The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1921-04-01
Lest We Forget

oO Will 10 yCI. LcSl We 1OTScl.
Lest we forget" When Klpllng
penned those words that have been
repeated wherever the English
language is spoken, he must have
been looking forward to the United
States in the years following the
world war. Four years ago now
the people of the United States
were demanding that this country
enter the war with the Allies which
were fighting losing battle
against the enemies Of civilization.
-Four years ago next Wednesday the
United States formally declared
that state of war exists between
the United States and Germany, and
the United States had thrown her
strength, her soul, her wealth into
the fight on the side of humanity.
During the next few weeks the
very flower of young American man
hood to the number of several hum
dred thousand volunteered. Then
came the selective draft and the
young men responded and were
rushed to training camps where
they were given a few weeks or a
few months of training and sent
across" to fight for humanity and
make the world safe for dem
ocracy." We, who were TOO old or
too young, or were prevented by
other causes from going to the
front, remained at home and Ibid
our bit" in every way possible. We
bought Liberty bonds, war saving
stamps, worked in the harvest
fields, produced more food. ate less,
lived on substitutes that our own
soldiers and those of our Allies
might be fed and clothed and pro-
vided with arms and equipment.
The whole world looked on with
amazement as the United States,
totally unprepared for war, made
the most rapid progress ever known
in the history of the world and
gathered an army of almost five
million men from all parts of this
great country, trained, armed and
equipped them and put nearly 2,O00,-
900 of them in France and Belgium,
with the loss of but two transports
and less than 27O of our men. In a
few months the United States land
ed more men in France than Eng
land, 22 miles distant, with the
greatest navy in the world to pro-
tect her transports. had been able
to land in the same length of time.
Our soldiers threw themselves
into the thick of the fighting and
turned the tide. Germany was de-
feated. and the United States troops
and the self-sacrlticing people at
home, made this possible. Greater
glory was never won by any nation.
Greater glory was never deserved
by any people. We were united.
There was no north, no south, no
east, no west" There was no dem
ocratlc, republican or other politi-
cal party. We were all Americans,
the proudest and grapdest name on
this earth. We threw our whole
souls, our hest young manhood, our
wealth, our energies into the con-
fiict and we won. German writes
today give the United States the
credit for winning the war and fu-
ture historians will record the same
verdict.
But we never hear of the grand
work the United States did in the
war, except from the German,
French, Belgium. English or Italian
press. One would think that the
United States had done nothing but
blunder, solicit funds from the
citizens and squander them in cor
ruption. We have heard from the
partizan press that Everything
was rotten" That there was graft
everywhere and our navy was a
failure and everything we did was
wrong. Since President Wilson re-
turned from Paris the jackaIs of
America, the tribe that thrive on
carrion, have been buslly engaged
trying to discredit everything
America did and they have succeed
ed only too we'll. The political
assassins of character, manhood and
everything good, have been so buslly
and so successfully throwing mud
and dirt and lies and slander at the
administrator that has just ended,
that IN less than four short years
from the day the United States en-