American Valor Quarterly Issue 8 - Winter 2010/2011 | Page 22

We Needed to Step Up By Bob Feller Bob Feller was a regular speaker at the American Veterans Center’s Annual Conference, where he shared his experiences with an audience of several hundred fellow veterans, ROTC and JROTC students, West Point and Air Force Academy Cadets, and Naval Academy Midshipmen. The following speech was originally printed in the Winter, 2005 issue of World War II Chronicles, the predecessor to American Valor Quarterly. We remain grateful for Bob’s friendship and support over these many years. I want to say that I am honored to be with all of you World War II veterans today, and to congratulate you for your service. Also, I am happy to see so many young people here. If you asked a lot of schoolteachers and parents today what is the most important event in the last century for this or any other country, few will mention World War II. That is what you call the dumbing-down of America. The Allied victory in World War II is what has Bob Feller is sworn into the Navy by Lieutenant Commander Gene Tunney allowed us to enjoy the freedoms we know today. (right), as Chicago recruiting officer Lieutenant David N. Goldenson looks on. December, 1941. Bettmann/CORBIS On December 7, 1941, I was driving from my home in Iowa to Chicago where I was to sign a new contract with the Cleveland Indians. I was crossing the Mississippi River at Davenport when I heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor over the radio. At that moment, I made up my mind what I was going to do. morning of December 9, 1941, in the Navy recruiting office in Chicago. I didn’t have to go. My father was dying of cancer and I was my family’s sole means of support. But I thought that any redblooded American