THE NATION: A Message at Christmas

In the snows of Hungnam, as the air was rent by protective bombardment and the tragic thunder of demolition in the face of the enemy, U.S. troops prepared to pull out of North Korea. Below the 38th parallel, in the Seoul-Inchon area and at Pusan, other U.N. forces stood fast. On the other side of the world, Western European nations, beset by doubts and fears, gathered to consider their common defense.

It was at this juncture last week that the U.S., belatedly but determinedly, turned. In his flat, Missouri accent, President Truman at last lifted the nation from its easygoing “grey mobilization” into the first real phase of total preparation. In the setting of Christmas time, Christendom’s mightiest nation began to gird itself in earnest to face the prospect of total war.