Evening star., 1954-11-25
Constantine Brown
The Thanks We Give
America, Not Snug in Its Strength,
Grateful to Be Freedoms Outpost

The annual observance Of a
day Of Thanksgiving in Amer
lea has a significance, a special
character probably unknown
to any other people in the
world. While we today can
give thanks for material bless
ings unsurpassed as we gather
with our families and friends
over the festive board, most of
us have not lost sight of the
traditional meaning of this
day Of the harvest and hu-
mility.
The American Thanksgiving
was the creation OF a pioneer
band Of deeply religious, free
DOM seeking stalwarts who, on
that first observance, gave
thanks. not for the plenty they
did not have. but for survival
amidst incredible hardships.
And we today, surrounded by
every ease and comfort in the
most productive society in
world history, still share that
simple gratitude of our Pill
grim forebears for survival in
a world of menace.
AS we give thanks for the
golden-brown turkey awaiting
the carving, we also give
thanks for the way of life that
preserves our rights as a free
people. And we quickly realize
then that our thanks must first
of all go to the dedicated men,
be they politicians or poets or
plodders, who keep the jealous
protection of our way of life
the supreme goal in their every
undertaking.
We pause a moment to- con-
template the immense fright
fulness Of the atomic age, and
Immediately know in certainty
that the same rugged deter
mination and honest, simple
faith that held our pioneer
fathers steadfast against the
ever-present menace of cold
and hunger and savage enemies
must and can keep us stead
fast today in the face of
dangers lilnitlessly greater in
scope, but not one whit more
threatening in nature.
Our gratitude goes for lead
ership which, without insulat-
ing America from the rest of
the world, keeps uppermost
the need for maintaining the
integrity of the Nation first Of
all in the determination that
no foes from without or
traitors from within shall sue
ceed in depriving our people
and the world of this shining
outpost of freedom.
Some turkey and trimmings,
too. we shall save for the men
manning the stockades de-
Tending us from implacable
enemies. Our sentries today
are streaking through the
stratosphere in Jet lightning,
the modern counterparts Of
the leather-clad rifiemen of
generations ago peering from
the blockhouse, alert for the
stealthy approach Of hidden
aggressors bent on carnage
and conquest.
Americans will remember,
With the courage born Of
principle. the unboasting but
answering loyalties of our
people In times Of direst crisis,
when the common veal and
the fundamental fabric Of the
Nation were at stake.
Perhaps many of us will
find especial cause for thanks
in the still-strong devotion Of
Americans to those spiritual
guidelines that distinguish
man from beast, those moral
precepts that stem in the first
instance from a simple sense
OF right and wrong. We have
been materially minded
enough to create the highest
standard Of living in the
world, yet we stand before
the world today as almost an
island Of spirituality amidst q
sea OF materialist philosophy
and practice.
And these things for which
we are grateful stem not from
any superiority in Americans
as individuals but from the
basic values inherent in the
birth Of the Nation as a trail
blazing society Of free men
They are values we have been
lucky enough to inherit from