South Bend, December 2, 1967
The Development of the Atomic Bomb
No scientific discovery has changed the power structure of the world so suddenly as the one made by Enrico Fermi 25 years ago at the University of Chicago, unleashing the nuclear chain reaction that led directly to the development of the atomic bomb.
[On December 2, 1942 the Italian physicist and Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi (1901-54) succeeded at the University of Chicago in producing the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction. Based on that discovery, the atomic bomb was developed at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico, 1942-45. In 1967 the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory was established near Batavia west of Chicago. The Fermi Laboratory is one of the most significant centers for nuclear research in the world.]
South Bend, December 2, 1967
Cardinal Spellman Dies
With today’s death of Cardinal Spellman the Catholic Church in America has lost one of its most prominent personalities.
[Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman (1889-1967) was from 1939 until his death Archbishop of New York. He became known as Vicar of the Armed Forces during World War II. After 1945 he was instrumental in creating the system of peace.]
South Bend, December 23, 1967
Jet Age Diplomacy
Following the tragic death of Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt, President Johnson flew to Australia. On his return from the funeral ceremony in Canberra, the American president stopped at various places to talk personally with several heads of government in South East Asia. He also took the opportunity of visiting before Christmas U.S. military outposts in Vietnam. The several hours he stayed in Europe sufficed for an audience with Pope Paul VI. The main concern of Johnson’s journey was finding a peaceful solution to the War in Vietnam. This new way of diplomacy that spans the globe in a week’s time has been made possible by the jet aircraft.
[Harold E. Holt (1908-67), since 1966 Prime Minister of Australia, tragically lost his life by drowning in December 1967. Holt had supported President Johnson’s Vietnam policy.]
South Bend, December 23, 1967
The Ignorance of Europe
In a recent interview on television, President Johnson took a position on problems of world politics. It revealed a startling ignorance of the situation in Europe. Europe was simply regarded as being contented so that it required no further discussion. The pretense that American-European relations had suffered because of the engagement in Vietnam and that European allies felt neglected was pushed aside on the grounds that Wilson and Kiesinger had been in Washington and that everything was going well.
[Harold Wilson, British Prime Minister, 1964-70; Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German Federal Chancellor, 1966-69.]
South Bend, [End] December, 1967
The First Christmas in America
The first Christmas in the United States brought for my family and me a number of surprises. The preparations for the Christmas holidays had started immediately after Thanksgiving by the end of November, much earlier than at home. The decorated Christmas trees were placed already a fortnight before Christmas Eve colorfully lit by small lamps - burning candles are not allowed in America because of fire hazard - near windows to be seen. Also, hallways and entire house fronts as well as trees in the front and backyards were colorfully illuminated. The Christian character of the holidays was by all means preserved, commercialism was not much stronger here than in Europe. Surprising were the many well presented Christmas songs, many of which come from the English carol tradition. Many German Christmas songs, “Silent Night, Holy Night” could be heard everywhere sung in English. TV networks brought a number of the favorite Christmas shows. We got our Christmas tree from a “Christmas Tree Farm,” where one can select from an open field a Scotch pine or fir and cut it oneself. Midnight Mass in the Sacred Heart Church of Notre Dame, whose musical programming and readings came closest to what we were used to, made us really feel at home. The Christmas holidays came abruptly to an end on December 26, for the 26th is a regular working day in America.
[Transl: In many European countries, especially in Austria, Hungary, and Italy, December 26, St. Stephen’s Day, is observed as a holiday.]