Evening star., 1924-09-20

u
$4,000 Catholics, most of them Holy
Name men, who fought for a lerican
! ideals in the World War
| The floral offering was placed on
the tomb by the personal representa-
| tive of the Pope at the Holy Name
| convention, William Cardinal O'Con-
nell, after Patrick j. Haltigan, pres
| ident of the Baltimore Union of the
| Holy Name Society, had completed
| the roll call of service" for {" 101
dioceses which sent their young men
to answer the call to the colors !
| 10 land 1918
AS the last notes Of "taps" from
an Army bugle sounded over the Vir-
ginia hills the entire throng stood
rigidly at attention and recited in
unison the Holy Name pledge to God
and co~ntry, followed Immediately by
the singing in concert of The Star
Spangled tanner" led by the Holy
Name Band.
Pays Tribute to Soldiers. +
The final patriotic demonstration
was the society's echo to the ringing
words few moments before of Very
Rev. 1gnacius Smith, O. p, p c..
superior at the Dominican House of
Studies in Brookland:
AS soldiers of peace, building
solidly for the Nation, present
these members in this holy spot to
our Unknown Soldier and to his coun-
try without apology and with the ut
most confidence that they are the
hope of the Nations integrity"
Continuing, the speaker declared:
We have come here to honor the
Unknown Soldier, to honor him per-
sonally and to declare respect for
what he represents. We come here to
recognize every man who died in any
one of our wars. who died for the
principles that we Holy Name men of
America recognize not only as the
protection of democracy. but also the
foundations of our belief
Denies Political Significance.
I'VE are not here to display our
strength. We are here in complete
oblivion of every political or business
afliatfon. We are not here in COM
petition with any other religious or
ganlzation nor as a plea for distinc-
tive recognition by the country. We
of the Holy Name Society delight in
the existence of any organiza ton that
can honestly surpass US in love of
country. We are here to ask prayers
for our dead heroes, we are here. 10
make the pledge that these United
~
other nations and respected by her
citizens as long as it has within its
manhood these Holy Name men to
whom love OF country is love of God"
In response to Father Smiths re-
quest, President Haltigan then pro-
ceeded 10 read off by dioceses the ac-
complishments of their members in
the great war. The total for the
archdiocese of Baltimore, including
mn of To
Columbia, was 1857 Catholic men
in arms, of whom 343 paid the su-
preme sacrifice.
Lay Records at Tomb.
As each diocese was reported a
memter of the Marine Corps stepped
forward and laid at the foot Of the
tomb the bundled records of the diocese
pertaining to this war service. The re-
mar .oole roll call represented six years
of 'mpilation by d. J. Ryan, director
o. he bureau of records of the Ma
uonal Catholic Welfare Conference,
and his force.
A platoon of marines and detail of
Army Regulars from Fort Myer added
an appropriate touch of the military to
the scene.
Veterans Participate.
At each side of the tomb during
the ceremonies stood Holy Name
World War veterans in uniform and
they jointly handed to Cardinal
O'Connel the wreath to be laid on
their unknown comrades resting
place. These sentinels were Pvt
Ralph Shortall, of Company a. 109th
Infantry, Pennsylvania Division, who
received gunShot wounds in the legs
on July Is, 1918. at Chateau Thierry.
and Pvt. Armidus Bonen, 7th Field
Artillery, 1st Division, Michigan, who
was wounded in the hip by machine
gun fire in the Argonne on Novem-
ber IS, 1917.
AS the various diocese were called
off by Mr.. Haltigan an impressive
silence was maintained by the as
semblage, for it was realized that
among the listeners no doubt We're
hundreds of relatives of the men rep
resented in the totals announced. and
perhaps mothers of some of the "a 600
dead warriors listed.
The total number of Catholic men
from each diocese who was in his
country's service during the war was
announced, together with the total
number of those who never came
back alive. When the roll call had
been completed there was piled about
the tomb 101 bundles of records veri-
flying the parish service reports. The
platoon of Marines were assig ned
through the courtesy of Maj. Gen.
John y. Lejeune, Commandant of the
Marine Corps, for the special purpose
of guarding the Invaluable docu-
mentS.
Text of Address.
Father Smith said in part:
There rests the body of the un-
known soldier representing the sacred
and conSecrated selfleSsneSS of our
American people. He may have been
a member of our Holy Name Society,
we know not. But we have come to
honor him in peace just as we sup
ported him in war. To enter within
these sacrosanct borders should be
permitted only to the holiest of or
CARNATIONS, with the holiest of pur-
poses. The Holy Name Society on
this day of national roll call presents
the holy credentials for admission.
THE Holy Name Society is a sacred
organization. 1t has nothing but
spiritual purposes. With a member
United States and with 700 years
of traditions, it stands before the
American public today as an organ
lied and public profession of belief in
Jesus Christ as God.
IT have in mind that we are not
here to preach religion but to honor
the dead. We do not seek to capitalize
this sacred occasion for propaganda.
We are ere to challenge the atten-
tion of the dead and in particular, the
attention of the unknown soldier.
We humbly present some testimony
of our services in the uniforms of the
United States forces during the
World War. Would that there were
time also to present the patriotic
credentials of our Holy Name men
in the other great wars of our coun-
try. To omit them on this occasion
is not to slight them, because they
too join us today in recognizing the