I have just returned from a parade and ceremony in the town cemetery as we remember those who have given their last full measure for this country. In over sixty five clashes, battles, wars, and conflict since the American Revolution, over 1.3 million Americans of the armed services have died and now lie resting in hallowed ground around this world. Why? What is it which has taken our brightest and best around the world to spill their blood so others may be free? Perhaps the words so eloquently written of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness given by our Creator have mobilized men and women to share these ideals where they may be lacking.
What then is the obligation of the living this day? Again, words spoken on another battlefield, this time of American against American will remind us of our debt. Abraham Lincoln ended his famous Gettysburg Address this way:
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom --and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Lincoln saw the division of this country a hindrance for the United States to spread these God given rights to others.
“Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere.--September 11, 1858 Speech at Edwardsville, Illinois
Years later, another great president would contemplate words much like these. President Kennedy wrote,
“We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."
Along with President Kennedy, over three hundred thousand honored dead reside in Arlington Cemetery. Those and all of the rest of our honored dead only received for their service a plot of ground measuring six feet, by three feet, by six feet deep for a total of 108 cubic feet of ground. We owe them, all of them; the courage, commitment, and character to see to it this nation will survive. We owe them the duty to ensure the freedom for all those who seek it. We owe it to them to abolish tyranny of any kind and to ensure we remind the world these rights are not American given rights but God given rights.
What then is the obligation of the living this day? Again, words spoken on another battlefield, this time of American against American will remind us of our debt. Abraham Lincoln ended his famous Gettysburg Address this way:
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom --and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Lincoln saw the division of this country a hindrance for the United States to spread these God given rights to others.
“Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere.--September 11, 1858 Speech at Edwardsville, Illinois
Years later, another great president would contemplate words much like these. President Kennedy wrote,
“We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."
Along with President Kennedy, over three hundred thousand honored dead reside in Arlington Cemetery. Those and all of the rest of our honored dead only received for their service a plot of ground measuring six feet, by three feet, by six feet deep for a total of 108 cubic feet of ground. We owe them, all of them; the courage, commitment, and character to see to it this nation will survive. We owe them the duty to ensure the freedom for all those who seek it. We owe it to them to abolish tyranny of any kind and to ensure we remind the world these rights are not American given rights but God given rights.
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