The sun., 1919-06-15
CHATEAU THIERRY
A NEW GETTYSBURG
In Flag Grafton DIR. Butler
Urges Allied Observance
of Memorial Day.
OLD GLORY DEAR TO ALL
COlumbia's Head Tells of In
SEPARATION in Emblem and OBJ
legations to War Veterans.

II Is the notion Of DR.. Nicholas MURRAY
Butler, president of Columbia Univer-
sity. that all the countries which had n
part In the defeat Of the Germans should
observe Memorial Day, as we do, as A
day sacred to their soldier dead.
He expressed his idea in the course Of
Flag Day address. delivered last night
at the Elks Club. basing 1t on the fact.
as he said. that the American flag ap-
peared in France Just in time to save
the world. and that Chateau Thierry
was as much an American battlefield as
Gettysburg.
THE flag" said DIR. Butler, came lust
In time to save the world and to save
America itself from being engulfed by
huge and ponderous wave OF military
autocracy and imperial ambition. Cha
teau Thierry IL as much an American
battlefield as Is Gettysburg; and the
high tide at Chateau Thierry was quite
as dangerous to civilization as was the
high tide at Gettysburg to the Union Of
the United States.
Flag Dear TO Allies Hearts.
The Stars and Stripes in consequence
became dear to the hearts of other peo-
pies than our own. The French, the
British. the Belgians, the Italians, the
Serbians. the Czecho-Slovaks and the
Poles all acclaim it. and they honor the
service which 1t represents. American
blood has been shed in battle under the
Stars and Stripes side by side with this
blood of these friendly and allied peo-
pies Might we not now suggest that
our Memorial Day. which comes in the
season Of the early flowers and while
spring is passing into summer. should be
made not merely an American. but a
worldwide celebration?
why should not men assemble on
each succeeding May 80 at those fields
of battle where men died for freedom.
and in those resting places Of the dead
where the bodies Of fallen soldiers aud
sailors have been affectionately placed
in order that the memory OF their deeds
and their ideals may be kept alive, and
In order that the brotherhood of nations
may be strengthened by recalling their
common sacrifice and their common suf-
fering?
81. would be a splendid and impre ssive
moment, IL. on May 80, there might
gather on the battlefields and In soldiers
cemeteries al the way from the Russian
marshes to the fairest lands Of England
and Of France, great companies of men
and women to place flowers and flags
on the graves of those who died in the
greatest OF all vars. and to tell there
again the story OF that war and what
it meant"
Nation in Debt to Vets.
Dr. Butler ended his speech with a
reminder to his audience of the obliga.
ton under which all Americans rest In
respect to discharged soldiers. Thi:
obligation he said was one which tho
fag itself imposed. He declared that
the debt to the soldiers could be settled
only by bending all the institutions Of
the country to their service.
I'VE must have a care" he said. thai
we live up to the obligation as we'll a,
the inspiration of the flag. There have
already come home to US, and there are
still coming week by week, hundreds Of
thousands of American soldiers who have
shared in the greatest experience Of
modern times. They are coming back tC
us not only with an enlarged horizon
and larger view Of life. but with a new
horizon and a new view Of life. The,
have seen men killed by their side. They
have watched cities burn and fields raw
ished. They have witnessed the forcei
Of destruction let loose in all their fury
They realize as they never realized be
fore both the significance and the in
significance of human life.
I'VE cannot pay our debt to these re
turning soldiers by cheering them the,
march in parade and by expressing ou
hanks and appreciation in formal res
olutions. We can only pay our debt t,
thcm by bending ourselves and all on
institutions to their service. 1t il h,
the effort OF these millions OF men tina
we have been saved and that all we holt
dear has been preserved to U.S."