Evening star., 1939-01-16
Preparedness Urged
By Gen. Cox in Talk
Al Cathedral
First Annual Guard
Services Attended by
More Than 1000
BY ROBERT A. ERWIN.

by hObEh1 "A, ERWIN.
The United States has become q
tremendously wealthy Nation and
must be prepared to defend its place
among the other great nations OF
the world, Brig Gen. Albert L. Cox
told more than 1000 officers and en-
listed men of the District National
Guard assembled in Washington
Cathedral yesterday afternoon for
the Guards first annual church
service.
His address and the sermon OF
Capt. Simpson B. Daugherty, chap
lain of the 12lst Engineers, were de-
livered to the uniformed troops after
they had moved by motor convoy
from the District Armory at Sixth
street and Pennsylvania avenue
NV. to the Cathedral
The National Guard, in dress uni
form, broke all attendance records
for regular drills as it turned out
en- masse for the occasion, which
was conceived by its commander,
Gen. Cox The troop movement,
from Armory to Cathedral and back
again was accomplished with pre-
cision and a minimum of delay.
Dignitaries Attend.
The 40-minute service, a part of
the observance of National Guard
day, for which a proclamation was
issued by the District Commission
ers. was attended by a number of
dignitaries who included Gen. Malin
Craig, chief of staff of the United
States Army.
Love of God, which We are accus-
toned to call religion. and love of
country, which We know as patriot
ism, are the constituent elements of
a nations safety" Gen Cox told
his troops. In the disturbed con-
dition of world affairs, it behooves
all Of us to rededicate ourselves to
q stronger defense of these funda-
mental principles.
''As the President of the United
States so well said in his message
to Congress. Where freedom of re-
llgion has been overthrown. the
spirit of free men has disappeared
Religion. by teaching man his re-
lationship to God. gives the individ-
ual a sense of his own dignity and
teaches him to respect himself by
respecting his neighbors.
There comes time in the affairs
Of men when they must prepare to
defend not their homes alone, but
the tenets of faith and humanity
on which their churches, their gov
ernment and their various civiliza-
tons are founded.
Foundation of Liberty.
I'VE are daily confronted with the
efforts made in other countries to
Danish religion and the ghastly
train of events that has followed
such efforts. We must realize, then,
more than ever. that religion is the
only foundation upon which liberty
and democracy can be maintained
and that the future of our Nation
depends upon the religious founda-
tion upon which it was erected"
Delivering the sermon, Capt
Daugherty declared, There comes
time in the progress of any nation
when no place of authority can be
trusted to the half-hearted soldier.
He must either be willing to hand
over his weapons to the whole
hearted, or watch the nation sink
peacefully beneath the waves of
things that were
Chaplain Daughery cited the ulti-
mite fate of the Roman Empire, a
fate that came because its people
became easy-going and pleasure
loving.
I'VE are not approaching a period
Of repose.' he said, when we can
take refuge in the thought of a
glorious past. We cannot let we'll
enough alone. We cannot close our
eyes to the sore spot of civilization.
We cannot hide ourselves away in
the recesses of the Temple, but in
the face of stunned and dismayed
humanity. broken at the wheel, sink
ing in an unequal struggle for
existence, where large part of our
fellow-pilgrims are prosecuted, out
ragged, bleeding from the wounds of
the judicial whiplash, we certainly
cannot be content with hiding in the
corners of our selfish, personal COM
forts"
Bishop Extends Greetings.
The church service was in charge
Of Maj. Arlington A. McCallum,
chaplain of the 26Oth Coast Artillery.
Greetings were extended by the
Right Rev. James E. Freeman,
Bishop of Washington. Music in the
Cathedral was in charge of Robert
Barrow, head of the Cathedral choir.
To and from the march from nearby
Garfield street, where the Guard re-
trucked, music was furnished by the
121st Engineers Band under Warrant
Of11cer Meyer N Goldman and the
260th Band under Warrant Officer
Joseph Berst.
The Guardsmen began assembling
at the armory at 230 pm yester-
day and by 3 pm. were on their way
to the Cathedral. led by Gen. Cox
and his staff and preceded by a
motorcycle escort of Metropolitan
Police.
Leading the hVe units OF the
Guard in the church service were
Col. John W. Oehmann, command
ing officer, 121st Engineers: Col.
Walter w Burns. 260th Coast Ar
tillery; Maj. William T. Roy, 29th
Division Special Troops: Maj.
Fletcher F. Bernsdorff, lst Battalion,
104th Quartermaster Regiment, and
Capt. Arthur c. Newman, Company
A, 372d Infantry, colored troops.
The movement to the Cathedral
was conducted with ease, but the
return trip encountered a little
difficulty as the reconnaissance wag-
ons and trucks pulled off from the
ice and snow covered curb of Gar
field street. The Guardsment pa
raded to and from the Cathedral
from their detrucking point.
Maj. Bernsdorff and 1t. Edward
NE,,1 nil W.T. - c<or