Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1920-05-27
NATION HoNoRs HER HEROES
Memories of Veterans of Three Wars
Are Enshrined in Country's
Heart.

meHlOfldl Gay - llle uety VI tIl6 NSans
The veterans of three wars; but, tho
newly consecrated by the fresh ana
poignant sacrifices Of those who passed
away in the great war of liberatioa
cover there" there cannot be now,
any more than in the past, any asso-
Citations but those of true joy ana
honorable pride, far remoed from the
despair of causes lost, or from griefs
over those whose death is without
meaning and end without result. For
it is the holy joy of these who know
that the sacrifices were not in vain
that distinguished this day of days
this year, coupled with the realiza--
ton that both those who went and
| thosewho remained joined freely in the
oblation on the altar of the country
with an unfaltering. belief in the fine
nobility of the obligation and the deep
Significance of what it meant for the
common good.
While the ceremonies on this side
follow the usual lines, heightened by
the opportunity to pay fresh homage
! where homage is due, the tribute that
is paid cover there beginning With
the ceremony at Suresnes, near which
has been developed the American [
cemetery nearest to Paris, at which
President Wilson officiated last year.
i'll the very presence of the dead them
selves, takes on an especially moving
character. For in nothing did the
American expeditionary force and all
its helpful accessory agencies, such as
the lied Cross, so distinguish them
selves as in their concern that the
last resting place of those who fell
abroad should be neither unknown,
unmarked nor unhonored. As re-
! suit of this determined and consecra-
ted effort of all services. the new
graves of hte hero dead, be they iocat-
ed where they fell, or remoed to the
permanent centers of burial that have
been selected at appropriate places as
the official American cemeteries, will
receive every attention that is their
just due from their brothers in arms
over there" and grateful country.
The graves, all separately and singly :
marked with the cross, or the STAR
save in name and title, no distinction
Of rank being allowed in the identify
ing symbol. will be decorated, one and
all. And while much that has been
devised as to the handling of these
special cemeteries has followed the
plan of the British. who have been at
work at the problem much longer, yet
peculiarly American touch is given
IN that this annual commemoration OF
Memorial day, so familiar to us all,
is new to our allies, and to the French
though they have gladly co-operated
with the American forces in order to
make the day truly notable one and
one of general and significant COM
nemoration.
! so far as the general cemeteries 90
we have followed the British in the
I1lan for the separate graves, but they
have gone little further in that
each large burying place will be dom
mated by tall cross and plain altar
stone, described by Kipling as tine
Gross of Sacrifice and the Stone of
remembrance" the stone bearing the
inscription. also suggested by Kip
ing, Their name heth forevermore.
Save for this. the great concentration
cemeteries of the American forces.
such as Romagne sur Nontfaucon,
the largest. containing $4,000 graves
OF those who fell in the Meuse-Ar-
come battles, will represent litths
more than the simplicity of Quaker
burying grounds; since the permanent
memorial monuments that may be
erected ere yet to be determined. But
there is no question of the monumen
tai effect of the ccmmemoration, nor
will these who lie in the smaller GEM
eteries or in the little French church
yards be: overlooked today or in the
years to come.
This is all as it should be And
quite as those at home would wish it.
Ard, as has happened in the case of
the older celebrations, even though
the clay brings its fresh and deeper
sorrows, at the same time there must
l'e felt everywhere the comforting
sense that the country and those who
nave passed away were quail to their
task in the world crisis. 1t is but J
meet ard proper, therefore, that all |
should -nsist that wherever they may,
lie each and all who paid the final debit
shall be marked from among their