United States Naval Academy - Lucky Bag Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 7 O the President of the United States we looked for leadership as the conflagration of diplomatic intrigue, invasion, and war threatened to engulf all of Europe. As Com- mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, President Roosevelt, more than any other one man, held the destiny of the nation in the hollow of his hand. Fortunately our President combined invaluable military knowledge gained as Assistant Secretary of the Navy with statesman-like qualities and long political experience. With quick sureness he organized national defense. Conscription became a reality. The two-ocean navy began to take shape. After the first alarm had subsided, the nation breathed easier, secure in the knowl- edge that a keen eye and a steady hand guided the helm of the ship of state.

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Weleit IN TIMES OF WAR O, N September 1, 1939, the war clouds over Europe unleashed themselves in a blitzkrieg that struck with blinding fury at Poland. In a short time Great Britain and France declared war on Ger- many. That same month Russia invaded Finland. In the spring of 1940 Hitler struck again and again with almost incredible speed. Norway fell, then the Netherlands, and finally Belgium. In quick X succession came the collapse of the invincible French army, the flanking of ;. ««»- iByffr; ' the impregnable Maginot line, and the inevitable separate peace on the part of France. England alone remained. . . . With all the world shuddering at the horrible spectacle of modem mech- anized war, the reaction of the United States was almost instantaneous . . . millions raised by private contributions for aid to the National Defense, plans for a two-ocean Navy and a year. For the Class of 1941... no cruise to Europe America curtailed . . . graduation in February instead than twenty years ago, the class of 1917 was sum- to the defense of its country. Once again Destiny, bounded confidence in Youth, has thrust upon agrad- sufFering . . . billions for fifty thousand airplanes . . . the one to South of in June. . . . More moned, six months early, with her seemingly un- uating class at the Naval Academy responsibilities which ordinarily would not be theirs until later years.

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m PRESIIJEI T FRA HLI nELA II ItnUSEVELT Our C-in-C goes to sea