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Show : ' -"v- - : ... . , , ... The Power of Memorial Day i . ; r by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale ; ' ' ' - ' v. .,...,:. ....... f, . T had the privilege of growing up in small Ohio communities in I K ; I the early part of this century, and one of my most inspirational I " VI ' JL memories centers around Memorial Day and the old soldiers of Sj M ; theCivUWar. j L"3 j To me. Memorial Day was one of the most moving of all the na- j tional holidays. I was stirred by the speeches and martial music from ,i e bandstand or cemetery on what we called "Decoration Day." i 1 There was something about the newness of life that the Spring had 3 brought; soft sunshine falling on the fresh green grass of early sum- i , mer, the misty hills in the distance, the sound of stirring national jj songs, and above all, the softly flapping flag in the gentlo breeze a -i k .s3 .. J speaker told us of our country, the deep devotion of its heroes, $ lWi and recounted once more the stirring episodes of our heroic past. ' And many a laay summer afternoon, I sat on the coping around t jty3 VY. 1 the old courthouse listening to the veterans of the Civil War tell of tj . S their experiences in the epic struggle between the States. A boy's S 'fS ' imagination quickly sent him off behind long columns of blue or grey, fe'.V',7V and to him, such names as Antietam, The Wilderness, Shiloh, and iJcV ' Gettysburg became very real and meaningful. i?i&B I Those old soldiers used to talk gratefully of Lincoln's insistence M : m& .1 . : " ' " " ' p i t1? $ 1 tne 8tru88le, the widow and the orphan, were to be given not charity, r : j but their rightful due as the dependents of those brave men who had I ' V 4 ' ' Jught to preserve liberty and to keep the Union intact. It was re- J v' 'I ' garded as a sacred duty of the nation, and the nation kept faith with f MS4J i its veterans. jj i J XJ"' 3 n ose days, as now, were many who had been disabled by the J K4J 'puja struggle. Their ability to Compete in life had been reduced by wounds I y'j suffered in battle. Even as a boy I remember hearing how it seemed , they were thought of only on such days as Memorial Day, when ; ( orators, fervent in their patriotism, remembered, if only for a day, ' P 'ong cont",uing sacrifice made not by those who had died in i "' 5 battle, but by the disabled who were to live for many years following 11 04 ' the great struggle. $ MiTK'?V '' The heroes of World War I and World War II and the Korean -A' l(ii&Jii War are, of course, men who, with no concern for themselves, gave 5 - KK'S.W 'I their lives that freedom might live. We can never do them adequate tk 1 honor. And, we must never forget them. They died in their young j : t i'llpWtl life, forsaking the opportunities of the years that the rest of us miyht I Jfi 'S. 5 live and develop our highest hopes and dreams. ' '"l However, there are other living heroes who deprived themselves of I : i:r either physical, emotional, or mental health for us and for their fellow i jf'fv countrymen. It would be as wrong for us to neglect or forget them as j k T'$fc fifW V their buddies who today sleep on some Pacific Island or in a European S : E('2ji -i cemetery. A hero dead or ft hero maimed and disabled are both due A ' ipiffl V our equal gratitude and our unceasing devotion. f : iS k"kr,:df i 1 i We must never forget that the most effective way of honoring those 1 ' OSv $ J J 'mve 'et' ' t remember the living disabled, that their lives may j s f y be rich and full. They are a great asset to our country as the living 3 ' ' embodiment of devotion to freedom. A country is recreant indeed 1 g rJv' A- J which does not everlastingly keep alive grateful appreciation to those t - ' who suffered disability to perpetuate everything that we Americans '4 'p'yvl hold dear. ij ,: -i I'Vi wl I There could be no better time than on Memorial Day to resolve & lli' 1 if ' v J that we shall gratefully support the honored men and : . t X. I 1 women who have suffered disability from the wars of OTJ IW-H M the United States. nr tM 1 : ; A I (WrilUn ipcially for ths Dliabled Amerlcon Vlrani, R 'ili'M ,dnl0 Tag 0r9aniXa,'0n' |