Imperial Valley press., 1928-01-04
COMMANDER OF
LEGION GIVES
INSPIRING TALK
CONTINUED from page one)

~---------------- - ------~ -
under the control of the govern
ment, the same as the soldier on the
battlefield or the sailor on the sea.
He decried the attempts of badly
informed persons who seek to have
all reference to the military history
of the United States removed from
school-children.
Patriotism is as necessary as
rcligion,'' he declared. "The two
go hand in hand. 1t is as essential
that the American child shall know
the heroism of those who have Civ
en- their lives for his country as i
is that he shall know his God. There
is no more glorious reading than the
pages of American history which
tell Of the notable feats of her sons
in war.
The commander cited the heroic
act of a runner carrying a message
during the World War, as one of
the most heroic acts of the entire
war, and held his listeners breath
less as he reeounted the story of the
young American who lost his life.
He mad" 4 plea for tolerance and
for service to the community. state
and nation. on the part of Legion
members - that when the last Leg
ionaire has answered the final roll
call, the nation can say, "Well
done thou good and faithful serv-
ants
District Attorney Elmer Heald
acted as toastmaster for the eve
Commander Spafford, he presented
various county officials and Legion
commanders to the gathering and
also presented Il. y. Watson, presi-
dent of the FL Centre Chamber of
Commerce, who briefly welcomed
the commander on behalf of FL Cen
tro businessmen.
Commander Kendall 3. Perkins,
representing the city of FL Centre
and Boyee Aten Post, welcomed the
national commander to this city. In
a short speech he assured the com
mander that he was not going to
weary him with long drawn-out
speech and he ordered the command
er to stand up. He then extended
the hand of fellowship to the dis.
tinguished visitor and explained to
him that it >tvpified the personal
greeting Of every resident of I'M
perial Valley. In concluding, Per
kins explained that he was "'gob"
during the war, and it gave him
considerable pleasure and a sense
of superiority to be able to order n
lie"tenant-comman to stand
up".
State Commander Talks
Phil Dodson. commander of the
department of California, was the
final speaker and took the oppor-
tunitv to thank the national com
mander for visiting California and
the people of Imperial Valley for
the welcome they had given Com
mander Spafford. He declared the
commander visit will strengthen
the Legion throughout the state and
will increase the interest in every
post of the valley.
In introducing the national com
mander to the gathering, District
Attorney Heald made an eloquent
plea for support of the Swing John
son bill, which legislation he de-
clared to be the sole hope of the
vallev's future. He urged the com
mander to lend his aid to the pro-
iect as it will benefit no small num-
Der of ey-service men.
Yesterday afternoon Commander
Spafford and his party paid a visit
Irrigation District at Andrade and
inspected the levee system. The en-
tire project of the district was ex-
planned to him and he showed the
result of his navy training in fol
lowing everything with close atten-
tion and by asking questions which
showed remarkable ability to
grasp the manv details involved.
At the conclusion of the banquet
the commander was presented to
the gathering. all of whom took ad
vantage to meet him personally.
Later he and his party left for
Yuma and from there will go to Tue
son.
Through arrangements with radio
station KGEN, Commander Spaf
ford s speech was broadcast over
the radio, thereby giving an oppor-
tunity to many who were unable
to attend the banquet, to hear the
commander.