Soldier voices were heard singing in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral on July 4, 1941. Strangely, as though protected by Divine Providence, this historic building was still standing though surrounding London had been destructively bombed and was mostly in ruins. But on that memorable day there was unveiled a memorial tablet to Billy Fiske, the first American to give his life in World War II. Fliers from his own squadron and some other American volunteers were the singers. “Standing together in the candle-lit dusk,” said Alexander Woolcott, “this symbolic group of Anglo-American courage sang Billy Fiske to his rest with the words: “‘Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.’” A surprise awaited Mrs. F. D. Roosevelt on a September day, in 1943, according to a report of the Associated Press, when she walked into a room for youthful sufferers from infantile paralysis in the Melbourne Child’s Hospital. Mrs. Roosevelt was in Australia at that time visiting the American troops, but she was also interested in these youthful patients. There she saw, as she entered, “Thirteen-year-old Briar Dean holding a harmonica in his one usable hand, and playing America’s national anthem.” When he halted his music, Mrs. Roosevelt, attracted by the unusual scene, walked directly to the youngster and asked him to play for her. So he started over, and played through a verse, and the chorus. “Four generals, one admiral, and numerous other gold-braided men, stood at attention,” according to the correspondent who narrated the memorable event for his American readers. Surprise for American Soldiers “It was the Fourth of July in this joint British and American Officers’ training camp,” said an Associated Press report from “an officers’ training camp” in North Africa on July 5, 1943. No announcement, however, was posted concerning a Fourth of July celebration. “The camp was to follow its regular routine. There would be a route march at five o’clock.” The hour of five came and the men fell in on the parade ground, and started up the trail. It was observed that the American general was making the march, but no British officers were seen. “It’s our holiday, and they get the day off. Can you beat it?” Thus murmured the Americans. “The trail led through a grove winding up and down the slopes of the mountain,” said the correspondent. “The sun was nearly down when they emerged into a clearing. “Just ahead, in an open space among the trees, the British officers were lined up in two files. They were singing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’ An American flag waved above their heads.” Such was the tersely vivid account of a dramatic moment in the lives of British and American soldiers in North Africa during an important period in the history of World War II. “America the Beautiful” Heard at Arlington