The Irish standard., 1897-06-12
We hail it with three loud huzzas,
Dur flag is there, our flag is there,

Behold the glorious stripes and stars.
Little did we think then that the time
was SO close at hand, when that flag
would be lowered, not by foreign foe,
but by our own misguided brethren Of
the south.
I was 16 years old the month that
Fort Sumpter was fired upon by the
Confederates under Gen. Beueregard
What a time it was. More Of us offeres
our services than they could or would
accept. Yes, "foemen stout, and foe
men brave" had again sought to lower
the flag; then the teachings in the
schools were of use, and particularly the
songs. Everybody was patriotic, both
girls and boys. Indeed, believe the
girls were more so than the boys; they
encouraged us to go, and tell you that
the boys with uniform on had the
most admirers among the girls.
Well, thousands of us went to the war.
Alas, the greater part of those boys now
sleep in Southern graves, or are wearing
out the last years of their lives, Grip
| pied and in pain. But what of that?
Was not the cause a glorious one-the
| preservation of our union.
With all the horrors and sufferings of
that war, oftentimes foot sore and
weary, hungry and ragged, still L do not
| know a veteran of that war, who does
| not feel it was worth all it cost, and
| who would not repeat the same service
! in so sacred cause. So would you,
know you would. We served because
the opportunity offered. and I know
| you boys of '97 would do as much.
| That is your whole duty as the boys OF
| 81 did.
Memorial day is a day sacred to the
memory of our noble dead, and we, the
surviving comrades of these heroes de-
| sire to keep green their memories. A
! day is set apart each year on which W.
visit their resting places, mark their
graves and scatter flowers upon them.
We assemble together to recount the
story of their sacrifices, their sufferings
by flood and field, and in the prison pen,
that we may animate those who follow
us to preserve what they won, to re-
member the priceless treasure saved to
mankind by them; for they made posi-
tive the fact that a republican govern
ment should not perish from the earth.
With this object in view, on this the
day preceding Memorial Day. we visit
| the schools throughout this broad land
to tell you, the rising generation, our
! successors, the story of that great strug-
| gle in which we participated in defense
of free institutions.
You read in your histories the story OF
the war. The historian tells you all
the facts; but the historian cannot tell
! you what war is. People read of war,
! and talk of war; but to know what war
is requires an actual participation in it,
War is terrible thing; it is something
awful! The historian says in recount
ing battle, "The loss was 1,5OO killed
and 5000 wounded.": That is all; one
line; but if you stop. to think of the
desolate homes, the widows and Or
| phans, fathers and mothers made child
less, the suffering of the wounded, the
glory and glamor of war is dimmed. No
! indeed, the historian cannot tell you
what war is.
The songs played very important
part with us during the war. Songs
that we learned in school, we sang on
| the march, in camp and in bivouac.
When weary, tired and dispirited on a
| long march, I have seen ten thousand
men pick up the refrain of a familiar
song, started by one, and it's effects
were electrical; it cheered us and put
into us feeling of confidence of ulti-
mately winning the struggle and again
sustaining that flag. We sang prior to
the war of free and happy land, but
it was not free or happy, until the i'm
mortal Lincoln signed the proclamation
free from ocean to ocean, free from
center to circumference, and this grand
result of reunited free nation was
brought about through the efforts of
those heroes whose deeds we commem-
| crate and whose graves we decorate to-
morrow.
Is it not natural, then, that we, who
shared with them the trials and suffer-
ings of that great struggle, should feel
that grateful country honors their
memories? We of the Grand Army of
the Republic desire that the spirit of sac
| rifice and patriotism should animate
you, the youths Of the land. Should the
| occasion arise and that flag be again as
sailed be ready to carry it forward to
| victory as the youths of 81 did. Honor
the flag. 1t is the emblem Of your coun-
try; to sustain it, has cost untold sacri-
flee, untold suffering and death; but it
is worth all it cost!
A word to you, maidens. While the
youth of 81 suffered and faced death on
] the battlefield, the greatest power that
! sustained them was the love, service
and sacrifices of the loyal women at
home. Mothers, wives, sisters, how
they cheered and encouraged us on our
weary way, and how they suffered in
silence, comforted only by the knowl-
edge that their loved ones were serving