Meanwhile at home we buried our heads in the sand. Unable to conceive such an idea as attacking others, we persuaded ourselves that some miracle would protect us. Our only means of counterattack was to pass a law against war and the current nostrum went under the title of “Arms Embargo Act.” It had its origin in the ancient myth of the war profiteer, an old wives’ tale founded on the idea that greedy munition racketeers in search of profits had fomented World War I. Its approach to keeping the peace was to prohibit the sale of arms to all belligerents. But, as Tom pointed out, it wouldn’t work out that way. To date it had served as a good excuse for French bureaucrats to oppose the purchase of arms in the United States, on the grounds that delivery could be cut off by Hitler; all that was necessary was to declare war on France and convert her into a belligerent. The Act thus became an invitation to Hitler to make war whenever it suited his convenience. The Germans and Italians needed no American help; they had made themselves self-sufficient. From the moment the air-mail cancellations had thrown a rough lock on our own aviation program, they had seized upon the opportunity to expand their own air power as a new weapon with which the have nots could take what they wanted from the haves. Hitler had made no bones about it; such Nazis as Goering, Milch, and Udet bragged about their prowess to every American who visited Germany. Among these, Charles A. Lindbergh had sought to sound a note of warning when he said to a Nazi assembly in Flyers-House in Berlin in July, 1936, Unlike the builder of the dugout canoe, we have lived to see our harmless wings of fabric turned into carriers of destruction even more dangerous than battleships and guns. We have lived to carry on our shoulders the responsibility for the results of our experiments which, in other fields, have passed to future generations. We in aviation carry a heavy responsibility on our shoulders, for while we have been drawing the world closer together in peace, we have stripped the armor of every nation in war. It is no longer possible to defend the heart of a country with its army. Armies can no more stop an air attack than a suit of mail can stop a rifle bullet. Aviation has, I believe, created the most fundamental changes ever made in war. It has turned defense into attack. We can no longer protect our families with an army. Our libraries, our museums—every institution which we value most, is laid bare to bombardment. Aviation has brought a revolutionary change to a world already staggering from changes. It is our responsibility to make sure that doing so, we do not destroy the very things we wish to protect.