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Harry S Truman is dead
By CARL E. CHRISTIENSEN
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UPI) -
Harry S Truman, 88, the 33rd
American President, died to
day. The heart of the fiery man
from Missouri failed at the end
of a 22-day battle against age
and disease.
Death came at 7:50 a.m.
(CST) as Truman lay in a deep
coma in a sixth floor room of
Research Hospital, fighting
with his usual courage to stay
alive.
“The honorable Harry S
Truman, 33rd President of the
United States, died at 7:50 am.
(CST),” the official medical
statement said. “The cause of
death was a complexity of
organic failure causing a
collapse of the cardiovascular
system.”
Bess Truman, 87, the former
chief executive’s childhood
sweetheart whom he married
more than half a century ago,
was at their mansion in nearby
Independence, Mo., when her
husband died. She was at his
bedside almost 12 hours Christ
mas Day.
The funeral will be held later
this week. In the meantime, the
body will lie in state at the
Truman Memorial Library in
Independence.
Truman picked his own
epitaph. He said his life could
have no better meaning than
the words he once saw
inscribed on a frontier grave:
“Here lies Jack Williams. He
done his damndest.”
And Truman said this is the
way he wanted to be remem
bered: “I did what had to be
done.”
Age simply caught up with
Truman, who made some of
this nation’s most important
decisions of this century —the
atomic bombing of Japan, the
Berlin Blockade, the dispatch of
U.S. troops to Korea and many
more.
Truman’s funeral will be held
Thursday at the Truman
Library. His body will lie in
state one day, Wednesday, for
public viewing. The funeral will
be a private ceremony, his
family said.
Truman outlived most of
those with whom he shared a
place in history —Stalin,
Tax dispute
Pike schools feel pinch
The next move in the Pike
County tax dilemma apparently
will come at a meeting between
Pike officials and the Depart
ment of Revenue.
The time and place have not
been decided.
Richard Bridges of
Thomaston, attorney for the
Pike County Commissioners,
said that the Revenue Depart
ment would set up the meeting.
Joseph Chapman, chairman
of The Pike County Com
missioners, said that the board
ted turned the tax matter over
to its attorney.
Meanwhile, spokesmen for
the Pike Tax Collector’s office
and the Tax Assessors office
said they were on “hold” as far
as attempting to finalize assess
ments and get tax bills mailed.
“The most delightful
present a happy person can give
you is his presence.”
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Harry S Truman gives big smile as he displays newspaper
headline prematurely announcing his defeat for the
Presidency in 1948. His victory over Thomas E. Dewey in
Churchill, De Gaulle, MacArth
ur, Eisenhower and even
Thomas E. Dewey, whom he
defeated for the presidency in
one of the most stunning upsets
in American political history.
The only com temporary Tru
man did not outlive was
Chairman Mao Tse-tung of
China, who became 79 today.
Truman waged a bitter war
with Mao over Korea, but both
men lived to see relations
between their nations begin to
thaw.
“The people of the United
States, and especially the press
of this country, have lost a
great friend,” said Ronald
Jessie, a family spokesman.
“While we lost a friend, two
great ladies lost a husband and
father. I know that in your
coverage during the next few
days that you will show them
the same consideration and
Pike County has not mailed
out tax Wils because of the
dispute between the county and
the Revenue Department’s
order to factor the tax digest.
Pike like many other counties
in Georgia has been ordered to
factor its digest and bring the
data up to current market value
so assessments can be made on
40 percent of market value.
Pike Commissioners said this
would be unfair and decided to
fight the order.
Meanwhile, the Pike Board of
Education says the dispute has
created a financial crisis in the
school system.
The board at its December
meeting voted to borrow money
for the operation of the school
system in 1973 until the tax
dilemma is resolved.
The school board put out a
statement that frankly ad
mitted that the tax controversy
ted created a financial crisis
for the county’s schools.
The board pointed out its
fiscal year runs from July 1
through June 30. It said to date
no local funds for schools have
been forthcoming, the board
said.
The school board said it was
faced with the decision of
borrowing money on which to
operate the remainder of the
1972-73 calendar year or closing
the schools.
In deciding to borrow money,
the board pointed out that the
GRIFFIN
DAILY#NEWS
Vol. 100 No. 302
respect for their privacy you
did during his lifetime,” Jessie
told newsmen.
Lyndon B. Johnson, now the
only living former president,
eulogized Truman in a state
ment from his LBJ Ranch in
Texas.
“A 20th Century giant is
gone,” Johnson said. “Few men
of any times ever shaped the
world as did the man from
Independence. President Tru
man presided over the destiny
of this century during one of its
most turbulent eras, never
flinching in the face of crucial
national choices. His decisions
changed the course of human
events throughout the world.
“He had his critics and
detractors, but history is just
and Harry Truman will live on
in the memory of free people
as one of the greatest men to
lead freedom’s cause.”
interest the county would have
to pay on it would be an ad
ditional burden on taxpayers.
The board statement said its
members are landowners in
Pike County and realize that
equitable evaluation of property
is essential.
“Furthermore, a better
method to finance local public
education is probably on the
horizon. Nevertheless, the local
property tax currently supports
Pike County Schools; and if at
all possible, the board will not
stop our children’s education
while the tax issue is being
settled,” the board said.
The board said the school
House
burns
L. M. Dutton of Bucksnort
road was in fair condition today
at the Griffin-Spalding Hospital
today where he was admitted
for treatment after his house
was destroyed in an early
morning fire.
Neighbors told firemen from
the Dundee Volunteer Unit at
East Griffin they didn’t believe
Mr. Dutton was burned but
suffered from smoke inhalation
or exhaustion from the fire.
The house and its contents
were destroyed. Firemen got
the call at 2:05 a.m.
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Tuesday, December 26, 1972
that presidential election has been described as one of the
most stunning upsets in U.S. political history. (UPI)
A Truman family spokesman
said: “It is the wish of the
family that in lieu of flowers,
friends make memorial dona
tions to the Harry S Truman
Library Institute, Indepen
dence, Mo., or the charities of
their choice.”
Jessie said Truman probably
would be buried “in the
courtyard, near the rose
garden” of the library he
established in 1957.
Truman was 467 days short of
reaching his dream of living to
age 90.
Mrs. Truman, who met her
husband when he was 6 and she
was 5, was resigned to his
death when she left his bedside
Christmas night with their only
daughter, Mrs. Margaret Da
niel, wife of the New York
Times executive. Mrs. Daniel
flew to Kansas City during the
night when Truman’s health
financial situation would
become more critical the longer
it takes to resolve the Pike
County property tax question.
The board said it did not know
how long it could operate the
school system without local tax
money. The board said if the
issue is not settled, public
education in Pike County would
be jeopardized.
Congregation
kept singing
during robbery
FRESNO, Calif. (UPI) -The
little congregation of a West
Fresno Baptist church kept on
singing a hymn while three
young men robbed it during a
Christmas Eve service.
Police said about a dozen
persons were present for the
Church of God service when
three young men appeared at
the rear of the church and
shouted for everyone to keep
their heads down.
The men snatched four
women’s purses and the wallets
of two men before fleeing.
David Garcia, a young West
Coast Bible college student,
finished the service without
mentioning the robbery before
telephoning police.
deteriorated to the point at
which doctors said he could die
“within hours.”
Mrs. Truman, leaning heavily
on a metal walking cane
because of arthritis, was beside
her ailing husband for all but
one of the 22 days he was
hospitalized. When asked if
Mrs. Truman was taking her
husband's illness with courage,
Mike Westwood, Truman’s long
time friend and bodyguard
said: “You know dam well
she is.”
“She is one of the great
ladies of the world,” Jessie
said.
The American flag was
lowered immediately to half
staff at the hospital and at the
Truman home and library.
The world’s leaders and its
common people mourned Tru
man’s passing.
One neighbor woman, out for
Truman
quotes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UPI) -
Harry S Truman was never a
person to use two words when
one would do. But he said many
important things on a variety of
topics. Here are some exam
ples:
—On himself: “Missouri has
produced three notorious cha
racters—Mark Twain, Jesse
James and me. I’m a meat and
potatoes man, not overly fond
of pheasant under glass.”
—The presidency: “The
honor isn’t for the man. He is
just a symbol of the office, the
highest in the world. I did what
had to be done. I don’t care a
hoot what history says about
me. I know what I have done
and that is enough.”
—On ordering the atom bomb
dropped on Japan: “It was
purely a military decision that
saved thousands of American
lives. No other course was
conceivable.”
COLDER
Weather
ESTIMATED HIGH TODAY
58, low today 36, high yesterday
60, low yesterday 41, high
tomorrow in upper 40s, low
tonight in upper 20s. Sunrise
tomorrow 7:44, sunset
tomorrow 5:34
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31
The abilities of Harry S Truman were anything but common. But to his countrymen and the world
he came to symbolize the potential, when history demands it, of the common man. Then-Sen.
Truman (B, ’44 photo) lunches with President Franklin D. Roosevelt on White House grounds
shortly after Truman was nominated as the Vice Presidential candidate. At top, they’re shown
together after the election, but before their inaugural. (UPI)
a morning walk like Truman
used to take when he was in the
White House, shook her head
and said tearfully, “He was a
great man, and it is a very sad
day.”
Truman had fought a charac
teristically fierce battle against
lung congestion, a failing heart,
Quake survivors
forced to leave
MANAGUA (UPI) - The
government agreed today to
consider using force to drive
reluctant survivors of the
Managua earthquake from their
ruined city.
A Latin American relief
official suggested such action to
remove survivors from areas in
danger of epidemics and
shortages of food and water.
An official source said a
Venezuelan relief official sug
gested what he called “gunpoint
evacuation” at a meeting
Monday night at the residence
of Gen. Anastasio Somoza, the
commander of the national
guard and military strongman
of Nicaragua.
The suggestion came as
authorities—and hundreds of
foreign relief workers—grap
pled with increasing problems
of health, housing and feeding
of residents who survived the
powerful earthquake which
shattered Managua late Satur
day.
Official sources said many
inhabitants refused to leave
their ruined homes, some of
them because they did not want
to leave the places where
kinsmen died when the earth
quake tore Managua apart.
1,000 to 10,000 Die
It remained impossible to
determine how many persons
died when the earthquake
and finally, failing kidneys
since he was rushed to
Research Hospital last Dec. 5
with “pulmonary congestion”
or fluid in the lungs. His
condition was classified as
serious the next day and on the
night of Dec. 6 he was put on
the critical list.
struck, but estimates ranged
between 1,000 and 10,000.
U.S. Ambassador Turner B.
Shelton said he “knew” at least
2,000 persons died.
The toll of injured ran into
the thousands and many of the
seriously hurt were flown to
other Latin American countries
for treatment. A huge interna
tional relief operation was
launched, with funds and
experts arriving from around
the world. U.S. aircraft flew in
tons of emergency supplies.
Army troops carried out
mass burials, but many bodies
remained buried under tons of
debris, some of it piled 15 feet
high in streets. The stench of
death was so powerful it drove
some rescuers back choking.
A man who piloted bombers
in Europe during World War II
said the devastation reminded
him of war-destroyed cities.
Gutted buildings jutted into the
air and smouldering wreckage
littered plazas and parks.
“Many of the people won’t
leave,” said Dr. Camilio Vigil,
a Managua physician and
member of the U.N. World
Health Organization (WHO).
“It’s because they do not feel
the need to go and some do not
have transportation.”
All Trucks Commandeered
To cope with transportation
shortages, the government de-
Inside Tip
Vietnam
See Page 12
On Dec. 8, as his heart
weakened, his condition was
reported “extremely preca
rious. But on Dec. 9 he
improved and the next day he
was removed from the critical
list and spoke a few words with
(Continued on Page 3.)
cided Monday night to comman
deer all trucks in the country.
Somoza earlier declared mar
tial law in the capital to make
rescue and relief operations
easier.
Other suggestions presented
Somoza at the Monday night
meeting included the dynamit
ing of damaged buildings to
prevent more injuries to
rescuers, police, troops and
firemen working around them
and the dropping of chemicals
to help fight disease.
Some looting was reported
and troops were issued shoot-to
kill orders in such cases. But
much of the city was empty
and lifeless.
said perhaps as
many as 300,000 inhabitants
already have fled, using every
thing from ox carts to bicycles
to flee to makeshift tent towns
or nearby villages.
Authorities said it was
impossible to assess the da
mage, but some officials
estimated the loss at $2 billion.
That would make it the most
costly of three earthquakes
since 1885 which have destroyed
Managua
“We are determined to
rebuild our capital,” said
Somoza.