A profession at war — how Florida lawyers answered the call in 1941
'The lawyers of Florida rededicate themselves, utterly, to the service of the nation. Many are serving in the armed forces. They are giving their full measure of service. The others, no less, have a high duty to perform.'
Flames and smoke rise from the USS Arizona after her forward magazines exploded during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In the weeks that followed, Florida lawyers answered the call to national service, pledging their time, talents, and resources to support the war effort both at home and abroad. (National Park Service photo)
As the nation marks another December 7, The Florida Bar’s continuing history project is revisiting how the state’s legal community responded in real time to the shock of Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II.
In the weeks that followed the 1941 attack, the Florida State Bar Association spoke with an urgent and unified voice in the pages of the Florida Law Journal. With many Florida lawyers entering military service and others preparing for demanding work at home, Bar leaders used the Journal to call for sacrifice, discipline, and total national commitment.
Less than a month after the attack, President Robert R. Milam issued a rallying message urging Florida lawyers to “rededicate themselves” to the nation in the January 1942 Journal. It was followed by a March editorial echoing the call, warning that victory would require every American — whether on the front lines or the home front — to do their part.
Running these reflections this week allows modern readers to hear, in the voices of those who lived it, the profession’s response to the nation’s entrance into the Second World War and the sense of duty that defined the Bar at a moment of profound national turning.
We Accept the Challenge
By Robert R. Milam
President
Robert R. Milam
War once more is our business. No people ever, in all history, strove more variantly to avoid war. We failed. It will be, and is, a struggle of unspeakable ferocity. In the number of nations embroiled, in the reach and depth of the battlefields, in the horrible effectiveness of the weapons employed, in the devastation and misery impending, in the sheer weight of humanity involved, and to be sacrificed, the past affords no parallel. But the assault has been made upon us, coldly and treacherously, and screened by a superb duplicity.
We accept the challenge. Once again we are a united nation. Japan in one hour accomplished what had been the despair of many.
The lawyers of Florida rededicate themselves, utterly, to the service of the nation. Many are serving in the armed forces. They are giving their full measure of service. The others, no less, have a high duty to perform.
Individually, we must devote our time, our talents, our resources, willingly and without stint, to the tasks assigned to us by the constituted authorities. Collectively, we must become a rallying point for sane thinking; we must, now and hereafter, discourage and quiet hysteria and needless fears and criticisms, and the demands for hasty decisions. We must hold up the hands of the Army and Navy, grievously handicapped as they are at the outset, in the gigantic task of organizing our effort and resources to accomplish the great task before them. We must meanwhile accept the reverses that are, and will be, the inevitable fruit of this nation’s complacency and a devotion to peace so profound that it refused to see the plain fact that other nations were steadily preparing for hostilities against us. We must help mold public opinion to accept these reverses and to view them in their proper perspective as merely initial setbacks. We must support without question the decisions of our Government. We must help to keep burning with a steady flame that resolute faith that in good time, and surely, our strength will be so gathered and directed that the enemy will be completely overwhelmed. And after that, we must, for the safeguarding of our way of living as a free people, and for the salvation of our descendants, join with clear-thinking people everywhere to see to it that those nations which have brought on this savage holocaust, shall be so curbed and punished that this thing shall not again confront us.
To all these things the lawyers of Florida, individually and as a group, have committed themselves.
The March issue of the Journal featured an editorial that built on Milam’s call, stressing the importance of total national unity and service.
A Fight for Something
Whether you realize it or not — your country is at war. Every man, every woman, every child and every home in America will feel its grim touch. The proverbial smugness of America will not save us in this gigantic struggle. Just as our boasted isolation did not save us from a brutal attack, just so our isolation will make this war more difficult and more expensive. It is no longer a defensive war — it cannot be won by defensive tactics. Victory can only come by all of us realizing that this is not the other fellow’s war but that it is your war, that it’s my war, that it is our war. There is a place of service for every man, woman and child. Of course, the actual fighting will be done by men with planes and ships and submarines and cannons, all with deadly bullets and devastating bombs, but the jobs of those who stay at home are nearly as important — just less spectacular.
The Nation has not yet seen, felt nor imagined the full and awful consequences of this mighty conflict. While we slept in a fool’s paradise the enemy was working and planning our destruction. While the isolationists and apostles of disunion were proclaiming that it couldn’t happen to us, it did happen, in all of its diabolical fury. While our defense program lagged and our politicians bungled, the Nation was left at the mercy of the bloodthirsty war lords of Germany and Japan.
Every day our blood is made to boil as we read the newspapers and hear the radio tell of the fall of Singapore, the impending doom of Java, Burma and Rangoon, and the dangerous plight of the cornered but gallant forces of General MacArthur in the Philippines. Our imperiled but brave soldiers, sailors and marines at Wake Island, Manila and Guam were ill equipped and had to get along without aid and reinforcements from us. We failed them in their hour of desperation.
But this is water over the dam now. Whatever mistakes have been made, have been made. They can only be overcome by a united nation working as one man to do the job of winning this war.
Nothing short of total national unity will win this war. The full cooperation of the entire family unit will be necessary in getting this job done well. While some go to the front to fight, others must keep the home fires burning. Some must be the guardians of our towns and cities. Some must keep the food and equipment supplied. Some must keep the supply lines open and running to our men on our far-flung battle lines.
In this war we face the greatest combination of gangsters, backed up by the greatest military machine the world has ever seen — ruthless, brutal, heartless barbarians, as was so clearly demonstrated at Manila and Pearl Harbor. Ours is a colossal task, but, as Mr. Winston Churchill said before our Congress a few weeks ago, “What greater calling could there be than to defend ourselves against such brutal forces and to fight for the liberation of poor and unfortunate people all over the world?”
I venture to urge this thought. I believe the reason Germany and Japan have done such an efficient job of fighting this war has come from the fact that from their viewpoint they are fighting for something rather than against something. I know the bitterness you feel against Japan for her perfidy. I know you are against Germany because of the ruthlessness of her broken work and inhuman conduct. I feel the same as you do. Notwithstanding these things, we can win this war more certainly and quickly if we will fight for something rather than just fight against Germany and Japan.
We have our American way of life. We have our American freedoms. We have our American rights of property and person. We have our American right to work and keep the wages resulting from the sweat of our brows. We have our American liberties, the right to our homes and our property and privileges of rearing our children amidst these precious heritages. Do we believe these things worth preserving? Do we believe these things worth fighting for? Some men have believed them worth dying for.
Let us hope but few will be called upon to die in this war. A united Nation and the cooperation of every home will lessen the number of those who will lose their lives. Many inconveniences will be suffered by you and me while we stay at home and try to support your boy and mine as he faces the enemy on the firing line. But it is far better and easier to suffer a few inconveniences at home than to fail him in his hour of peril.
The lawyers of Florida will not fail. They will do their part in helping to win a glorious victory for right and justice.
(Editor’s Note: As The Florida Bar continues to celebrate its 75th year, we are reflecting on the milestones, people, and progress that have shaped the profession. Throughout the celebration, The Florida Bar News is featuring stories that highlight key moments in our shared history — and we want to hear from you.
If you have memories, reflections, or personal stories about the practice of law in Florida, we invite you to share them. Selected submissions may be featured in upcoming editions of The News. Please email your recollections to [email protected].)
