(2 of 2)
On the front in Korea, the first snow fell. Troops were being issued the last of their winter equipment, and the Eighth Army quartermaster announced:. "No American Army, anywhere, ever began a winter better equipped or clothed . . ." In Washington, President Truman issued his annual Thanksgiving Proclamation: ". . . This year it is especially fitting that we offer a, prayer of gratitude for the spirit of unity which binds together all parts of our country and makes us one nation indivisible . . ."
On the morning after the election, a big sign hung from a second-floor balcony at Joy and Mt. Vernon Streets, on Boston's Beacon Hill, said: "Thank God." It seemed to express more than merely one voter's gratitude that his candidate had come in. The trappings of the campaign having been laid away, the nation had quietly made its great decision. Bitterness and disagreement did not disappear, but there was a better chance for unity than in many years, and great cause for hope. Meanwhile, the U.S. went on living its life as usual—strange, wonderful, and wonderfully free.