The Coconino sun., 1923-06-08

him in his prosperity inspired him in
his adversely; he stepped from the
trenches into the furrow; horses that
had charged federal guns marched be-
fore the plow; fields that ran red ,
with blood in April were green with
harvest in June.
There is enough glory for all. The
union soldier fought for the union and
saved it; the Confederate soldier
for what he thought was right and
lost.
For thirty-three years peace was
ours; the nation waXed strong; indus
tries prospered; the west was won,
when suddenly out of the welkin rang
the refrain: Remember the Maine"
Thousands of brave men answered
the call to arms; they drank deep or
the sickly West Indian fogs, waded
water, slept in mud, went hungry,
marched weary miles under a blister
ing tropical sun, fought, bled and died
to uphold the Star Spangled Banner.
They were the illustrious sons of a
reunited country, whose ancestors
had worn the Blue and Gray. They
covered themselves with glory at San
tiago and San Juan hill.
The Spanish-AInerican war was
over. We sought to learn war no
more, when in 1917 the war cloud
that had been lowering over Europe
broke upon our lands, and in order to
maintain and uphold the traditions of
our fathers we were drawn into that
terrible avalanche of blood. Four
million American lads heard and
obeyed Liberty's call; two million
crossed the rolling pillows and
camped on foreign soil. Fifty-two
thousand of our comrades were fed
into the jaws of he'll and were laid
to sleep beneath the poppies of Flan-
ders' fields.
AS we come to cover the graves of
our heroes with flowers, the past rises
before us like a dream. Again we are
in the great conflicts; we hear the
sound of marching feet, the music
of boisterous drums, the silver voices
of thousand bugles. We hear the
appeals of Liberty's cause trampled
down; we see the pale faces of wo-
men, the flushed cheeks of men; we
see all the comrades whose graves we
have come to cover with flowers to-
day. We see them march proudly
away under Haunting flags, keeping
time to the wild music of war
marching down the streets of the cit
les and through the towns and across
the plains to do and to die; again we
see long line in khaki wend its way
toward the waters front; slowly, but
firmly, it mounts the gang plank of
the huge liner At last all is ready,
the mighty engines are started, the
Statue of Liberty falls below the line
of sea and sky. For twelve long
days we are on the bosom of the
briny deep, tossed by the surging bill.
lows and kissed by flying spray. Tired
and weary, at last we get a glimpse
Of the gray shores of France. We
See the grim desolation wrought by
the Demon War. We see the hospital
trains unload their cargoes of dead
and dying; we see the artillery lay
down its curtain of fire; we are in
the trenches with our comrades
breathlessly waiting. the zero hour; we
are by their side on the fields of
glory, in all the hospitals of pain.
/ We stand guard with them in the
wild storm and under the silent stars;
we see them pierced by ball and torn
by she'll in the trenches and in the
whirlwind of the charge when men
become iron with nerves of steel.
We are at home when the sad news
reaches us that they are dead. We
see the maiden in the shadow of her
first sorrow; we see the silvered head
of the old man bowed in the agony
of his last grief.
Those heroes are dead; they sleep
nader the solemn pines, the sad hem
locks, the weeping willows and the
embracing of vines, They sleep under
the shadows of the clouds and be-
meath the poppies Of Flanders fields.
| Earth may run red with war, but
those comrades are at rest. Let US
here dedicate our hearts and minds to
the cause for which they so nobly
fought and died. for it is written that
"On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards with solemn round
the bivouac of the dead"
Let us resolve to perpetuate this
government of the people for the
people and by the people" Our he
roic dead sealed their devotion to our
country by their blood. May we seal
ours by renewed faith and loyalty
to the heritage left us. Let us ban
ish from our shores those who seek
to tear down and destroy that which
was purchased by so great a price;
let us brand as traitors those who de-
sire to destroy our constitution-the
bulwark of our liberties; by so doing,
we fittingly remember our dead Our
heroes are praised for having died for
our country; we may be honored by
! having lived for it.