The tremendous operations in western Europe have overshadowed in the public mind the less spectacular but vitally important Italian front.  Its place in the strategic conduct of the war in Europe has been obscured, and—­by some people unfortunately—­underrated.

It is important that any misconception on that score be corrected—­now.

What the Allied forces in Italy are doing is a well-considered part in our strategy in Europe, now aimed at only one objective—­the total defeat of the Germans.  These valiant forces in Italy are continuing to keep a substantial portion of the German Army under constant pressure—­including some 20 first-line German divisions and the necessary supply and transport and replacement troops—­all of which our enemies need so badly elsewhere.

Over very difficult terrain and through adverse weather conditions, our Fifth Army and the British Eighth Army—­reinforced by units from other United Nations, including a brave and well equipped unit of the Brazilian Army—­have, in the past year, pushed north through bloody Cassino and the Anzio beachhead, and through Rome until now they occupy heights overlooking the valley of the Po.

The greatest tribute which can be paid to the courage and fighting ability of these splendid soldiers in Italy is to point out that although their strength is about equal to that of the Germans they oppose, the Allies have been continuously on the offensive.

That pressure, that offensive, by our troops in Italy will continue.

The American people—­and every soldier now fighting in the Apennines—­should remember that the Italian front has not lost any of the importance which it had in the days when it was the only Allied front in Europe.

In the Pacific during the past year, we have conducted the fastest-moving offensive in the history of modern warfare.  We have driven the enemy back more than 3,000 miles across the Central Pacific.  A year ago, our conquest of Tarawa was a little more than a month old.

A year ago, we were preparing for our invasion of Kwajalein, the second of our great strides across the Central Pacific to the Philippines.

A year ago, General MacArthur was still fighting in New Guinea almost 1,500 miles from his present position in the Philippine Islands.

We now have firmly established bases in the Mariana Islands, from which our Super fortresses bomb Tokyo itself—­and will continue to blast Japan in ever-increasing numbers.

Japanese forces in the Philippines have been cut in two.  There is still hard fighting ahead—­costly fighting.  But the liberation of the Philippines will mean that Japan has been largely cut off from her conquests in the East Indies.

The landing of our troops on Leyte was the largest amphibious operation thus far conducted in the Pacific.