The Republican journal., 1921-05-26
QUOTATION
MEMORIAL DAY
"Cheers for the living.
Tears for the deadP

SOiuCu IlSul VI IllC HUI uIuR VI cans
upon the mystic valley of eternity
Sleep while the nation mourns Though
dead you still live and will forever
live in the grandeur of your accom-
plishments and in the gratitude of
your country"
Fifty-seven years ago this month, a
few weeks after the surrender at Appo-
matox and soon after the immortal Lin
coin had passed to the other shore, 2OO,-
900 war worn heroes clad in blue marched
in review down Pennsy lvania Avenue in
Washington. A great banner was hung
across the front of the Capitol Building
and on it was this inscription:
''The only national debt we can never
pay is the debt to the victorious Union
soldiers"
Along all that marching line was heard
exultant acclaim for the living, and
heart-breaking sobs for the fallen. AS
the revolving years have taken their
place in history the sound of acclaim has
softened to silent reverence, but many
are the tears which ere yet unshed; tears
for those who fell in battle; tears for
those who died from wounds and disease
or by starvation and neglect in southern
prisons; tears for those who came home
to Us and now, in ripening May, sleep
meath tiny flags and fragrant flowers
The first observance of Memorial Day
was IN 1868. In that year, John A.
Logan, soldier, patriot and statesman,
Then Commander of the Grand Army of
the Republic, called upon his comrades
to assemble in that and in succeeding
years ''for the purpose of decorating
with choicest flowers OF spring time the
graves of those who had given up their
lives that the Republic might live"
Every year since then Memorial Day has
been observed with ever increasing rev.
erence.
The people of this country have not
forgotten-they never will forget-that
whenever President Lincoln called for
troops to preserve the unity of this Re-
public they came, marching from the
East, and marching from the West,
sho uting the battle cry of Freedom"
Eight hundred and fifty-eight of these
men marc he'd from the little CITY of Bel
fast and of these 100 were killed in bat
tie or died by reason of wounds or disease
before the war was ended We do
not give the above figures as a boast
n Ilt1Stro+ior, -
of every city and town of the entire
North, and for the especial purpose of
showing what the G. A. R. and their
fallen comrades did for the United States
for Us and for generations yet unborn
The commemoration of their devotion,
sacrlhces and sufferinRs have made the
thlrtleth day of May both sacred and
reverential.
There fingers today remnant only of
fthe host that, from 1861 to 1865, placed
all they had on the altar of their country.
''The army divided grows less on this
side;
One after another they cross the dark
tide;
The last of the veterans soon will have
found
The end of the march on the last camp
ing ground.
But lessons they taught and Memorial
Day,
Shall live while the blossoms return to
the May"
The "boys in blue" who have not yet
heard the implacable call to the sleep of
the ages have lived to see their sons
fighting side by side. with the sons of the
South in the Spanish War. They have
seen their sons and grandsons going over
the top on the bloody fields of France,
shoulder to shoulder with the sons and
grandsons of the men who wore the gray
IN the bitter and woeful days of the Civil
War. In few short years the last mem
Der of the G. A. R. will have been dis
charged from life's service Their ac-
complishments, traditions and example
will soon become the heritage of the
Veterans of the Spanish War, the Ameri-
can Legion and the people of the United
Sta ties; and what glorious and bene-
icent heritage it will be.
With the passing of the G. A. R. the
hosts of it's membership will not be for
gotten. AS long as American history is
written its pages will glow with recital
of their deeds, and American mothers
will read that history to their children
as an inspiration to a noble and loyal
citizenship. The men of the American
Legion who, trained only in peaceful pur-
suits, blazed path of glory through the
valleys of death at Belleau Wood, Chat
eau-Thierry and St. Mihiel are already
pre- pairing to receive the torch of patriot
ism from hands which, for nearly sixty
years, have borne it. They are worthy
descendants from a valiant ancestry.
They will not allow their heritage to be
lost to their children and children's chill
dr. en-. They will teach them that Memo
rial Day has significance entirely apart
from other days, and that its sacredness
a n d memories are priceless legacies.
THE SALES TAX