morning,• ta ,, t ~ • C . ~ • ~ " ' - pea■oRtl u..,,of luckli~g down to bi• first da7 ot buain••• a1 Pre11dent, Barry Truaan went into a 1eriea of conference,. 111 fir1t was unofficial - bia •iaitor being an old friaa4 and cloae aaaociate, Bugh rulton, who waa counsel tar the Seaate lar In•eatiaating Couittee when that body wa1 ---- beaded bJ Senator Tru■ aa. lord baa been that Bagb rultoa will pla7 a proainent part in the aew adainiatr~tioa, aa4 the fact that he was the fir1t presidential Yiaitor at the lhite Bouse this ■ orning would aee■ to bear that out. The first official conference toda7 was*~•* with Secretary of State Stettiniua ttk• sea Pa••••••' ,, ancnnf st _ __ 1 ~ Bia talk with the Secretary of Staie was alon g the line of bis i ■aediate announceaent 7esterday, when be took the oath of office - that he would continue the war policies and world organization progra ■ of President looaevelt~ n .. t Aa4 Presideat Tru ■aa co ■■ ia,ioned the Secretary of State to · carry out the first official act of the new ad ■ iniatration - a procla ■ation of a ■ onth of ■ ournin1 for Preaident looaeYelt. ·ca~ ■lgaui •~• p1uotwa1&tua1 - p41ttta1 hta aianetera \A hte att,elul ~ueu■iit IIIDef oaj ■ ext he held a war conference - with , becretary of lar Sti ■aon, Secretary of the la•J Forreatal, President Roos e velt'• Chief of Staff Ad■ iral Leah, · , lr■7 Chief of Staff General jarshall, and lav7 Coaaander ' Ad~iral ting. They reported to bi■ on the progress of the war - and the proceedings were along the line of the Tra■an declaration that be would follow preci ■ ely the Roo1eYelt progra■ ot total victory. ■ ext a ■eeting with leaders of Congresa. Franklin D. looaevelt was a breaker of precedents, and pro■ptly today, on hi• first da7 in office, President I■ Tru■ aa broke a precedent. According to previoua custo■, he would bave called the congrea ■ ional leaders to confer with ht ■ at the *bite Bouae. Be did no such thing. Be went to Congreaa to 11eet the ■, and that unq~eationably is a. sign of future White Rou~e policy faa.~..-lt--4~-lttt'ft-r,:ft. . . llllJt' • hs g wfth ntttonal :1 TBtilA! - 5 - In the hall he encountered a group of newapaper ■en cpYering the Senate - old friends of his. lhat was lii• attitude toward thea? has been noted that Barry !ruaa ii a plain and modest ■ i4-weaterner., who ■ surpriain1 circa■etance baa carried froa waif . . politics back in liaaouri to the Presldenlof the United States. ••• •• • Is n ■ rs ■ ••••1~• 16■1111 F:iifl I • And today · with the newa ■ en he certainly was in character. Talking to the ■ he said: •Boys, told•• y~aterday what had happened, I felt like the aoon and stars and all the planets bad fallen on••·• Olli Ml4J:~ed hi Wll!I - 6 He had lunch in the Senate dining rooa, and ever7body fro ■ both Bousea ot Congress piled in on hi ■ - Republicans as well as De■ocrats.t===• Ai~•~••l••~~..-.._.~ u ~ , •" tiii•'- 1.11• · . . . ~ •• , ... u ..... ■ e■h••• et lb~ , . r t!l!!Jt-M.,.. . . . ~ .,. _ ,. _,.,4.a4a7 3 with · Jlepublican leaders in Co~greas j~ining in pro ■ ising s~pport to the new Deaocratic Preeident, and Republican lenator Bo■er Ferguson ot · Michigan offered the prediction that President Tru■an •ill achieve unity in Congress. Everywhere a ■ong the legislators there was high praise of Tru■an's gesture in going to Congress on his first day in · office - a gesture that is taken to m,an TJUIAI - 'I - 6 t ,sasdbla ••r that the new Presideat intends to work in close har■ony with Congrea1. On hie return to the lbite Rowse. the new . Presideat conferred titb for■er pr-,aidential! advisor By;rnea, who I J re1igned recently after haTing acco ■panied Preaideat looaeYelt to the Yalta Conference. The i ■portance of Byrae1 11, that he i1 one ot the few who ia inti ■ately acquainted with what tranaptred at that aeetin1 of the Ilg Three. Be baa been clo1e to the lhtte Bouie handlia1 · ot toPeign affairs - and ia a long ti ■e friend of President Truaan. ill of which leads to the belief that Byrn•• aay return to• service in lashington as•~ ' advisor on foreign affairs to the new Preaiden\. We learn tonight about the porttait painter who was with President Rooeevelt when be w~s stricken yesterday. She was Mrs. Elizabeth Shumatof(1.. a Russian born artist. She was alone with the President, sketching hi~ -- he sittint before the living room fireplace and reading tbrougb official papers. When President Roosevelt complained 0£ a •terrific b · eadache" she sum .. oned help but he hail ~ lost consciousness ~•f I help arrived. k. ,,,. . q _ESTERH .. F fil}ll The race for Berlin goes on with five American armored columns on their way to the out . in fropt is the lecond Armored Minth Ar~y, lell on Wh ~ els still keeping in the race toi;Berlin. We hear that the Second MSioin't ~~~ Divuionl\bas outrun its communications. On our side its movements are covered by blackout, b~t the Germans report that Bel on Wheels - is cloaing in on the town of Brandenbur tw•nty-one miles from the capital of German account continues that the Second Armored Division which is And tile ot- the To the south General Patc••s Seventh Ar ■J . id driving on a legend~wn -- Bay,reutb, with its famous shrine dedicated to the music of Richard Wagner. Hitler has a personal theatre there, the Nazis having aaopted agner as their favor·ite composer. Well, it won't be long befor Bayreuth, Wagnerian shrine, • Hitlers .. . pe 1 sonal thea re and all - - will be in American hands. tQLL~!-~l§!~Hl-IBQ~I Late news informs us that Am~rican troops have reached the suburbs of L ~ipzig ih . a drive to join forces with tbe Buasians. lll!U Vienna fell today announce ■ ent by Soviet capital of ' Auatria was captured bf the Russian, after a vicioua ••••I• lea aeven d a y ~ h a t ruined large section• of the beautiful city on the Danube. Tb~ laa•i••• captured a hundred and thirty tbouaand troop• at Yienna, · tbeir bi11••t bag ot prisoners 1inee the lazi 411aater at Stalin1rad. • • for the first time we have official word of Jap suicide ai~ attackE against the fleet off Okinawa. ••••••• :;; tie■lic1 ■ • Isa; Ii a I~-·· .. oHtetal dtiC!O&Uri .... ~~~ *k•i Ad ■ iral liait1 tnllt ■ g ua that in the sea &ad air ~ ,,... battle yesterday, the Jap• threw in awar ■a of suicide bo ■bers. They concentrated on Aaerican cargo vessel• oft Okinawa, the supply line for the invasion tor . ces~ A . hundred and eighteen Japanese planes were shot down. We · lost a aestroyer, and several other A■ericaa · ahipa _ were damaged. Today's dispatch infor•• us that the Jap suicide • planes are often of obsolete types. Their engines are prot~cted by armorplate, designed to prevent their being PAC{Fl9 - 2 - tnocked out before they reach the target. he 1,, ••icide pilots fly in a set course, straight at an Aaerican warship, and try to crash into it with their boab loads. ~ Tb• defense &gainat the■ is anti-aire . aft fire and A•rican tighter planes - an effectiv.e defense. ~ ~ 4+\ . • Ad.'liiral li ■ it',\ ii:1119 official bulletin •ror 10 ■• ■ontha the Japanese have been e ■ploring aircraft ~• a gradually increasing scale in suicidal att ~t• upon our forces in the Pacific. The ene ■y,• he goe ■ on, •has expended a large nu■ber of planes and personnel on missions of this nature - with negligible e.ffect on t be q continuing success of our operations.• And the cle larati Late news indicates that the enemy has lost two hundred nd thirty nine planes in three days of sea and air battle featured by Jap suicide attacks. On Okinawa the ground fig~tin g is still stalemated. Tonight's news iaaitag telling of JAp counter attacks be~ten off. I :vr= .. JAPAI_ - Tokyo has been hit by heaviest blow thus far a huge force of B-29s a deluge of fire bombs on a five-square-mile az ■ • area of the Tokyo arsenal. Previously smaller fire raids have swept the Ja p anese capital with tempests · of flame. Today's news indicates a bigger blaze.than ever.for the central section of war production in Toky.o.