Evening star., 1937-08-02
SHAFT DEDICATED
AT M0NTFAUC0N
France and u. S. Pledge
Continued Friendship and
Quest for Peace.
~ the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press.
MONTFAUCON, France. August
Americas greatest war memorial
In France, commemorating the VIC
tory of the American first army in
the Meuse- -Argonne offensive, was
dedicated yesterday on the soil of Lor-
raine, where thousands of doughboys
died in the closing weeks of the World
War.
President Roosevelt, his voice car
ried by radio from a yacht on the
Potomac River to the Montfaucon
battlefield, pledged the United States
to continued faith in the ideal Of
democracy, common to France and
the United States.
At Montfaucon President Albert lie
Brun of France. Gen. John j. Persh-
ing, commander of the American
Expeditionary Forces. and Marshal
Henri Philippe Petain. Frances war
time leader on the western front, dedi-
Gated their nations to continued
friendship and the quest of peace
Today representatives of France
and the United States dedicated at
Montsec a memorial to the American
offensive, September II, 1918, which
broke the German salient at ST.
Mihiel.
Brig. Gen. Bernard W. Kearney of
Gloversville. N. Y. national COM
mander of the Veterans of Foreign
Wars. delivered the dedicatory address
In the first Of 10 ceremonies following
the Montfaucon dedication.
5000 Attend Ceremonies.
Six thousand Americans and
Frenchmen attended the ceremonies at
the Montfaucon memorial. tall white
shaft of granite, designed by John Rus
sell Oppe of New York Rising from a
hilltop. 1t dominates the surrounding
country like a lighthouse. Nearby
are the ruins of the church and old
village Of Montfaucon, destroyed in
the last days Of September, 1918,
when the American Army was going
through its grimest test of the great
war. The new village of Montfaucon
Is visible in the distance.
President Roosevelt stressed the
common democratic aims of the two
countries.
The people of France and the peo-
pie of the United States find union to-
day in common devotion to the ideal
which the memorial at Montfaucon
symboll1es," he said. That ideal, to
which both nations bear faithful wit
ness, is the ideal Of freedom under
democracy-liberty attained by gov
eminent found in democratic insti-
tutions"
Emotion Hard to Control.
President lie Brun, speaking imme-
diately after President Roosevelt, said
his words brought forth emotion
hard to control"
He spoke words of reason whose
echo will 60 far beyond those to whom
they we're destined" LIE Brun declared.
France here today publicly renews
her gratitude to America on the site
of her great victory"
Gen. Pershing declared that the
MeuSe-Argonne campaign, in which
100000 Americans were in action
was "hercer and more heart breaking
than any World War battle except
Verdun.
1T Is memories such as these that
make civilized soldiers hate war, and
fheV do hate il F." he Saclorod "T1,a
last conflict brought no profit to any
one, but left many questions unsettled.
But they cannot be settled by war. Yet
the prospects for peace do not look
promising.
Hatred and suspicion still exist
and armaments at enormous cost con-
tinue to grow. And if no cure is dis
covered for this temporary madness
We are in a hopeless state, for of one