Truman: ‘Part of general triumph’
WASHINGTON (UP) – President Truman declared today that the unconditional surrender of German forces in Italy was “but a part of the general triumph we are expectantly awaiting on the whole continent of Europe.”
At the same time, he called upon Japan as well as Germany to “understand the meaning of these events.”
Mr. Truman said “only folly and chaos can now delay the general capitulation of the everywhere defeated German armies.”
And the Japanese, too, he added, “must recognize the meaning of the increasing, swifter-moving power now ready for the capitulation or the destruction of the so-recently arrogant enemies of mankind.”
First announcement
The President’s was the first announcement in this country or abroad of the German surrender in Italy.
Acting Secretary of State Joseph C. Grew said the German surrender in Italy would greatly reduce “the Possibility of prolonged resistance” in Southern Germany and Austria.
The President immediately sent Messages to Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander and Gen. Mark Clark, congratulating them for the “complete defeat of the Germans in Italy.”
Thanks generals
In breaking the news of the complete victory over German forces in Italy, the President said “the Allied armies in Italy have won the unconditional surrender of German forces on the first European soil to which, from the west, we carried our arms and our determination.”
In his messages to Marshal Alexander and Gen. Clark, he congratulated them on their persistent, difficult campaign. He said no praise was adequate to tell of “the heroic achievements and magnificent courage of every individual” under their command “during this long and trying campaign.”
The President told this country that the Allied and American officers who led the victorious forces in Italy “deserve our praise for the victory – we have the right to be proud of the success of our armies.”