In the name of the President of the United States and of the American people I express to the Japanese nation profound condolences
in the death of Hiroshi Saito, late Ambassador of Japan to the United States. To the Ambassador's family, our hearts go out in warmest understanding and sympathy. Their sorrow and that of his Japanese comrades is deeply shared by his many friends in America where he gave the best that he had to give in the interests of Japanese-American friendship, and finally rendered the last noble service of devotion to that great cause, as a soldier lays down his life in line of duty.
In all his work in America he proceeded on the fundamental assumption that there is no irreconcilable divergence in the interests of our two nations, and without being in any minutest degree the less loyal to his Government or less effective in its service, he labored whole-heartedly to the end that his country and the America he had come to love should remain forever in concord. He intimately understood the country of his residence and felt a common bond of sympathy with his numberless American friends who highly appreciated and warmly reciprocated that friendship. Indeed, he knew our country in a sense that very few foreigners have ever come to know it. His frank and open manner, his sincerity, his keen sense of humor which lightened the darkest days, and his camaraderie endeared him to all and contributed to the effectiveness of his ambassadorship.
As a statesman, a cultured gentleman and a devoted patriot who served his country well, Hiroshi Saito's name will live in the annals of Japanese diplomacy as it will live in the hearts of the American people. It is with deepest personal sorrow that I lay before him the homage of my respectful admiration, my grateful appreciation of his cooperative and constructive work, and my grief at his untimely passing.