Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-06-08
VIRGINIA SPEECH
PRESIDENT RoosEvELT's MEMO
RIAL ADDRESS At PORTS.
MOUTH.
THE MAN BEHIND THE BALLOT
Chief Executive Pays Homage to the
Heroic Dead and Enforees the
Duties Of the Living.

Portsmouth. Va.-President Roose-
welt Joined the people of Virginia
Memorial Day In a beautiful and I'm.
pressive tribute to the nations dead.
Under the auspices Of the Army and
Navy Union. the organization OF tho
officers and enlisted men Of the United
States army and navy. the President
delivered the Memorial Day address
here to an audience numbering thou
sands.
Immediately after delivering the ora
tion OF the day President Roosevelt uI-
veilcd a monument erected In the naval
cemetery by the Army and Navy Union
to the memory of its dead comrades.
The procession consisted OF several
thousand men from the North Atlantic
feet. Army and Navy Union organiza-
tions. Grand Army veterans. camps OF
Confederate veterans and many other
societies.
The President said. In part:
This day is hnliowed and sacred IN
our history. for on this day. through
out tho land VIC meet to pay homage
to the memory OF the valiant dead who
fell In tho great Civil War. No other
men deserve so well OF this country
sthosc to whom We owe II that We
now have a country. Moreover. tho
men to whose vnlor we owe II that tho
Union was preserved have loft ns n
country reunited In fact as well M In
name. They have left us tho memory
Of the great deeds and tho sclf'dcyo-
ton alike OF the men who wore tho
blue and tho men who wore the gray
In tho contest where brother fought
brother with equal courage. with equal
sincerity OF conviction. with equal
fidelity to high ideal. ms II was given
to each to SEQ that ideal.
Moreover. II is a peculiar pleasure
to speak to-day under tho auspices OF
tho Army and Navy Union. OF III.
officers and enlisted men Of tho regular
forces Of tho United States.
Exactly as there In no other body
Of men to whom In the past VIC have
owed 10 much ns TO tho veterans OF
tho Civil War. 30 there In no other body
Of men among all OF our citizens OF
today who an n whole deserve quite IA
well Of the country aa tho officers and
enlisted men OF tho army and navy OF
tho United States.
This audience Is composed largely
OF veterans of the Civil War. largely
Of men who have served In or nrc scrs'
Ing In tho army anu thr navy ot u''
United States. They nrc concerned
no, only with tho duties OF the soldier
and the sailor. but with the duties or
tho civilian. with all matters affecting
the plain. everyday citizen aH hc doca
his everyday duties.
In tho last analysis. !; Ia the man
behind the ballot who counts most IN
civil life. just aa u In the man behind
tho gun who counts mos; In military
life.
we cannot too highly honor tho
memory Of tho leaders in III. civil
| war-ot Grant and Lee. of Sherman
and Johnston. of Stoncvali Jackson
and Sheridan. of farrasut and OF tho
captains who fought under and against
him. hut after all the man upon WHOM
the chief credit mus, res, vas tho
plain man in tho ranks. tho man In
blue or In gray who went in TO sec
the war through. and who did scc u
through.
$50 again In our Republic as whole
II 10 Just as true In peace now ss IL
was forty.fivc years ago in war that
| IL IL the character of the average man
| that must be the determining factor IN
achieving national success or goins
| down to national disaster"