“It may be a long and hard struggle, but we will do it [win the war]. When it has been done, our next job will be to ensure that the threat of aggression is removed from the world we live in. In order to do so we must be strong – strong enough to…

“I do not know where this country would have been after December 7, 1941, if it had not had the ships and the know how to build more ships fast, for which one Vinson bill after another was responsible.” Editor's Note: On December 7th, 1941, Japan…

“I favor a navy for this country second to none in power. I do not advocate a navy to rule the waves, but I do believe our country has a tremendous responsibility in helping to preserve the freedom of the seas for peaceful commerce.” Editor's Note:…

“I wanted to serve on a committee where I could see the results of my labors. When you authorize the construction of a military base or a big carrier you can see the results.”Editor's Note: Carl Vinson spent much of his first term in Congress…

“I am a hater of war and a devoted lover of peace, but, sir, Mr. Chairman, in my hour of seclusion and study I have to the best of my humble capacity held up the lamp of the past to the face of the future, and I call God to witness that I would be…

"After the second atomic bomb was dropped, we were almost sure we were going back to the United States, and we didn't. And we ended up anchored at Enewetak group on Yap Island group on a little island called Maug Maug, which was a…

"We just bust this outfit up, and I ended up with a unit -- a different unit called a 1333rd Engineer Regimen going to the Panama Canal on the way to the Pacific. About half the men in my unit ended up coming back to the states. Well, I got on a…

"We were taken back up or given orders to go to the Dusseldorf area in an apparent occupational capacity. But after two weeks there our battalion commander said we were moving out. And we find ourself in a convoy to Merced. And the war was…

"[A friend of mine] could recall that the American track team, which blitzed with Jesse Owens for the '36 Olympics, had two Jewish dash men that they would not allow to participate because the Germans didn't want them and they…

"When one explores the hall of memories, some moments cannot be forgotten or dimmed by the passage of time. I remember the day — clear and sunny — riding in a convoy into Eisenach, Germany, on April 11, 1945, as World War II was ending; and a…