September 11, 1941: Fireside Chat 18: On The Greer Incident a speech from President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Please enjoy September 11, 1941: Fireside Chat 18: On The Greer Incident a great episode of the legendary Franklin D. Roosevelt - A Classic Old Time radio Show.

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Episode Transcript

(00:05):
My fellow Americans. The Navy Departmentof the United States has reported to me
that on the morning of September fourth, the United States destroyer Grea, proceeding
in full daylight todd Iceland, hadreached the point southeast of Greenland. She

(00:25):
was carrying American mail to Iceland.She was flying the American flag. Her
identity as an American ship was unmistakable. She was then in their attacked by
a submarine. Germany admits that itwas a German submarine. The submarine deliberately

(00:48):
fired a torpedo at the Gria,followed later by another torpedo attack. In
spite of what Hitler's propaganda bureau hasinvented, and in spite of what any
American obstructionist organization may prefer to believe, I tell you the blunt fact that

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the German submarine fired first upon thisAmerican destroyer, without warning and with deliberate
design to sink her. Our destroyerat the time was in waters which the
Government of the United States had declaredto be waters of self defense, surrounding

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outposts of American protection in the Atlantic. In the north of the Atlantic.
Outposts have been established by US inIceland in Greenland, in Labrador, and
in Newfoundland through these waters that passedmany ships of many flags. They bear

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old and other supplies to civilians,and they bear material of war for which
the people of the United States arespending billions of dollars, and which by
congressional action they have declared to beessential for the defense of our own land.

(02:23):
The United States destroyer, when attacked, was proceeding on a legitimate mission.
If the destroyer was visible to thesubmarine when the torpedo was fired,
then the attack was a deliberate attemptby the Nazis to sink a clearly identified

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American warship. On the other hand, if the submarine was beneath the service
of the sea, and with theaid of its listening devices, fired in
the direction of the sound, arethe American Descris Troyer, without even taking
the trouble to learn its identity,as the official German communicate would indicate,

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then the attack was even more outrageous, for it indicates a policy of indiscriminate
violence against any vessel sailing the seas, belligerent or non belligerent. This was

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piracy piracy legally and morally. Itwas not the first nor the last act
of piracy which the Nazi government hascommitted against the American flag in this war
or attack has followed attacks. Afew months ago, an American flag merchant

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ship, the Robin Moore, wassunk by a Nazi submarine in the middle
of the South Atlantic under circumstances violatinglong established international law, flating every principle

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of humanity. The passengers and thecrew were forced into open boats hundreds of
miles from land, in direct violationof international agreements signed by nearly all nations,
including the government of Germany. Noapology, no allegation of mistake,

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no offer of reparations has come fromthe Nazi government. In July nineteen forty
one, nearly two months ago,an American battleship in North American waters was
followed by a submarine which for along time sought to maneuver itself into a

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position of attack upon the battleship.The periscope of the submarine was clearly seen.
No British or American submarines were withinhundreds of miles of this spot at
the time, so the nationality ofthe submarine is clear. Five days ago,

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a United States Navy ship on patrolpicked up three survivors of an American
owned ship operating under the flag ofour sister Republic of Panama, the steamship
Cessa, on August seventeenth. Shehad been first torpedoed without warning and then

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shelled near Greenland while carrying civilian suppliesto Ireland to Iceland. It is feared
that the other members of the crewhave been drowned, and view the established
presence of German submarines in this vicinity, there can be no reasonable doubt as

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to the identity of the flag ofthe attacker. Five days ago, another
United States merchant ship, the SteelSeafarer, was sunk by a German aircraft
in the Red Sea, two hundredand twenty miles south of Soez. She

(06:30):
was bound for an Egyptian port.So Four of the vessels sunk or attacked
flew the American flag and were clearlyidentifiable. Two of these ships were warships
of the American Navy. In thefifth case, the vessel sunk clearly carried

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the flag of our sister Republic ofPanama. In the face of all this,
we Americans are keeping our feet onthe ground. Our type of democratic
civilization has outgrown the thought of feelingcompelled to fight some other nation by reason

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of any single piratical attack on oneof our ships. We are not becoming
hysterical or losing our sense of proportion. Therefore, what I am thinking and
saying to night does not relate toany isolated episode. Instead, we Americans

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are taking a long range point ofview in regard to certain fundamentals, a
point of view in regard to aseries of events on land and on sea,
which must be considered as a whole, as a part of a world
pattern. It would be unworthy ofa great nation to exaggerate and isolated into

(08:01):
or to become inflamed by some oneact of violence. But it would be
inexcusable folly to minimize such incidents inthe face of evidence which makes it clear
that the incident is not isolated,but is part of a general plan.

(08:22):
The important truth is that these actsof international lawlessness are a manifestation of a
design, a design that has beenmade clear to the American people for a
long time. It is the Nazidesign to abolish the freedom of the seas
and to acquire absolute control and dominationof these seas for themselves. For with

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control of the seas, in theirown hands. The way can obviously become
clear for their next step, dominationof the United States, domination of the
Western Hemisphere by force of arms.Under Nazi control of the seas, no

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merchantship of the United States or ofany other American republic would be free to
carry on any peaceful commerce except bythe condescending grace of this foreign and tyrannical
power. The Atlantic Ocean, whichhas been in which should always be a
free and friendly highway for us,would then become a deadly menace to the

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commerce of the United States to thecoasts of the United States, and even
to the inland cities of the UnitedStates. The Hitler government, in defiance
of the laws of the sea,in defiance of the recognized rights of all
other nations, has presumed to declareon paper that great areas of the seas,

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even including a vast expanse lying inthe Western Hemisphere, are to be
closed, and that no ships mayenter them for any purpose except at peril
are being sunk. Actually, theyare sinking ships at will and without warning,

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in widely separated areas, both withinand far outside. Are these far
flung pretended zones. This Nazi attemptto seize control of the oceans is but
a counterpart of the Nazi plots nowbeing carried on throughout the Western Hemisphere,

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all design toward the same end forHitler's advanced guards. Not only his avowed
agents, but also also oh hisdupes among us have sought to make ready
for him footholds bridgeheads in the NewWorld, to be used as soon as

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he has gained control of the oceans. His intrigues, his plots, his
machinations, its sabotage in this newworld are all known to the government of
the United States. Conspiracy has followedconspiracy. For example, last year,

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a plot to seize the government ofUruguay was smashed by the prompt action of
that country, which was supported infull by her American neighbors. A like
plot was then hatching in Argentina,and that government has carefully and wisely blocked
at every point. More recently,an endeavor was made to subvert the government

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of Bolivia, and within the pastfew weeks the discovery was made of secret
air landing fields in Columbia within easyrange of the Panama Canal. I could
multiply instance upon instance to be ultimatelysuccessful in world mastery Hitler knows that he

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must get control of the seas.He must first destroy the bridge of ships
which we are building across the Atlanticand over which we shall continue to roll
the implements of war to help destroyhim. To destroy all his works,
in the end, he must wipeout our patrol on sea and in the

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air. If he is to doit, he must silence the British Navy.
I think it must be explained overand over again to people who like
to think of the United States Navyas an invincible protection, that this can
be true only if the British Navysurvives. And that, my friends,

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is simple arithmetic. For if theworld outside of the Americas calls under Axis
domination, the ship building facilities whichthe Axis powers would then possess in all
of Europe, in the British Isles, and in the Far East would be
much greater than all the shipbuilding facilitiesand potentialities of all of the Americas.

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Not only greater, but two orthree times greater, enough to win.
Even if the United States through allits resources into such a situation, seeking
to double and even redouble the sizeof our navy. The Axis powers in
control of the rest of the worldwould have the man power and the physical

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resources to outbuild us several times over. It is time for all Americans,
Americans of all the Americas, tostop being deluded by the romantic notion that
the Americas can go on living happilyand peacefully in a Nazi dominated world.

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Generation after generation, America has battledfor the general policy of the freedom of
the seas, and that policy isa very simple one, but a basic,
a fundamental one. It means thatno nation has the right to make
the broad oceans of the world atgreat distances from the actual theater of land

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war unsafe for the commerce of others. That has been our policy, proved
time and the gain in all ofour history. Our policy is applied from
the earliest days of the Republic,and still applies not merely to the Atlantic,
but to the Pacific and to allother oceans as well. Unrestricted submarine

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warfare in nineteen forty one constitutes adefiance, an act of aggression against that
historic American policy. It is nowclear that Hitler has begun his campaign to
control the seas by ruthless force andby wiping out every vestige of international law.

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Every vestige of humanity. His intentionhas been made clear. The American
people can have no further illusions aboutit, and the whisperings of appeasers that
Hitler is not interested in the Westernhemisphere. No soporific lullabies that a wide

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ocean protects us from it can longhave any effect on the hard headed,
far sighted, and realistic American people. Because of these episodes, because of
the movements and operations of German warships, and because of the clear, repeated

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proof that the present government of Germanyhas no respect for treaties or for international
law, that it has no decentattitude for neutral nations or human life,
we Americans are now face to facenot with abstract theories, but with cruel,

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relentless fact. This attack on theGrier was no localized military operation in
the North Atlantic. This was nomere episode in a struggle between two nations.
This was one determined step toward creatinga permanent world system based on force,

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on terror and on murder. AndI am sure that even now the
Nazis are waiting, waiting to seewhether the United States will, by silence,
give them the green light to goahead on this path of destruction.

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The Nazi danger to our Western worldhas long ceased to be a mere possibility.
The danger is here now, notonly from a military enemy, but
from an enemy of all law,all liberty, all morality, all religion.

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There has now come a time whenyou and I must see the cold
inexorable necessity are saying to these inhuman, unrestrained seekers of world conquest and permanent
world domination. By the sword youseek to throw our children and our children's

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children into your form our terrorism andslavery. You have now attacked our own
safety. You shall go no furthernormal practices of diplomacy. Note writing,
I have no possible use in dealingwith international outlaws who sink our ships and

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kill citizens. One peaceful nation afteranother has met disaster because each refuse to
look for that see danger squarely inthe eye, until it had actually had
them by the throat. The UnitedStates will not make that fatal mistake.

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No act of violence, no activeintimidation, will keep us from maintaining intact.
Two bulwarks of American defense, first, our line of supply of material
to the enemies of Hitler, andsecond, the freedom of our shipping on

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the high seas. No matter whatit takes, no matter what it costs,
we will keep open the line oflegitimate commerce in these defensive waters of
ours. We have sought no shootingwar with Hitler. We do not seek
it now. But neither do wewant peace so much that we are willing

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to pay for it by permitting himto attack on naval and merchant ships while
they are on legitimate business. Iassume that the German leaders are not deeply
concerned tonight or any other time bywhat we Americans or the American government says

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or publishes about them. We cannotbring about the downfall of Nazism by the
use of long range invective. Butwhen you see a rattlesnake poised to strike,
you do not wait until he isstruck before you crush him. These

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Nazi submarines and raiders are the rattlesnakesof the Atlantics. They are a menace
to the free pathways of the highseas. They are a challenge to our
own sovereignty. They hammer at ourmost precious rites when they attack ships of

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the American flag, symbols of ourindependence, our freedom, our very life.
It is clear to all Americans thatthe time has come when the Americans
themselves must now be defended. Acontinuation of attacks in our own waters,
or in waters that could be usedfor further and greater attacks on us,

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will inevitably weaken our American ability torepel Hitlerism. Do not let us bees
hair split us. Let us notask ourselves whether the Americas should begin to

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defend themselves after the first attack,or the fifth attack, or the tenth
attack or the twentieth attack. Thetime for active defense is now. Do
not let us split hairs. Letus not say we will only defend ourselves

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if the torpedoes succeeds in getting home, or if the crew and the passengers
are drowned. This is the timefor prevention of attack. If submarines are
raiders attack in distant waters, theycan attack equally well within sight of our

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own shores. They are very presentin any waters which America deems right to
its defense. Constitutes an attack inthe waters which we deem necessary for our
defense. American naval vessels and Americanplanes will no longer wait until Exis submarines

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lurking under the water or Exis raiderson the surface of the sea strike their
deadly blow first upon our naval andair patrol, now operating in large number
over a vast expense of the AtlanticOcean balls the duty of maintaining the American

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policy our freedom of the seas.Now that means very simply, very clearly,
that our patrolling vessels and planes protectall merchant ships, not only American

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ships, but ships of any flagengaged in commerce in our defensive waters.
They will protect them from submarines,they will protect them from service raiders.
This situation is not new. Thesecond of the United States, John Adams,

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order'd the United States Navy to cleanout European privateers and European ships of
war which were infesting the Caribbean andSouth American waters, destroying American commerce.
The third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, ordered the United States

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Navy to end the attacks being madeupon American and other ships by the corsairs
of the nations of North Africa.My obligation as president is historic. It
is clear. Yes, it isinescapable. It is no active war on

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our part. When we decide toprotect the seas that are vital to American
defense, the aggression is not ours. Ours is solely defense, but let
this warning be clear from now on. If German or Italian vessels of war

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enter the waters the protection of whichis necessary for American defense, they do
so at their own peril. Theorders which I have given as Commander in
Chief of the United States Army andNavy are to carry out that policy at

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once. The sole responsibility rests uponGermany. There will be no shoe unless
Germany continues to seek it. Thatis my obvious duty in this crisis.
That is the clear right of thissovereign nation. This is the only step

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possible if we would keep tight thewall of defense which we are pledged to
maintain around this western hemisphere. Ihave no illusions about the gravity of this
step. I have not taken ithurriedly or likely. It is the result

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of months and months of constant thoughtand anxiety and prayer. In the protection
of your nation and mind. Itcannot be avoided. The American people have
faced other grave crises in their historywith American courage, with American resolution.

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They will do no less today.They know the actualities of the attacks upon
us, They know the necessities ofa bold defense against these attacks. They
know that the times call for clearheads and fearless hearts, and with that

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inner strength that comes to a freepeople, conscious of their duty, consciousness,
conscious of the righteousness of what theydo, they will, with divine
help and guidance, stand their groundagainst this latest assault upon their democracy,

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their sovereignty, and their freedom.