Memorial Day 1919

MOST IMPRESSIVE MEMORIAL DAY IN HISTORY OF NATION

[excerpt]

…Lieut. Wm. Jensen who delivered a fitting eulogy on the departed comrades of the lae war. He said:

“On this Memorial Day we honor the living by honoring the dead., and a great nation — America — today breathes words of tribute for those who gave their lives on this and the other side of the water, in the late war, that Liberty, Justice and Right might prevail.

“Those who died before leaving the training camps, occupy graves in local cemeteries, but a large portion of those who answered the call of their country in 1917 and 1918 sleep on the battlefields of the Argonne, Alsace and Juvigny. Their graves have been marked by the government and eventually cemeteries will be laid out for those whose relatives prefer that they sleep near where their heroic service cost them their lives, while others will be brought back to America for interment.

“What I may say here today as a tribute to the honored dead of the late war, will soon be forgotten, but their deeds, their service to God and country, will live as one of the brightest pages in American history.

“Today we can best picture the scenes at the first Memorial service after the Civil war, for this nation has again made an offering on the altar of country and in the cause of humanity. Words of mine cannot do full justice on an occasion  like this. How I wish I could bring a message of their undying devotion to you today. What a consolation it would be to the fathers, mothers, wives and sweethearts if they buy knew how heroically these sons of America died, never faltering in the face of danger.

“Today we sympathize with the bereaved, and our thoughts are of them. As the years go on, our Memorial services will have a greater interest, for now we have the memory of those of another war to keep green. You may rest assured my friends that they are not forgotten in France today. American soldiers together with the citizens of France will strew their graves with flowers and our chaplains will pay fitting tribute to their memory. While there are hearts sad today within the hearing of my voice, still they are comforted and reconciled in the thought that those near and dear to them made the supreme sacrifice as heroically as the patriots of old who gave us through their blood, this great country, the gathering place of the flower of every nation, and which was blended into beautiful types of manhood, who demonstrated their patriotism on the field of battle. As the years drift by, we the living, have a solemn obligation to perform. We must not forget the bereaved ones, but rather let us today pledge ourselves to the great task of honoring those of every home where a Gold Star appears. Words and flowers are little in the way of compensation unless we, through deeds show our undying devotion to those who made the supreme sacrifice. As we go forth from here today let us be true to God and country, and then we will see and do those things which will make those bereaved, happy, in the thought that the sacrifice was not in vain.”…

Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, Wisconsin) May 31, 1919

Tags: 1919, Holidays, Lieut. William Jensen, Memorial Day, Wisconsin