Does anyone know of a speech that he made that said something to the words of no boy younger than 21 will step foot on forgien ground? My grandfather says he remembers hearing that on the radio before he went in...
Not those words, and not an "age" limit. He did have one speech which promised (paraphrasing); "no American boy will be sent to fight in a foreign war". But he added the adendum "unless America is attacked". I'll look around I think I know where to find the speech in a WAV format. Give me a bit-o-time. Here is a URL to all of FDR's speeches: http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches See if you can find what is being spoken of in there. I can't find anything about "no man over 21" in any of them. He does speak of the "21" nations of the western hemisphere however.
I went threw that link.. thank you.. i did not find it in there. Pa says it was beofre he went in so it had to be pre march 1943.. i seen where he changed the age from 21 to 18.. Pa still says he said that no boy under 21 would set foot on forgein soil.. he says he remembers it like it happen 5 minutes ago.. so i'm not sure.. thanks for the help!!!
I think it was in a speech just before the 1940 election, but I'm still searching for the exact speech and link. I don't see anywhere that he mentioned an age, however.
I've read ALL of his speeches from 1939 to 1941. If that phrase appears verbatim I missed. He did say American boys would not be sent to fight foreign wars.
I agree, I remember his saying that no American Mother's sons would be sent to foreign shores, but not an age mentioned in any. Another thing is that the draft age was 18, and the voting age was 21, and it stayed that way until the 1970s. Probably the best/sensible thing to come out of the Vietnam war protests, they got the draft and voting ages to be the same at 18 for both.
Thank you guys soooo much.. I think he might have been thinking about the speech where he changed the draft age from 21 to 18.. I did not find anything either..I gooled the phase and it comes up with a stormfront speech but I can't find that anywhere either.. I seen Hitler had a Stormfront so maybe he heard like a news cast and that is when it was said..I'm not sure and if he did say it before he changed the draft age that would change everything anyway.. Many Thanks!!!!!
I did find this for you "sandy". FDR’s Campaign Address at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 23rd, 1940 contained this about foreign wars, our military, and "secret treaties". The worst bombshell of fear which the Republican leaders have let loose on this people is the accusation that this Government of ours, a Government of Republicans and Democrats alike, without the knowledge of the Congress or of the people, has secretly entered into agreements with foreign nations. They even intimate that such commitments have endangered the security of the United States, or are about to endanger it, or have pledged in some way the participation of the United States in some foreign war. It seems almost unnecessary to deny such a charge. But so long as the fantastic misstatement has been made, I must brand it for what it is. I give to you and to the people of this country this most solemn assurance: There is no secret treaty, no secret obligation, no secret commitment, no secret understanding in any shape or form, direct or indirect, with any foreign government. (and near the end of the speech this was said) We are arming ourselves not for any foreign war. We are arming ourselves not for any purpose of conquest or intervention in foreign disputes. I repeat again that I stand on the Platform of our Party: "We will not participate in foreign wars and we will not send our army, naval or air forces to fight in foreign lands outside of the Americas except in case of attack." See: Franklin D. Roosevelt: Campaign Address at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
That's the one I rememberd, brndirt1. Anti-FDR folks often leave off the "except in case of attack" and claim he lied. (I await mention of Reuben James.)