The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

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NEW YORK, Monday—The captain of the WAC recruiting group in Poughkeepsie, New York, brought some of her staff to see the President's library yesterday, and they had a picnic lunch with us on the lawn at the cottage.

They were such nice young people and the day was such a beautiful day, I could not help thinking how much we people here at home have for which to be thankful. No robot bombs to sail through the sky and make us wonder where they will strike, no hostile airplanes to watch. I wonder how anyone can complain because he cannot get butter, or the particular meat he wants. I do not happen to know where black markets exist, but if I did know, I would feel disloyal to the boys fighting for us in the far parts of the world, and to the young men and women serving here, if I bought anything in that way.

Early this morning a young man whom I saw at Walter Reed Hospital, last winter, came to see me. He is now working in Washington Square Park and he looks well and strong, but his ears will probably never be entirely well. He has one brother in the Pacific, and another in France. He showed me with pride a letter from the one in France. It was extremely well written, and showed that an infantryman can fight from hedgerow to hedgerow, and still see the country around him and understand the people whom he is helping to liberate.

The boy's sisters have their husbands in the army, too—one in the air force, and one who for nearly three years has been in the Pacific. This is just an ordinary American family; but what a wonderful record, and how much we civilians owe to these men who have met the call of their country so magnificently!

Someday in the near future, we hope an armistice will be signed and peace will come to the blood-stained continent of Europe. Many people here are worried that on that day we will forget our war is only half won, and that while American boys are fighting and dying in the Pacific, we can have no great celebrations. Many people are meeting, therefore, to discuss what shall be done on V-E Day. One of my friends, who is a well-known theatrical producer and who has written many songs which are household favorites, has written a jingle to keep us steady on our jobs. It goes as follows:

It's not a time for booze and bar,
This coming V-E Day;
Just make a church of where you are,
And kneel right down and pray.

E. R.

(COPYRIGHT 1944 BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, October 3, 1944

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

  • Brick, Christopher (Editor)
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  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
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  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
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Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project

Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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