Bisbee daily review., 1914-01-02
GREETINGS ID
 THE VETERANS
Commander Read of Arizona Department, G. A R., Writes to Comrades--Re-
 lates Much We'll to Read

George W. Reed. commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, Depart ment of Arizona, has written a per sonal letter to each Of the Posts throughout Arizona, presenting his good wishes for the ensuing year The letter received here follows in full
 My Dear Comrades: Having the good of our order and the welfare of every veteran of our great civil war at heart, l am constrained to write a personal letter, with my own hand. to each post in our jurisdiction l am greatly impressed with the fact that cur ranks are raidly growing thinner, and that what we do, as an order, must be done quickly.
 Two events, important to us, will soon take place. One Is personal to us as individuals, viz. we are all old men and each one must soon close his earthly career. For our own in. terest we should be identified with the grandest army the world has ever known, and take an active part in the work of the order. We ought to as- sist and encourage each other while living. and discharge the last sad du-
 ties for our departed comrades. Veterans, not members of our or der, are passing away day by day without our knowledge or help. They
 hay not the attention and kind min.
 istrations of comrades that. in many
 instances. they so much need. Their
 last resting places are often unknown
 and unmarked.
 It should be the desire of every veteran that his body be borne to
 its last resting place by comrades and
 that the exercises at that time be oi
 a patriotic character appropriate to
 the memory of an old soldier, who
 fought and sacrificed to save and per petuate the best government on earth
 Our lives and services will soon be not memory but history. What we
 do now to transmit facts to coming
 generation must be done soon.
 The second event of which I speak Is that our order. as now constituted will, in a few years pass out of ex istence. Not one of us will be Jeff
 to speak of the heroic deeds of oul ! comrades, or to impress our children
 and children's children with the fact that they are enjoying the fruits ol
 the sacrifices made by them theii
 fathers in the war of 6l-'65.
 As individuals we can do but little
 As a united order, composed of indi viduals who took part in that grea
 struggle we can assist and encour age each other and keep alive thu fires of patriotism upon our altars , We can teach the present generatioI lessons of sacrifice and patriotism tha , are needed for good citizenship un , der the government saved by thei . fathers.
 To this end l urge every officer an' member of the posts of our depart ment to use every possible means L | get every veteran within reach to be l come a member of our grand, thougl rapidly diminishing army. { There are $50 pensioners in ou i department, while only one-sixth 0 { that number are identified with ou 3 organization. It ought not so to bt I 1 know that these old men are har !. to reach and interest in our wor l but let us hunt them out and by pei @ suasion and influence try to increas f our membership and thus benefit ou . comrades. our order and our citizeI n ship.
 r Yours cordially and fraternally, !. GEORGE w. READ,
 Prescott, Ariz.