Show aly lp arar hyust rit 11 of f fUrO riat say dau hill mit bite by COL GOL J PAYSON BRADLEY department comman commander Com manier jer G GA A R 1 1117 spirit of memorial Ife morial dav is i i rejection tion of the ertl rov rev LI i T anee and igard for the loved departed mcdonal day itself began as an expression of affectionate for the memory of the hero L dead who mho died did to ba save tl e union and to make men free the rho idea in itself was mas one that naturally appealed to every patriotic I 1 beart cart As a sentiment alone it was beautiful as an influence for the encouragement 0 emont aid development of the pa pint it vis mis eminently useful As time has gone on the popularity of the idea of a day set apart once i i year for a kind of affectionate communion oin munion with those who have hane passed to the life beyond has cromp so that memorial day has a significance for thou andi of persons abo do not recall any memories of those four 3 jem airs of that stupendous tupen dous struggle for our wit ional existence t yet as the lines 0 of the union are drawn dramn closer and closer as this great nation becomes even more firmly welded meldo in all its parts the original significance of memorial day will le e deepened when the last p participant in the war for the union and when the last son and daughter of any participant in that struggle have passed away Ile memorial morial day union day if we me please to call it such will still survive because the memory of those who saved the union will have become not less but mare precious to every true american Anic rican and even in those regions from which were mere drawn the brave soldiers who fought on the other side it must be that the future will observe the growth of as strong a sense of the value of the victory for the union as ever was the sentiment fk fai secession it is therefore certain that the memories which memorial day was designed to perpetuate will grow strong agn er and not weaker eaker vv with time and will r aprea spread d from one end of this great coun try to the oiher other and include all classes and conditions of americans |