Sunday set aside as day of prayer
WASHINGTON (UP) – The House today adopted a resolution congratulating the armed forces on their “magnificent accomplishment” in bringing Germany to unconditional surrender. The resolution set aside Sunday as a day of prayer.
It was offered by Democratic Leader John W. McCormack (D-Massachusetts) and passed as part of a ceremony by which the House commemorated V-E Day.
Speaker Sam Rayburn left the rostrum for one of his infrequent speeches from the floor. He offered “our grateful and unstinted thanks” to the armed forces of all the Allied nations and said they had done “a great job for you and me.”
“But to me this should not only be a day of celebration for this great victory,” he said, “but it should also be a day of dedication… by every human… to put his hand to the plow and not look back until our other enemy has surrendered unconditionally.”
“And today, as I am happy, I am also sad because I cannot help but think of those thousands of our brothers who are yet to die in the far-flung Pacific battlefields… that victory may come to our armies…”