Washington Reunion June 28-July 2 . All rooms for early arrivals are taken. Banquet Sunday July 1. Depart Monday July 2
MEMORIAL DAY, 05-30-05,
(STATESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, AT DAY'S CLOSING..............)
"WE HAVE GATHERED IN THIS QUIET CORNER OF STATESVILLE AS THE SUN SETS ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY THAT HAS BEEN SET ASIDE TO REMEMBER WHAT WAS GAINED IN OUR WARS, AND------ , ALL THAT WAS LOST.
THIS DAY OF REMEMBRANCE WAS FIRST OBSERVED TO RECALL THE TERRIBLE CASUALTIES OF THE WAR AMERICANS FOUGHT AGAINST EACH OTHER. IN THE 14 DECADES SINCE, OUR NATION’S BATTLES HAVE ALL BEEN FAR FROM HOME.
AND IN ALL OF THOSE WARS, AMERICAN SOLDIERS CAME TO LIBERATE, NOT TO CONQUER. THE ONLY LAND WE CLAIM AS OUR OWN ARE THE RESTING PLACES OF OUR MEN AND WOMEN.
AS WE REFLECT ON THE MEANING OF MEMORIAL DAY COUNTLESS IMAGES COME TO MIND. PEARL HARBOR , AND 38,000 MEN BURIED IN THE PUNCH BOWL. IT IS A MOTHER RUNNING A FINGER OVER HER SON’S NAME ON THE VIETNAM WALL. IT IS A MONUMENT OF SIX MARINES RAISING "OLD GLORY" ATOP MOUNT SURIBACHI. IT IS THE PATRIOTIC STRAINS OF BELLS OVER THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY WHERE THIRTY-EIGHT (38) PAIRS OF BROTHERS DIED IN THE LIBERATION. IT IS THE MEMORIAL OF THE "FORGOTTEN WAR" FOR KOREA. IT IS THE GUARD AT ARLINGTON CEMETERY’S TOMB OF THE UNKNOWNS -MAINTAINING HIS SILENT VIGIL. AND 9 –11!
THESE IMAGES SERVE AS CONSTANT REMINDERS OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR SOMETHING GREATER THAN THEMSELVES. THE FREEDOMS WE ENJOY STEM FROM THEIR SACRIFICES.
WE WHO SURVIVE THESE HEROES MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THE PRICE THEY PAID…..AND THAT FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.
LIKE AMERICA’S WARS BEFORE IT, AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ HAVE MADE THAT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. AMERICANS AGAIN HAVE PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE IN THE CURRENT WAR AGAINST TERRORISM, AND WE REMEMBER THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES ON THIS SPECIAL DAY.
THOSE WHOM WE REMEMBER AND HONOR EACH MEMORIAL DAY NOW NUMBER MORE THAN ONE MILLION. THAT IS MORE THAN ONE MILLION AMERICANS WHO HAVE GIVEN THE LAST FULL MEASURE OF DEVOTION WHILE SERVING OUR NATION.
THE FOLLOWING WORDS, INSCRIBED AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, ARE DEDICATED TO THEM: "NOT FOR FAME OR REWARD, NOT FOR PLACE OR RANK, NOT LURED BY AMBITION OR GOADED BY NECESSITY, BUT IN SIMPLE OBEDIENCE TO DUTY AS THEY UNDERSTOOD IT, THESE MEN SUFFERED ALL, SACRIFICED ALL, DARED ALL-AND DIED."
THE LIVES AND SERVICE OF OUR NATION’S VETERANS SPAN EVERY DECADE, EVERY YEAR, EVERY DAY OF OUR COUNTRY’S EXISTENCE. SURELY WE OWE THEM A GREAT DEAL.
IT IS UP TO US TO GIVE MEANING TO THEIR SACRIFICE. TO DO THAT, OUR OWN DEDICATION TO AMERICA’S SPIRITUAL AND NATIONAL VALUES MUST BE STEADFAST. WE, AND OUR CHILDREN AFTER US, MUST BE DEVOTED TO THOSE PRINCIPLES FOR WHICH THESE HEROIC CITIZENS GAVE THEIR LIVES. BY HOLDING FAST TO THE SAME PRINCIPLES THEY CHERISHED AND BY TEACHING OUR CHILDREN ABOUT OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY AND THE VITAL ROLE VETERANS PLAYED TO MAKE THIS HISTORY POSSIBLE, WE BEGIN TO REPAY THE DEBT.
WE GAIN STRENGTH FROM WHAT THEY DID –FROM THEIR DEVOTION AND THEIR PATRIOTISM—AND ARE INSPIRED TO HONOR THE CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY DIED. FOR A BRIEF MOMENT IN HISTORY, THEY HELD OUR NATION’S DESTINY IN THEIR HANDS----AND DID NOT FAIL US. WE MUST NOT FAIL THEM NOW. FOR MORE THAN 223 YEARS OUR MILITARY HAS BEEN A BASTION AGAINST AMERICA’S ENEMIES.
IN THAT TIME, OUR WORLD HAS CHANGED AND OUR ARMED FORCES HAVE CHANGED WITH IT, BUT THE VALOR, DIGNITY AND COURAGE OF THE MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM REMAIN THE SAME REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE MEDIA MAY TELL YOU.
ALL TOO OFTEN, WE AS AMERICANS FORGET THE RESPONSIBILITY WE HAVE TO KEEP THE MEMORY OF THOSE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN ALIVE. ALL TOO OFTEN, WE FORGET HOW FORTUNATE WE ARE TO LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY WHERE THERE IS NO FEAR OF OPPRESSION-----AS IT EXISTS IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD TODAY. WE ARE A NATION BLESSED WITH MANY PRIVILEGES, BUT AS FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT ONCE SAID, "THOSE WHO HAVE LONG ENJOYED SUCH PRIVILEGES AS WE ENJOY FORGET IN TIME THAT MEN HAVE DIED TO WIN THEM."
THERE IS AN OLD SAYING THAT IN TIME OF WAR PEOPLE LOVE GOD AND SOLDIERS BUT IN TIME OF PEACE SOLDIERS ARE FORGOTTEN AND GOD IS SLIGHTED. MAYBE THIS IS THE REASON WE KEEP HAVING WARS.
LET US NOT FORGET TODAY WHY WE LIVE IN THIS GREAT DEMOCRACY. AND LET US NOT FORGET ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY WHO HAVE FOUGHT TO THEIR DYING BREATH SO THAT WE MAY LIVE—IN FREEDOM.
FINALLY, MEMORIAL DAY IS ALSO A TIME FOR REMEMBERING THOSE WHO STILL STAND ON THE RAMPARTS OF FREEDOM……..FATE UNKNOWN. LET US KEEP ALL OF THEM , AND THEIR FAMILIES, IN OUR PRAYERS.
AND NOW ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY WE SHOULD THANK JIM CALABRESE AND THE MITCHELL COMMUNITY COLLEGE BAND AS THEY HELP US REMEMBER AND HONOR THOSE FALLEN HEROES WHO PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR OUR FREEDOMS. WITH OUR NATIONS HIGHEST REGARD AND DEEPEST RESPECT, LET US NOW UNITE IN A TIME OF REMEMBRANCE AS WE PAUSE TO HONOR THE MEN AND WOMEN WHOSE LEGACY IS SERVICE, WHOSE HERITAGE IS SACRIFICE AND WHOSE GIFT IS FREEDOM.
GOD BLESS AMERICA"
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"Prayer For America"
(Senate prayer, 1947. Dr. Peter Marshall)
"Our Father, we pray for this land. We need Thy help in this time of testing and uncertainty, when men who could fight together on the field of battle seem strangely unable to work together around conference tables for peace.
May we begin to see that all true Americanism begins in being Christian; that it can have no other foundation, as it has no other roots.
To Thy glory was this Republic established. For the advancement of the Christian faith did the Founding Fathers give their life's heritage, passed down to us.
We would pray that all over this land there may be a return to the faith of those men and women who trusted in God as they faced the perils and dangers of the frontier, not alone in crossing the continent, in building their cabins, in rearing their families, in eking out a livelihood, but in raising a standard of faith to which men have been willing to repair down through the years.
Thou didst bless their efforts. Thou didst bless America. Thou hast made her rich. Wilt Thou also make her good?
Make us, the citizens of this land, want to do the right things. Make us long to have the right attitudes. Help us to be Christian in our attitudes. Let all that we do and say spring out of understanding hearts.
Make us willing to seek moral objectives together, that in united action this nation may be as resolute for righteousness and peace as she has been for war.
Bless those who bear responsibility. May they be led by Thee to do that which is right rather than that which is expedient or politically wise. Save us from politicians who seek only their own selfish interests. Illumine the minds of management as well as labor, that there may be an end to selfishness and greed, to the stupidity of men who are unable to find in reasonable agreement solutions to the problems that plague us.
Bless this land that we love so much, our Father, and help her to deposit her trust, not in armies and navies, in wealth and material resources, or in achievements of the human mind, but in that righteousness which alone exalteth any nation, and by which alone peace can finally come to us. This we ask in the name that is above every name. Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen."