The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-04-26
TO HONOR THEME.

VI NoruduI grass, ana i've OAKS and
sycamore and other trees that are
loved OF the South have flung out
new banners OF tender leaf to remind
Us Of that renewal. that ever spring
i.g hope and faith which this season
typiffes.
Everywhere there are flowers
flowers of the Southland; the roses
and violets, the nagnolias and wister-
Ia and all the many blooms, beloved
and dear.
There are no jewels that we may
bring--ro costly gems could express
for us the reverence that we feel on
this day so sacred-but instead we
bring flowers and a great love--flow-
ers as the outward expression Of that
deep and poignant appreciation Of the
sacrifice that was made that we might
be here today, in the land Of our birth.
For the Memorial Day Of the South
is not alone for, the dead-it is also
for the living. 1t is not only those
who tell on field OF battle that we hon.
or today, but also those others, that
brave band who reached their highest
moment in defeat.
For what OF those, the heroes who
now live?,"
Those men who gave the all they
had to give and giving, asked no guer-'
don but to knowGit was their best?"
And those others. that remnant of
once proud army, who came back to
the South to take up the burden and
fight a new fight, during those terrible
days of reconstruction?
For the dead who fell in battle, and
for those other heroes who fought a
good fight and kept the faith. long. after
the roar OF the cannon had ceased
and or that sacred band, the valiant
remnant of the grey hosts" we will
gather today to pay our tribute, made
quate enough, at its best, but at least
"a petal on the grave of honor"
The parade will form promptly this
afternoon at 2:45 o'clock at the bivouac
at the county court house, on East
Chase street, the services to take place
at the First Baptist church
Let us not fail today to put aside
any duties that interfere with this priv
ilege that is ours, and make part of
those who assemble at the church
this afternoon, and later at r. z. Lee
square, to honor the Southern dead.
1t matters not whether we be South
ern-born or not. These men of the
South have "been valiant in peace and
In war"
They fought for those principals
which they believed to be right--the
principles of self DETERMINATIONS
when they were vanquished they did
not play the 'craven's part, but laying
aside the sword they put their hands
to the pillow and the pick-ax and the
hammer and built a new country on the
ruins OF the old.
No other terms OF war-not even
those OF Germany-were so rigid as
proves that-lbut there is no bitter
ness in the heart of the South today
That heart has suffered much, but
1t has not broken under it's weight
OF pain, but has used it's sorrow to
learn strength and from defeat has
wrested a glorious victory
The South has given to this country
some OF the greatest heroes who have
ever fought under the Stars and
Stripes. And some of the greatest
statesmen since the war have been
Southern.
Worth Bagley the first man lost by
the American navy during the Spanish
American war. was Southern. The
first man killed AT San Juan Hin was
a North CaroIfntan. Hobson IL an
Albanian. These ara only a few
names OF Southern men who wrote
their names on the scroll OF honor dur
ing the Spanish american war.
In the world war their names were
ab countless as the sands on the sea-
shore. They went forth by the hun
dreds of thousands and laid down their
lives for their country under the Stars
and Stripes.
And while there is no bitterness nor
rancor in the heart OF the South to-
day-that South that gave her sons
so freely in the defense OF this country
of ours--we must not forget that when
those men went forth to battle to-
fight for Cuban independence and to
offer their lives in service to the allied
armies, that they We're fighting for the
same principle of self determination for
which their forefathers ell more than
fifty years ago.
Let us never let the years draw a
veil between us and the truth. Let us
look back upon those days not in pity
but in pride, not with Apology not in
any spirit OF depression and explana
ton, but with the glad memory of men
who went forth to fight for their
hearth stones, and having lost, came
hack big enough and brave enough to
take up their burdens and climb the
mountainside until they reached the
summit to greet bright and Singing
day.
May God bless the veterans and
keep us always conscious. we of the
South, of the debt we owe to them
debt that we can never pay, but one
which we can keep always before US
on the calendar Of Spring, and taking
the flowers of memory lay them as
precious Jewels upon the shrine that
is sacred to every Southern heart.
FIFTY-oNE YEARS OF SERVICE.