First, let me say that it would be difficult to exaggerate the influence of our successful War Loan Drive on the men and women under my command.

This is a hard war; a bitter, bloody war. Those who are where the guns are firing and the bombs dropping - they know that we are up against a tough, vicious, treacherous enemy. Make no mistake - it will be a long, long way to final victory, and the road will continue to be rough. Our men know it. They are ready for it. But they want to be always sure, above all else, that the Home Front stands firmly behind them. They want to know that the folks at home keenly realize that we are all in this together, fighting for our right to lead a free existence.

This war will continue to take everything that each of our soldiers has. And we know - every General knows - that the most important part of any soldier’s equipment is his fighting spirit. In the final analysis, this spirit is equally as important as guns and ammunition, because no General can win a battle, even with the best of equipment, if his men are not determined and confident. And they are completely confident only when they feel they are being backed to the limit by the folks back home. That is why overwhelming success in War Loan Drives is vitally important to the war over here. A successful War Loan Drive gives renewed proof to the men fighting in the mud along the Volturno River, to the man struggling every inch of the way toward Rome, to the man who never forgets that he is living in constant danger of his life - that his fellow citizens back him and have the confidence in his ability to bring freedom back to the world, and are doing their full part to perpetuate the kind of America that we want.

The bald truth is that the man in the front lines believes it to be the patriotic obligation of the people back home to support the war until it hurts. They expect you to do your duty! You have not let them down; I know you never will. My confidence in you is equal to that I have in the victors of Gafsa, of Hill 609, of Bizerte, of Messina, Salerno and Naples. I believe in you as I do in my airmen that bomb the enemy by day and by night, and as I believe in our gallant seamen that carry our troops, protect our convoys and assist the Army in assaulting the enemy’s strongholds.

Yet I think my men would like to have me be brutally honest with you and tell you that sometimes in the past they have worried about how deeply you feel the war. They know it is your war as much as it is theirs, and they know how important it is to have you all-out - producing war materials to the limit, and buying bonds to the limit. It re-assures them to know that you are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to turn over to your government these billions upon billions of dollars. To keep faith with the fighting man you will keep it up - keep it up until those who are fighting at the front, and all of you working and striving at home - shall, as one indestructible team, have won the final battle, and tyranny and oppression have been blasted from the earth.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER