Eleanor Roosevelt, OSS

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"Colonel" Roosevelt landing in Hong Kong, 20 October 1944

- Double V Newsreels Transcript of the First Ladies' Speeches to the Harriet Tubman and Amelia Earhart Brigades, 20 October 1944

I was talking to one of the marine sergeants coming ashore today, about something that'd happened right before they had to leave the Philippines. He'd seen this young private looking terribly worried, so he went up to him and the private said "I can’t go on sarge, I haven’t shot a jap!”

And the sergeant looks and him and says "look son, if you shout go to the front of the trench and suddenly shout ‘To Hell with Hirohito,’ and I mean really shout it, you get a few of them to to jump up in anger and shoot them."

A little later the sergeant saw the private and asked "did you do what I said?" And the private says "well yes I did, I went and shouted "Hell with Hirohito" at the top of my lungs but all the japs just jumped up and yelled to hell with Roosevelt!" (laughter)

Now I thought about this a bit today. I know I’ve said ‘to Hell with Roosevelt’ plenty of times myself. (laughter)

Is not the freedom of speech the very first right of all peoples of the world? Isn’t it that freedom for which we are fighting? The right to say “To hell with Roosevelt! To hell with Stalin! To hell with Churchill! Health and long life to your husband, May-ling!” (laughter and applause as Madame Chiang bows)

We’ll win this war, I guarantee it. Hell, they’ll be playing the Leningrad Symphony in Shanghai before the end of the year. But as we prepare to win our coming triumphs, we must remember to start winning the peace that these united nations will bring. Even the vanquished are going to deserve a place in the better world we're bringing.”

- Notes -

I have a TL sketched out about my favorite badass liberal first lady, but I haven't done one of these before so I'm going to go in small sketches until I get the hang of it. The joke's an paraphrase from a speech Eleanor Roosevelt gave in 1943.
 
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