Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-06-13
THE PRESIDENT SAID.

HE SaIDs
"NF. Secretary, I know that the feel
IHES which characterize all who stand
about me and the whole nation at this
h0ur are not feelings which can be
suitably expressed I'm terms of at
tempted OratOry or eIOqurnce. They are
things too deep for ordinary speech.
Il For my own part, I have n sinEular
mixture Of feelings. The feeling that
h uppern0st ts one Of rrofOuRd grief
\ that these lads should have had to go
n TO their death.
y And yet there IL mixed with that
i grief n profound pride that they should
i have gone as they did, aud IL 1 may
4 say IL, out Of my heart, a touch of
! envy of those who were permitted 50
I quietly, so nObIy, to do their duty.
J "Have You thought Of IL, ment Here
II the roster of the navy, the list OF the
men-Offieers and enlisted men and
Elarines-and suddenly there swim
nineteen stars cut of the list, men who
/ have suddenly gone into the drrnameHt
Of memory, where we shall always see
their names shine; not because they
called on rs to admire them, but he
cause they served us without asking
any questions, and In the performance
of duty which Is laid on us as we'll ms
on them.
.sDuty II not an uncommon thing,
gentlemen. Men are performing it I'm
the ordinary walks of life all around
M, ali the time, and they are making
great sacrifices to perform IL. What
gives men like these peculiar distine-
ton IL not merely that they did their
duty, hut that their duty had nothing
To do with them or with their own per-
sOnaI and peculiar Interests.
"'fhey did not give their lives for
themselves; they gave their lives for us
because We called ON them as n nation
TO perform an unexpected duty. - /
That In the way In which men grow
distinguished, and that IL the only why
by serving somebody else than them
selves. -
And what greater thing could you
serve than a nation such as this we
love and are proud of.
"Are You sorry for these lads: Are
you sorry for the why they Will be re-
membered. Does Il not quieken S0ur
pulses 20 think of the list of thems
heRe 10 God none of You may join the !
list, but ~ you do, You Will join an Inn |
mortal company. r.
$50, while you are profoundly sor-
rOwfuI, and while there goes out Of our |
hearts very deep and affectiOnate
sympathy for the friends and relatives
OF these lads-who for the rest Of their |
lives shall mourn them, though with a
touch of pride-we know why we do !
not go away from tbs occasion cast
down, but with our heads lifted ard par :
eyes ON the future of this country, With
absolute confidence of how II will be |
worked out; not only the more Vague
future OF this country, but the immed-
late future. t.<...-. ...-ra l
I'VE have gone down to Mexico to
serve mankind, IL we can find out the
way. We do not want to fight the
Mexicansi we want to serve the Mex
leans IL we can, because we know how
we would like to be freed and how we
would like to be served II there were
friends standing by ready to serve ms.
"a war OF aggression Ii not n war In
which IL II Pr0ud thing to die, but a
war of service In a thing In which 1T is
n proud thing to die. Notice that these
men were OF our bIoOd--men OF our
American blood, which Ii not drawn
from any one country; which II not
drawn from any one stock, which II
not drawn from any one language Of
the modern world; but free men every
brothers and their daughters to this
In order TO make that great
nation (which consists of
all the sturdy elements and OF all the
best elements OF the whole globe.