Evening star., 1921-05-23
Wreath Is Placed
on Coffin by =
Executive.
BODIES OF 5000
IN CEREMONY
Strength of Nation Is in
Righteousness, Says
Mr.. Harding.
ny the Associated Press.


dent Harding today laid a wreath
on the coffin Of the first American
soldier to die on German soil at
funeral ceremony for 5000 war dead
at the Army pier in Hoboken.
His voice husky and his eyes brim-
at the rows and rows of collins. Then
he said:
"One hundred thousand sorrows are
touching my heart. 1t must not be
again. God grant that it will not
II do not pretend that the millen-
nial days have come and that there
will be no more war. I would wish
a nation 80 powerful that none Will
dare to provoke it's wrath
Then. in the great Army shed on
the shores of the Hudson, with its
stark whitewashed walls, there fell
a silence profound ami deep. Mrs
as she looked up on the f1ag-draped cof-
fms Of those who had given their all
for their country.
Then the President continued:
The republic will never forget the
sacrifices these men made-whetheI
the crimsoned soil of the battlefield
1SAt V1 A00kCB0s
In his Hoboken address Presiden,
Harding said:
There Grows on me the realization
of the unusual character of this oc.
casion. Our republic has been at wal
before; 1t has asked and received the
supreme sacrifices of its sons and
daughters and faith in America has
been justified. Many sons and laugh.
ters made the sublime Offering and
11onf IN hQ1lnupe,d pra vaR the ma
tion's defenders. But we never be.
fore sent so many to battle under
the flag in foreign lands: never before
was there the impressive spectacle o,
thousands of dead returned to fine
eternal resting places in the beloved
any parallel in history that 1 know
These dead know nothing. of oul
ceremony today. They sense nothing
Of the sentiment or the tenderness
which brings their wasted bodies te
the homeland for burial, close to kin
and friends and cherished asSocia.
,ions. These poor bodies are but the
cay tenements once possessed OF
souls which famed in patriotic devo.
ton, lighted new hopes on the bat.
tlegrounds Of civilization. and in their
sacrifices sped on to accuse autocracy
before the court of eternal justice.
We are not met for them, though
we love and honor and speak crate.
full tribute 1t would be futile tc
speak to those who do not hear, or to
sorrow for those who cannot sense it
or to exalt those who cannot know
But we can speak for country. we can
reach those who sorrow and sacrificed
through their service. who suffered
through their giving, who glory with
the republic through their heroic
7chievements, who rejoice in the civil
ization their heroism preserved.
For Those Who Live.
every tribute is for the living-an Of
fering in compensation of sorrow
When the light of life goes out there
is a new radiance in eternity, and
somehow the glow of it relieves the
darkness which is left behind.
Never a death but somewhere a
new life, never a sacrifice but some
where an atonement, never a service
but somewhere and somehow an
achievement. These had served. which
is the supreme inspiration in living.
They have earned everlasting graft
tude, which is the supreme solace in
dying. e
NO one way measure the vast and
varied affections and sorrow centering
on this priceless cargo Of bodies-once
living. fighting for. and finally dying
for the republic Ones words fail. his
understanding is halted. his emotions
are stirred beyond control when con-
tempiating these thousands Of beloved
dead. I find a. hundred thousand sor-
ringing In my ears like an admonition
eternal, an insistant caN-1t must not
be again. 1t must not be again. God
grant that It will not be, and let a
practical people join in cooperation with
God to the end that it shall not be.
mi oh fot,
men are not willing to fight. and II need
be to die, but I do wish for a nation
where 1t Is not necessary to ask that
sacrifice. ] do not pretend that millen-
nial days have come. but I can be-
lIeve in the possibility Of a nation being
conquest, and a nation SO powerful in
righteousness that none will dare in
woke her wrath. I wish for US such an
America.
supreme conflict Of all human history
They saw democracy challenged and de-
Tended 1t. They saw civilization threat
ened and rescued 1t. They saw America
anronted and resented 1t. They saw
our nations rights imperiied and stamp
ed those rights with a new sancity and
renewed security.
"shnH Not ForEet.n
They gave all which men and
women Chn give Wo snail give our
most and best II we make certain that
they did not die in vain. We shall
not forget. no matter whether they
lie amid the sweetness and tho bloom
of the homeland or sleep in tho soil
they crimsoned. Our mindfulness, our
gratitude, our reverence shall be in
tho preserved republic and the main
tained liberties and tho supreme JUS
tice for which they died"
In placing the wreath on the casket
the President said:
In tho name of the republic l be-
stow this tribute on the casket of the
first soldier who perished on the sc. |
of the enemy. This opportunity is
not chosen to express the suggestion
of hatred. in the American heart, for
there ia no hatred in the American
heart. but l have chosen II because
am offering the tribute to one re-
turned whose death on enemy soil
marked the day when our civilization
went face forward and tho assault on
our present-day civilization knew 1t
had failed. May -, 1915. Is the date
IN which this soldier was killed, and
rhe name Is that of Joseph w, Guy.
ton, Company /. of tho l26th Infantry,
a resident patriot and hero of the
state OF Michigan of the United States
When the President had finished his
brief address he stepped :forwardx
stopped In front OF the oofan that had
been tseleeted. TO .symboiise.: the arml
(Continusd % .PAes g Column -