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

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NEW YORK—What a beautiful day last Saturday was for the Armed Forces Day parade! I think we all like to do honor to the people who give the greater part of their lives in defending the nation, and I am sure there was great enthusiasm in the crowd that greeted the parade here on Saturday.

I have just had called to my mind again an activity undertaken after the war by the U.S. Navy Seabees. They were a very famous part of the service during World War II and accomplished extraordinary feats of construction in various parts of the world.

Since the war these men have kept together and on holidays used their various skills in helping groups which would otherwise find it difficult to put through building programs or camp preparations. For instance I saw a little notice on the editorial page of one of our metropolitan papers thanking them for help given in connection with the Herald Tribune Fresh Air Camps.

I also was told that the Long Island Seabee Unit celebrated Armed Forces Day by building a camp for the Nassau County Council Boy Scouts of America. About 100 Seabees appeared on the evening of May 20 to do this job, and the Boy Scouts were on hand to provide them with living quarters and with meals over the weekend. The Seabees brought along their own hand tools and work started early on May 21.

Early Sunday morning the Scouts and the Seabees attended church services before their work started again and by four o'clock in the afternoon the job was finished—64 lean-tos.

This was quite an accomplishment and was typical of the way in which many Seabee units celebrated Armed Forces Day all over the country. It was a very commendable way to do it.

It is interesting to note that Mr. Molotov of Russia and Mr. Pinay of France are joining Secretary of State Dulles at the celebration to take place in San Francisco, June 20 to 26, in commemoration of the signing of the United Nations Charter. It looks as though there might actually be a meeting of the top ministers during this meeting in San Francisco, so it might become of more vital importance than was originally thought.

With so many important people converging on San Francisco I am sure that many people who really feel the importance of commemorating this significant day will be urging the President to change his plans and spend some part of his time on the opening day or during the session in San Francisco.

Perhaps, too, as a change of pace the President could find somewhere in the neighborhood where he could go fishing at least during part of the time that he would be in the West. My husband loved fishing, too, and I can quite understand the need for recreation which any President has.

A U.S. President is sorely burdened and has a right, I think, to all the relaxation he can possibly get. But this is a very important meeting in San Francisco, and one cannot help but hope that it will be attended at least on one day by our Chief Executive. This country has much to be thankful for in having the U.N. here in our own country and, like so many other countries, we must be grateful for the work which the U.N. has accomplished.

E.R.

(Copyright, 1955, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, May 24, 1955

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

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Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
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Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

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MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

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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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