TLS Rachel C. Burchard, 31 July 1961

cmw cath 907 Sharon Drive DeKalb, Illinois July 31, 1961 The President of the United States The Capitol Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. President: I wish to be counted. I am thirty-nine years old, a wife and mother. I have four young children. There must be millions like me. I may be among those who have been considered complacent because I have said nothing. I am not complacent. I am worried and discouraged but still hopeful. I am hopeful that you, a young man of my own generation, can make of our nation a leader to save humanity. You stated in your address last Tuesday that we had a wider choice than either humiliation or all-out nuclear action. If you meant that we could fight a little war in order not to be humiliated over Berlin, I'm sure you are wrong. The losing side in such a war would find justification to use nuclear weapons. If you meant that we have the choice of saying to the world, "It is our responsibility to help prevent all war and therefore prevent eventual human destruction. We will work at it with everything we have except our ability to wage war--any kind of war," God and mankind will bless you. It is not the privilege of our nation to engage in a war which demand S of the human race its very existence. What right have we to require sacrifice of millions of lives the world over because of our ideologies or of those of the people in one city in Europe? Humiliation is easier to take than destruction, particularly if we exchange pride for greatness. It would not be humiliating to say to Mr. Khrushchev, "We will not be the criminal nation which begins World War III. We will work with the peoples of the world through the United Nations. You must do the same. Let the people of the world decide that they want to give their lives over the Berlin issue before we offer their lives and ours. I know, Mr. President, that your task must be the most trying in the world today, and I pray that each day gives you new insight and new strength, but my prayers and those of the millions who feel as I do will not save us if we pull the pin that starts nuclear war the final. Respectfully Fachael yours, MRS. Rachael C. Burchard