“Of” is a term of limitation

Appellate defense counsel argued orally that many facts indicated the United States was not at war, for example: there has been no declaration of war; the Coast Guard is still under the supervision of the Treasury Department instead of the Navy Department as it usually is during war; here in the United States, Armed Forces personnel are allowed to wear civilian clothes during off-duty hours; it is not the policy to try Department of the Army civilians serving with the Army in the field in the United States by courts-martial; the various Army posts throughout the United States are still open to public visitation; many reservists and National Guard units are not on active service; and the Table of Maximum Punishments had not been suspended for offenses committed in the United States. He contended that the ratio of the cases cited in support of the war status of the United States was limited to the locale of the hostilities, Korea and its adjacent [**6]  waters, and was inoperative on offenses committed in the United States. Finally, he anchored his argument on the interpretation to be given the language in Article 43f(1) (post) of the Code. He conceded arguendo that the offense at bar fell within the purview of this language, being a fraud against a United States agency, the Army, but reasoned that the subject language contemplated and embraced only "hostilities as proclaimed by the President or by a Joint Resolution of Congress." With this interpretation the board of review cannot agree. The preposition "of" before the word "hostilities" shows plainly that the phrase "of hostilities" is adjectival, qualifying and limiting the word "termination". The phrase "termination of hostilities" is in turn modified by the participial phrase "as proclaimed." In our interpretation it is the "termination of hostilities" that must be proclaimed, and such proclamation provides the initial date of a three-year period in which the suspension of the statute of limitations continues to operate rather than determines the date of the beginning of the original suspension (emphasis supplied).