Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1939-11-16
A. Nj. Simonsen, Local Lee
gionnaire, Speaks on the
Evenings Program.

Armistice day in Askov was OBJ
served in fitting manner by pro-
gram sponsored by the American Lee
gion and its Auxiliary in the D. B. S.
hall in the evening. The large hall
was filled to the four walls and the
program was launched with the audi
ence singing america the Beautiful"
That was followed by minute of
silent prayer, after which a short
period of singing was enjoyed by the
audience The Girl Scouts then rem
dered two numbers and the Boy
Scouts presented clever skit having
to do with modern youth being on
the auction block at which war, crime,
pleasure, industry, business, profess
sion and education were among the
bidders. The Boy Scout representa-
tive cooperated with others and Of
fered great possibilities for the
youths future. Other numbers on
the program were two vocal selec-
tions by the school glee club, more
community singing was enjoyed and
Taps" was played on the piano by
Miss Emily Cole, member of the
| faculty.
A. NJ. SimOnsen Talks.
The speaker of the evening was a
local man, A M. Simonsen, who has
been one of the mainstayS in the
local Legion activities and through
out the district Following is the
text of Mr. Simonsen's address which
drew rapt attention from his large
audience:
Gen. Hugh S. Johnson, in an adj
dress to the delegates of the Amer
lean Legion at their National Con-
vention recently held in Chicago,
stated ''that every ideal, every prin-
ciple for which we fought in the last
war had been lost and had turned
to ashes in our mouths" This, too,
was in the minds of those delegates
for they applauded that statement.
Now it is the things which are in
mems minds that govern their ac-
tons. In order that you may more
fully understand why we as an or
ganization have proposed certain pol
icies to the American public during
the past 20 years, it is necessary
that l take you back some % years
and review what happened then.
Review certain history which taught
us lesson, for it is the lessons
learned by us during the World war
which have guided us in every ma
tional policy the American Legion
has proposed to the American pub
lie and l might state at this time
that we have never found it neces-
sary to back-track on single policy
we have proposed in the past. l
know of no other organization, polit-
ical or otherwise, which has that
record, and has been able to main
tain it for a period of over 20 years
and still remain growing organiza-
ton.
Review World War Facts.
Now l can assure you at the start
that l am not going to refght the
battles of the World war. A veteran
was once asked how it could be
that veterans never talk of their
war experiences except among them
selves, and he replied that it was
perhaps because most of us realized
that we, as a nation, were suckers
for getting into that war in the first
place, why advertise it.
What are the things we learned
from that war? We were taught the
futility of war itself, the futility of
hate, the futility of racial animos-
tiles, the futility of greed and avarice,
the futility of attempting to promote
idealism by war, the futility of try
ing to elevate the brotherhood of
man by promoting mans inhuman-
ity to man, the futility of the sham,
hypocrisy and war propaganda.
The average veteran was taught
more anent sham and hypocrisy in
one day on the front than he could
have learned in lifetime spent in
civil pursuits and the reason he
learned so much about it in one
single day up there was because
there wasn't any of it there There
just didn't seem to be any room for
| it up there among the millions of
dead. The average veteran, upon
entering the war zone, was in an
entirely different world than any in
which we had been before.
Different Attitudes Taken.
It became at once necessary for
us to re-orient our sense of values,
to re-orient our PHILOSOPHERS of life
and it became at once clear that
certain institutions which we pre-
viously had considered above re-
proach, institutions which in a
vague sort of way we had considered
as teaching the true values of life
were in reality founded on sham and
hypocrisy for it was those institu-
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