The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1916-05-30
MEMORIAL DAY

I ~ Is qulte interesting 10 company
! the photographs Of the young vol.
1 unteers who went out in the sixties
l with those taken today. One car
] scarcely recognize in those lift
ting uniforms the men who today
will commemorate the deeds of va
lor of the comrades gone before
They were as loyal set of young
fellows as ever took up musket OF
handled sword in defense of civil
liberty. They still wear the blue,
some of them, and they look their
best on Decoration day. There is a
badge on each breast. The hand has
grown feeble, the hair is turned
gray, and with irregular footsteps
they follow the band and the chill
dren of the schools, all bearing
bouquets to the graves of their
fallen comrades.
1t is not the procession that
marched down to the battle front
back yonder in the long ago that
we behold today. 1t is but a rem
nant of that mighty host; but for
half century they have been
keeping the folds of the old flag
bright and the grases Of their NJ
forgotten heroes green, and remind
ing new generation of the hor-
rors of war, of the beauty of pa
triotism and the fidelity of the old
guard for each other 1t is the
epic of the unforgotten years. 1t
is the incarnation of memories
that have grown holier as the
years sped away. They have
dropped out, one by one, from the
blue files of the living with the
badge upon their breasts and lib
erty's emblem around them. Be-
reath the green mounds, and the
fragrance of immortelies they await
the roll call of the eternal morning.
If in the bright afterwhile, some
chronicler, with more than mortal
prescience were to write the
achievements of the men who today
occupy the place of honor in our
ceremonials, there would be found
written something like this: The
greatest service the men of '61-'65
rendered to their country was not
merely the preservation Of an I'M
divided flag, but in holding before
our nation fbom year to year in
this beautiful service the glorious
ideals of civil liberty, and the aw-
full cost at which these national
virtues are maintained. 1t was one
thing to preserve the Union, it has
been another thing to keep before
the oncoming generation the prin-
ciples which have been embedded in
shot and shell. This has been done
by the Grand Army of the Republic
in way to call forth the admira-
ton of humanity. IF there is one
thing more than another that has
burned the love of freedom into
the soul of our young manhood
and womanhood, it has been the
May-da tramp, tramp of the vet
Grams, bearing their memorial
wreaths to the graves of their pa
triots dead. 1t is a sight calculat-
ed to cause even the most stolid
to admire the principles which
have been embalmed in sacrifcial
blood.
The teays Of the blue and the
gray have healed the wounds of
fratricidal strife. There are mon
uments to each that are sacred and
holy. Today the same stars look
down upon each, the same flag is
beloved by all, a united country is
our mutual heritage. There is no
hatred in the veterans handgrip
nor enmity in his salutation. God
made his blossoms to bloom over
unmarked graves and has filed the
old trenches with lilies of the val
ley. Wild vines Chamber over ruin