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Flag Day Ceremonies, Grand Haven, MI, June 14, 1951
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Flag Day Ceremonies, Grand Haven, MI, June 14, 1951
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The original documents are located in Box D14, folder "Flag Day Ceremonies, Grand Haven, MI, June 14, 1951" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Digitized from Box D14 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library SPEECH BY REPRESENTATIVE GERALD R. FORD, JR. AT FLAG DAY CEREMONIES IN GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN - JUNE 14, 1951 as you know 4 This is Flag Day throughout America. On June 14, 1777 - 178 years ago today - the Continental Congress adopted a resolution which I quote: "RESOLVED, that the flag of these 13 United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, represent- ing a new constellation." Today we again reaffirm our respect and our allegiance to that flag. We honor its one hundred and seventy-third fourth birthday. The story of the origin of Old Glory parallels the origin of our country. Just as our country received its birthright from the peoples of many lands who gathered on these shores to found a new Nation, so did the pattern of the Stars and Stripes arise from diverse origins back into the mists of antiquity to become emblazoned on the standard of our infant Republic. The star long has been a symbol of the heavens, of the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; while the stripes have been symbolical of the rays of light emanating from the sun. Henry Ward Beecher once said, "A thoughtful mind when it sees a nation's flag, sees not the flag, but the nation itself. Whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag, the government, the principles, the truths, the history that belong to the nation that it sets forth. The American flag has been a symbol of liberty, and man rejoiced in it.' II FORD & LIBRARY GERALD Page Two "The stars upon it were like the bright moTring stars of God, and the stripes upon it were beams of morning light. As at early dawn the stars shine forth even while it grows Nght, and then as the sun advances that light breaks into banks and streaming lines of color, the glowing red and the intense white striving together and ribbing the horizon with bars effulgent, so, OD the American flag, stars and beams of many colored lights shine out together." Our annual commemoration of Flag Day, first celebrated as such on June 14, 1916, was inaugurated by a proclamation by our then President, Woodrow Wilson, reading as follows: "My fellow countryman: Many circumstances have recently conspired to turn our thoughts to a critical examination of the conditions of our national life, of the influences which have seemed to threaten to divide us in interest and sympathy, of forces within and forces without that seemed likely to draw us away from the happy traditions of united purpose and action of which we have been so proud. It has, therefore, seemed to me fitting that I should call your attention to the approach of the anniversary of the day upon which the flag of the United States was adopted by the Congress as the emblem of the Union, and to suggest to you that it should this year and in the years to come be given special significance as a day of renewal and reminder, a day upon which we should direct our minds with a special desire of renewal to thoughts of the ideals and principles of which we have sought to make our great Government the embodiment. "I therefore suggest and request that throughout the Nation and, if possible, in every community the 14th day of June be observed as Flag Day, with special patriotic exercises, at which means shall be taken to give signi- FORD & LIBRARY GERALD ficant expression to our thoughtful love of America, or comprehension of the Page Three great mission of liberty and justice to which we have devoted ourselves as a people, our pride in the history and our enthusiasm for the political program of the Nation, our determination to make it greater and purer with each generation, and our resolution to demonstrate to all the world its vital union and sentiment and purpose, accepting only those as true com- patriots who feel as we do the compulsion of this supreme allegiance. Let us on that day rededicate ourselves to the Nation 'one and inseparable,' from which every thought that is not worthy of our father's first vows of independence, liberty, and right shall be excluded and in which we shall stand with united hearts, for an America which no man can corrupt, no influence draw away from its ideals, no force divide against itself - a nation signally distinguished among all the nations of mankind for its clear, individual conception alike of its duties and its privileges, its obligations and its rights." That proclamation was signed by President Woodrow Wilson on May 13, 1916. Every year since then our country's President has issued a similar proclamation calling upon Americans to commemorate June 14 as Flag Day. What significance does Flag Day have for us this year, 34 years after the original Flag Day in 1916? Our flag is now again a battle flag, the symbol of our unity in the fight of our country and its allies, to resist, leaders Ja their and finally to crush, the wanton aggression of an atheistic nation and its have satellites that has violated all international law and agreements in order to try to take, treacherously and ruthlessly, what They is wanted from others. FORD & LIBRARY GERALD Page Four If the efforts of the Soviet leaders in the Kremlin to enforce their will upon others should unfortunately succeed, then our own safety and freedoms would be in peril. Americans may disagree among themselves as to policy for the preservation and protection of our freedoms but there is a united front against those who would take these privileges from us.gt imperil our safety It is unthinkable to permit the rule of force to be substituted for justice, to permit might to supplant right, to permit rigid regimentation to replace collective cooperation, to permit complete censorship, to squeeze out freedom of the press, to permit dictatorship to drive our democracy. These drastic methods of government, with the complete loss of our prized freedoms, and of our individual opportunities to work for the well-being and happiness of ourselves and our children, would immediately follow under the domination of dictatorships. Our red, white, and blue flag is now the bright symbol of the determination of all good Americans to protect America, to crush its enemies from within and without, to perpetuate Americanism and all that Americanism includes, and to assist other the "four freedoms" - freedom throughout peoples to the globe attain from fear, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom from want. Flag Day is deeply significant to all of us as an opportunity to renew our faith in our own representative form of government, and to renew our mutual determination to protect and to perpetuate our American freedoms. The Revolutionary War won us our existence as a nation; the Civil War ratified and confirmed it in blood; the Spanish-American War proved that we were willing to fight for the extension of the principles of freedom to the oppressed peoples of the American Hemisphere; the two world wars emphasized FORD & LIBRARY GERALD Page Five the purity of these motives, and evidenced to the world that Americans were willing to die that our ideals and principles in Government based on the doctrine of human dignity might be disseminated throughout the globe. It is to the credit and glory of this country that we have ne ver willingly sought war. We have never entered war for the purpose of commercial advantage nor of national expansion. Neither greed nor selfishness has ever motivated America's entrance into war. Always this Nation was impelled to enter war for the sake of preserving the freedom of our people and the freedom of others. As a result of this unselfish American spirit our Nation is at the very pinnacle in world affairs. Although we have fought and won two wars in the last 35 years and are now involved in another, in the long view war at best does not help civilization. Every war sets civilization back for generations. The toll of war is inestimable. Fundamentally money which is spent for weapons to saughter the people of other nations is money ill spent. Money which is spent to build ships to wage battles on the seven seas could better be used to foster the commercial and the cultural growth of our people. Money spent to teach the youth of our land to kill the youth of other lands is money squandered. I do not deny that military action for defense of our way of life has been essential in the past. It may be necessary in the future despite our hopes and plans for peace. Nevertheless we must continue to set our ultimate goal as peace, not war, for only through peace can civilization march forward. FORD i LIBRARY GERALD Page Six In this crucial hour of the world's history it is important to remind ourselves that we are not resisting merely a century-old concept labeled Communism, or a revolutionary state dating from 1917. What we are really combating both at home and overseas are forces of military aggression and tyranny, evil under whatever banner. We are struggling against the police state which would deny free inquiry, free religion, free art, free music, free thinking-all the liberties and rights of man. What we are opposing in America and elsewhere throughout the world is not just Communism, but treason and subversion and sabotage. For the future well-being of mankind our best efforts must be dedicated to the destruction of these diabolical evils. To destroy these insidious forces and for the preservation of our freedoms, the citizens of this great Republic must act collectively at home. Abroad we must act collectively with our allies if the treacherous forces of totalitarianism are to be contained and eventually destroyed. To be successful at home or abroad our policies must be based on sound and righteous principles. We cannot and must not sacrifice principle for expediency. If the United States and its allies are to have the respect and support of the 800 million people of Asia and others behind the Iron Curtain, we must convince them by our actions that our intentions are above reproach. It seems appropriate on this occasion to call your attention to a letter from a retired Army captain who recently lost his son in the battlefields of Korea. This father well expresses what many of our citizens have felt over the past months. It reads as follows: FORD & LIBRARY GERALD Page seven "I have just buried my son at Arlington, a boy who in dying earned the award next in rank to the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross. "My son was killed by a piece of metal; a piece of metal shipped to the enemy in all likelihood by our so-called allies whose continuing recognition and support of our enemy will long live in infamy. "He was killed by a piece of metal brought down over supply lines we were forbidden to bomb, and made into ammunition by power from Korean dams we were forbidden to destroy; a piece of metal whose transportation was protected by Red planes we were forbidden to pursue and shoot down. "The name for the reason this and other bits of metal were transported and protected until they could kill this boy and other thousands of American boys is a justly hated and dishonorable one--it is appeasement. "Our leaders prefer to call it by another name and they excuse it on the grounds of expediency. It has, they say, given us more time-- which is but a paraphrase of, 'peace in our time.' It has, they say, kept us out of a big war. Those excuses are but echoes of the words of the man with the umbrella at Munich. "This boy, these boys, fought and died without hope or chance for victory. When before in our history has America ever committed such a crime against its fighting sons? Appeasement tied one of their hands; the Reds tied the other, and so shackled they died. "The reasons for paying blackmail are always compelling, and the alternative to paying it is always horrible. Pay or have your house burned down; pay or have your child murdered. The reasons today are no less compelling-pay or have World War III, pay or have Washington atomic-bombed FORDO & LIBRARY GERALD Page eight "Nevertheless, appeasement or paying blackmail is wrong and does not work. The child held for ransom has already been killed; the decision to burn your house down has been made no matter how much blackmail you pay. Today the Russian decision as to whether and when to attack will not be altered by our hand-tying appeasement. "We are paying with beloved human lives to buy time that we might have for nothing. Our blackmail payments in American blood purchase neither time nor security." End quote. The words of that fine father seem to express the long pent-up feeling of many of our citizens, particularly those who have loved ones on the battlefields in far off lands. It has seemed paradoxical that American G.I.'s and a limited number of fighting men from our allies should be valiantly battling the enemy in Korea while less than all-out opposition to the Chinese Reds and their objectives has prevailed in high diplomatic and commercial circles. It is encouraging to report that in recent weeks there has been a stiffening determination and a straightening of our collective policies in the struggle against Communist aggression in Korea and elsewhere. The United Nations through collective action is now acting to prevent the flow of war materiel to the Communists in the Far East. The United States is now staunchly committed diplomatically and militarily to the preservation of Formosa's status quo. The Red China government is not to be admitted to the United Nations under our present policies. We are assured that the Chinese Communists cannot "shoot their way" into the United Nations. FORD & LIBRARY GERALD Page nine These recent developments on the diplomatic front have undoubtedly encouraged our troops on the battlefields and bolstered the morale of our citizens at home. Let us hope and pray that we will not again fall into the trap of fence straddling and the sacrifice of principles for expediency. The lessons of history teach us that, while the circumstances of human conduct may vary in scope or intensity, the fundamental principles of human behavior remain the same throughout the ages. The man who always takes counsel of his fears invites attack. The nation which proclaims its own weakness and allows its dread of war to be construed as a fear of war will find itself engaged in war because that's the signal for an aggressor to fling his challenge. America is today the most powerful nation in the world in resources and industrial organization. But mere machines do not win wars or prevent them. It is only the spirit of a nation which, if indomitable and courageous, can win victory for all mankind, now and in the future. America has this spirit. Our flag represents that spirit and drea not the fear in the minds of some. We, as Americans, must staunchly maintain this spirit for the benefit of the free worldand ourselves. At this perilous hour in the history of our nation we must have a program for action, a plan that will maintain the strength and productivity of our domestic economy and at the same time prevent further Communist aggression against ourselves and our allies. I strongly suggest and recommend the following: FORD i LIBRARY GERALD Page ten First, our military strength in combination with that of our allies must be of sufficient physical force to stop Communist aggression against the free peoples of the world. American military strength is vital and essential but it must be closely coordinated and correlated with the ability of our economy to sustain such unproductive drains On our natural resources. A point of equilibrium-not too big, not too small--is a necessity, for our Armed Forces of the requisite size may have to be mobilized for a considerable period during the struggle between freedom and totalitarianism. Second, the soundness of our domestic economy must be preserved at all costs. The gravest danger to the United States today may well be inflation rather than communism. Upon the stability of the American economy depends the stability of the free world. We have lost much ground to inflation in the past months. Some losses can be regained if all our people are sufficiently resolute and unselfish and our leaders assume the statesmanship which the times require. Third, there must be a higher standard of public service in executive, legislative and judicial offices throughout America. The decline in public morals must be checked. It can be checked if there is a sufficient public awakening to the inherent danger. This can result by exposure and analysis, and a long-needed resurgence of over-all morality. Fourth, the United Nations must be strengthened and improved. In 1945 it was founded in a hope that it would solve all international problems and be the means of achieving an everlasting world peace. The FORD is LIBRARY GERALD Page eleven organization has been successful to a degree in the past. It is still the best hope for future international security. Obviously revisions are desirable in its basic structure. However, mere changes in the charter will not alone achieve the desired results. Substantial and certain success for the United Nations will inevitably come to pass only when all the people and the governments of the free world subdue selfish aims for the common good. Fifth, last but not least, we must proclaim and clarify to ourselves, to all the citizens of the free world, and to those unfortunates behind the Iron Curtain the spiritual significance of the free system, as the true and liberating revolution of human history. With the highest motives this must be set forth in very practical terms; it must bring hope of relief and comfort to the suffering masses in backward nations who through all their history have not had the benefits of our system of government which is avowedly dedicated to human dignity. Tonight we have honored the one hundred and seventy-third fresth birthday of Old Glory and those valiant sons of our land who are and have been gallantly defending our nation. In heartfelt appreciation to them and in respect to our flag let us repeat quietly, reverently, the pledge of allegiance to the flag, written by Francis Bellamy, who died August 23, 1931: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." FORD i LIBRARY GERALD SPERCH BY refresentative GERALD R. FORD, JR. AT FLAG DAY CHREMONIES IN GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN - JUNE 14, 1951 4 This is ring Day throughout America. On June 14, 1777 - 173 years ago today - the Continental Congress adopted a resolution which I quote: "RESOLVED, that the flag of these 13 United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white: that the Union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, represent- ing a nov constellation." Today 1/0 again reaffirm our respect frunth and our allegience to that flag. We honor its one hundred and seventy-third Mrthday. The story of the origin of old Glory parallels the origin of our country. Just as our country received its birthright from the peoples of many lands who gathered on these shores to found a now Nation, 00 did the pattern of the Stare and Stripes arise from diverse origins back into the mists of antiquity to become emblasoned on the standard of our infant Republic. The star long has been a symbol of the heavens, of the divino goal to which man has aspired from time innomorial; while the stripes have been symbolical of the rays of light emanating from the mm. Henry Word Beacher once said, "A thoughtful mind when it sees & nation's flae, sees not the flag. but the nation itself. Whatever may be its synbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag. the government, the principles, the truths, the history that belong to the nation that it sets forth. The American flag has been a nymbol of liberty, and man rejoiced in it." FORD i LIBRARY GERALD Page Two "The stars upon it were like the bright morning stars of God, and the stripes upon 1t vere beens of morning light. As at early dawn the stars shine forth even while it grows light, and then as the sun advances that light breaks into banks and streaming lines of color, the gloving red and the intense white striving together, and ribbing the horizon with hars effulgent, so, on the American flag. stars and beams of many- colored lights shine out together." Our annual commemoration of Flag Day, first celebrated as such on June 14, 1916, was inaugurated by a proclemation by our then President, Noodrov Wilson, reading as follows: "My fellow countryman: Many circumstances have recently conspired to turn our thoughts to a critical emunination of the conditions of our national life, of the influences which have seemed to threaten to divide us in interest and sympathy, of forces within and forces without that seemed likely to draw us every from the happy traditions of united purpose and action of which we have been 30 proud. It has, therefore, seened to no fitting that I should call your attention to the approach of the anniversary of the day upon which the flag of the United States Mile adopted by the Congress as the emblem of the Union, and to suggest to you that it should this year and in the years to come be given special significance as a day of renewal and reminder, a day upon which we should direct our minds with a special desire of reneval to thoughts of the ideals and principles of which we have sought to make our great Government the embodiment. "I therefore suggest and request that throughout the Nation and, if possible, in every community the 14th day of June be observed as Flag Day, with special patriotic exercises, at which means shall be taken to give signi- GERALD LIBRARY R. FORD ficant expression to our thoughtful love of America, or comprehension of the Page Three great mission of liberty and justice to which 1/0 have devoted ourselves as a people, our pride in the history and our entimalasm for the political program of the Nation, our determination to make it greater and purer with each generation, and our resolution to demonstrate to all the world its vital union and sentiment and purpose, accepting only those as true com- patriots who feel as we do the compulsion of this suprome allegiance. Let us on that day rededicate ourselves to the Nation one and inseperable, from which every thought that is not vorthy of our father's first vows of independence, liberty, and right shall be excluded and in which we shall stand with united hearts, for an America which no man can corrupt, no influence drew away from its ideals, no force divide against itself - a nation signally distinguished among all the nations of mankind for its clear, individual conception alike of its duties and its privileges, its obligations and its rights." That proclemation vas signed by President Voodrov Wilson on May 13, 1916. Every year since then our country's President has issued a similar proclamation calling upon Americans to commenorate June 24 as not Day. What significance does Flag Day have for us this year, 34 years after the original Plag Day in 1916? Our fing is nov again & battle flag. the symbol of our unity in the fight of our country and its allies, to resist, and finally to crush, the wanton aggression of an atheistic nation and its satellites that has violated all international law and agreements in order to try to take, treacherously and ruthlessly, what it wanted from others. FORD i LIBRARY GERALD Page Four If the efforts of the Soviet leaders in the Kremlin to enforce their will upon others should unfortunately succeed, then our own safety and freedoms would be in peril. Americans may disagree among themselves as to policy for the preservation and protection of our freedoms but there is & united front against those who would take these privileges from us. It is unthinkable to permit the rule of force to be substituted for justice, to permit might to supplant right, to permit rigid regimentation to replace collective cooperation, to permit complete consorship, to aqueese out freedom of the pross, to permit dictatorship to drive our democracy. These drastic methods of government, with the complete loss of our prised freedoms, and of our individual opportunities to work for the well-being and happiness of ourselves and our children, would immediately follow under the domination of dictatorships. Our red, white, and blue flag is now the bright symbol of the determination of all good Americans to protect America, to crush its enemies from within and without, to perpetuate Americanium and all that Americanium includes, and to assist other peoples to attain the "four freedoms" - freedom from fear, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom from want. Flag Day is deeply significant to all of us as an opportunity to renew our faith in our own representative form of government, and to renew our mutual determination to protect and to perpetuate our American freedoms. The Revolutionary Mar von us our existence as a nation; the Civil Your ratified and confirmed it in blood; the Spenish-American Was proved that 1/0 were willing to fight for the extension of the principles of freedom to the oppressed peoples of the American Henisphere; the two world were emphasized FORD is LIBRARY GERALD Page Five the purity of these motives, and evidenced to the world that Americans vere villing to die that our ideals and principles in Government based on the doctrine of human dignity might be dissominated throughout the globe. It is to the credit and Clory of this country that we have nover villingly sought war. We have never entered VEF for the purpose of commercial advantage nor of national expansion. Neither greed nor selfishmess has ever notivated America's entrance into MAP. Always this Nation was impelled to enter war for the salte of preserving the freedom of our people and the freedom of others. As a result of this unselfish American spirit our Nation is at the very pinnacle in world affairs. Although ve have fought and von two wars in the last 35 years and are now involved in another, in the long view var at best does not help civilization. Every var sets civilisation back for generations. The toll of var is insetimable. Fundamentally money which is spent for veapons to daughter the people of other nations is money ill spent. Money which is spent to build ships to vage battles on the seven seas could better be used to foster the commercial and the cultural growth of our people. Money spent to teach the youth of our land to kill the youth of other lands is money squandered, I do not deny that military action for defense of our way of life has been essential in the past. It may be necessary in the future despite our hopes and plans for peace, Nevertheless we must continue to set our ultimate goal as peace, not war, for only through peace can civilisation march forward. FORD i LIBRARY GERALD Page Six In this crucial hour of the world's history it is important to remind ourselves that we are not resisting merely a century-old concept labeled Communism, or a revolutionary state dating from 1917. What we are really combating both at home and overseas are forces of military aggression and tyranny, evil under whatever banner. We are struggling against the police state which would deny free inquiry, free religion, free art, free music, free thinking-all the liberties and rights of man. What we are opposing in America and elsewhere throughout the world is not just Communism, but treason and subversion and sabotage. For the future well-being of mankind our best efforts must be dedicated to the destruction of these diabolical evils. To destroy these insidious forces and for the preservation of our freedoms, the citizens of this great Republic must act collectively at home. Abroad we must act collectively with our allies if the treacherous forces of totalitarianism are to be contained and eventually destroyed. To be successful at home or abroad our policies must be based on sound and righteous principles. We cannot and must not sacrifice principle for expediency. If the United States and its allies are to have the respect and support of the 800 million people of Asia and others behind the Iron Curtain, we must convince them by our actions that our intentions are above reproach. It seems appropriate on this occasion to call your attention to a letter from a retired Army captain who recently lost his son in the battlefields of Korea. This father well expresses what many of our citizens have felt over the past months. It reads as follows: GERALD FORD LIBRARY Page seven "I have just buried my son at Arlington, a boy who in dying earned the award next in rank to the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross. may son was killed by a piece of metal; a piece of metal shipped to the enemy in all likelihood by our so-called allies whose continuing recognition and support of our enemy will long live in infamy. "He was killed by a piece of metal brought down over supply lines we were forbidden to bomb, and made into ammunition by power from Korean dams we were forbidden to destroy; a piece of metal whose transportation was protected by Red planes we were forbidden to pursue and shoot down. "The name for the reason this and other bits of metal were transported and protected until they could kill this boy and other thousands of American boys is a justly hated and dishonorable one-it is appeasement. "Our leaders prefer to call it by another name and they excuse it on the grounds of expediency. It has, they say, given us more time-- which is but a paraphrase of, 'peace in our time. It has, they say, kept us out of a big war. Those excuses are but echoes of the words of the man with the umbrella at Munich. "This boy, these boys, fought and died without hope or chance for victory. When before in our history has America ever committed such a crime against its fighting sons? Appeasement tied one of their hands; the Reds tied the other, and so shackled they died. "The reasons for paying blackmail are always compelling, and the alternative to paying it is always horrible. Pay or have your house burned down; pay or have your child murdered. The reasons today are no less compelling-pay or have World War III, pay or have Washington atomic-bombed GERALD LIBRARY Page eight "Nevertheless, appeasement or paying blackmail is wrong and does not work. The child held for ranson has already been killed; the decision to burn your house down has been made no matter how much blackmail you pay. Today the Russian decision as to whether and when to attack will not be altered by our hand-tying appeasement. "We are paying with beloved human lives to buy time that we might have for nothing. Our blackmail payments in American blood purchase neither time nor security." The words of that fine father seem to express the long pent-up feeling of many of our citizens, particularly those who have loved ones on the battlefields in far off lands. It has seemed paradoxical that American GI's and a limited number of fighting men from our allies should be valiantly battling the enemy in Korea while less than all-out opposition to the Chine Reds and their objectives has prevailed in high diplomatic and commercial circles. It is encouraging to report that in recent weeks there has been a stiffening determination and a straightening of our collective policies in the struggle against Communist aggression in Korea and elsewhere. The United Nations through collective action is now acting to prevent the flow of war materiel to the Communists in the Far East. The United States is now staunchly committed diplomatically and militarily to the preservation of Formosa's status quo. The Red China government is not to be admitted to the United Nations under our present policies. We are assured that the Chinese Communists cannot "shoot their way" into the United Nations. FORD i LIBRARY GERALD Page nine These recent developments on the diplomatic front have undoubtedly encouraged our troops on the battlefields and bolstered the morale of our citizens at home. Let us hope and pray that we will not again fall into the trap of fence straddling and the sacrifice of principles for expediency. The lessons of history teach us that, while the circumstances of human conduct may vary in scope or intensity, the fundamental principles of human behavior remain the same throughout the ages. The man who always takes counsel of his fears invites attack. The nation which proclaims its own weakness and allows its dread of war to be construed as a fear of war will find itself engaged in war because that's the signal for an aggressor to fling his challenge. America is today the most powerful nation in the world in resources and industrial organization. But mere machines do not win wars or prevent them. It is only the spirit of a nation which, if indomitable and courageous, can win victory for all mankind, now and in the future. America has this spirit. Our flag represents that spirit and not the fear in the minds of some. We, as Americans, must staunchly maintain this spirit for the benefit of the free world. At this perilous hour in the history of our nation we must have a program for action, a plan that will maintain the strength and productivity of our domestic economy and at the same time prevent further Communist aggression against ourselves and our allies. I strongly suggest and recommend the following: FORD & LIBRARY GERALD Page ten First, our military strength in combination with that of our allies must be of sufficient physical force to stop Communist aggression against the free peoples of the world. American military strength is vital and essential but it must be closely coordinated and correlated with the ability of our economy to sustain such unproductive drains in our natural resources. A point of squilibrium-not too big, not too small-is a necessity, for our Armed Forces of the requisite size may have to be mobilized for a considerable period during the struggle between freedom and totalitarianism. Second, the soundness of our domestic economy must be preserved at all costs. The gravest danger to the United States today may well be inflation rather than communism. Upon the stability of the American economy depends the stability of the free world. We have lost much ground to inflation in the past months. Some losses can be regained if all our people are sufficiently resolute and unselfish and our leaders assume the statesmanship which the times require. Third, there must be a higher standard of public service in executive, legislative and judicial offices throughout America. The decline in public morals must be checked. It can be checked if there is a sufficient public awakening to the inherent danger. This can result by exposure and analysis, and a long-needed resurgence of over-all morality. Fourth, the United Nations must be strengthened and improved. In 1945 it was founded in a hope that it would solve all international problems and be the means of achieving an everlasting world peace. The FORD & LIBRARY 074870 Page eleven organization has been successful to a degree in the past. It is still the best hope for future international security. Obviously revisions are desirable in its basic structure. However, mere changes in the charter will not alone achieve the desired results. Substantial and certain success for the United Nations will inevitably come to pass only when all the people and the governments of the free world subdue selfish aims for the common good. Fifth, last but not least, we must proclaim and clarify to ourselves, to all the citizens of the free world, and to those unfortunates behind the Iron Curtain the spiritual significance of the free system, as the true and liberating revolution of human history. With the highest motives this must be set forth in very practical terms; it must bring hope of relief and comfort to the suffering masses in backward nations who through all their history have not had the benefits of our system of government which is avowedly dedicated to human dignity. Tonight we have honored the one hundred and seventy-third birthday of Old Glory and those valiant sons of our land who are and have been gallantly defending our nation. In heartfelt appreciation to them and in respect to our flag let us repeat quietly, reverently, the pledge of allegiance to the flag, written by Francis Bellamy, who died August 23, 1931: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." FORD & LIBRARY GERALD Speekly Representative Jard Jr at May Day Crimmers in Hand Haven, Michyan Jude 14,7951 FLAG DAY throughtmic 0+4 This is Flag Day On June 14, 1777 - 173 years ago today - the Continental Congress adopted a resolution which I quote: "RESOLVED, that the flag of these 13 United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." Today we again reaffirm our respect and our allegiance to that flag. We honor its one hundred and seventy-third birthday. The story of the origin of Old Glory parallels the origin of our country, for just as our country received its birthright from the peoples of many lands who gathered on these shores to found a new Nation, so did the pattern of the Stars and Stripes arise from diverse origins back into the mists of antiquity to become emblazoned on the standard of our infant Republic. The star long has been a symbol of the heavens, of the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; while the stripes have been symbolical of the rays of light emanating from the sun. Henry Ward Beecher once said, "A thoughtful mind when it sees a nation's flag, FORD d LIBRARY GERALD sees not the flag, but the nation italex itself. Whatever may be its symbols, -2- its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag, the government, the principles, the truths, the history that belong to the nation that sets it forth. The American flag has been a symbol of liberty, and man rejoiced in it." "The stars upon it were like the bright morning stars of God, and the stripes upon it were beams of morning light. As at early dawn the stars shine forth even while it garn grows light, and then as the sun advances that light breaks into banks and streaming lines of color, the glowing red and the intense white striving together, and ribbing the horizon with bars effulgent, so, on the American flag, stars and beams of many-colored lights shine out together." Our annual commemoration of Flag Day, first celebrated as such on June 14, 1916, was inaugurated by a proclamation by our then President, Woodrow Wilson, reading as follows: "My fellow countrymen: Many circumstances have recently conspired to turn our thoughts to a critical examination of the conditions of our national life, of the influences which have seemed to threaten to divide us in interest and sympathy, of forces within and forces without that seemed likely to draw us away from the happy traditions of united purposes and action of which we GERALD FORD IBRARD have been so proud. It has, therefore, seemed to me fitting that I should call -3- your attention to the approach of the anniversaby of the day upon which the flag of the United States was adopted by the Congress as the emblem of the Union, and to suggest to you that it. should this year and in the years to come be given special significance as a day of renewal and reminder, a day upon which we should direct our minds with a special desire of renewal to thoughts of the ideals and principles of which we have sought to make our great Government the embodiment. "I therefore suggest and request that throughout the Nation and, if possible, in every community the 14th day of June be observed as Flag Day, with special patriotic exercises, at which means shall be taken to give significant expression to our thoughtful love of America, or comprehension of the great mission of liberty and justice to which we have devoted ourselves as a people, our pride in the history and our enthusiasm for the political program of the Nation, our determination to make it greater and purer with each generation, and our resolution to demonstrate to all the world its vital union and sentiment and purpose, accepting only those as true compatriots who FORD feel as we do the compulsion of this supreme allegiance. Let us on that day rededicate ourselves to the Nation 'one and inseparable, from which every 4 thought that is not worthy of our father's first YOURS VOWS of independence, liberty, and right shall be excluded and in which we shall stand with united hearts, for an America which no man can corrupt, no influence draw away from its ideals, no force divide against itself - a nation signally distinguished among all the nations of mankind for its clear, individual conception alike of its duties and its privileges, its obligations and its rights." That proclamation was signed by President Woodrow Wilson on May 13,1916. Every year since then our country's President has issued a similar proclamation calling upon Americans to commemorate June 14 as Flag Day. What significance does Flag Day have for us this year, 34 years after the original Flag Day in 1916? Our flag is now again a battle flag, the symbol of our unity in the fight of our country and its allies, to resist, and finally to crush, the wanton aggression of an ankh atheistic nation and its satellites that has violated all international law and agreements in order to try to take, treacherously and ruthlessly, what it wanted from others. the of the Arivet leaders in the Kremlen FORD is LIBRARY 078330 If their efforte to enforce their will upon others should unfortunately be in peril. succeed - but it won't - then our own safety and freedoms would become for- americans feitable at any may time. desagree among themselves as to policy for the those who would tabe these pringes from Mr. regeration + protection our freedomy but there is a united front against -5- It is unthinkable to permit the rulé of force to be substituted for justice, to permit might to supplant right, to permit rigid regimentation to replace collective cooperation, to permit complete censorship, to squeeze out freedom of the press, to permit dictatorship to drive out democracy. These drastic methods of government, with the complete loss of our prized freedoms, and of our individual opportunities to work for the well-being pender and happiness of ourselves and our children, would immediately follow the domination of dictatorships. Our beautiful red, white, and blue flag is now the bright symbol of the determination of all good Americans to protect America, to crush its from within + without enemies, to perpetuate Americanism and all that Americanism includes, and to assist other peoples to attain the "four freedoms" - freedom from fear, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom from want. deeply Flag Day, my fellow Americans, is significant to all of us as an opportunity to renew our faith in our own representative form of government, and to renew our mutual determination to protect and to perpetuate our American freedoms. FORD & LIBRARY GREATO -6- The Revolutionary War won us our existence as a nation; the Civil War ratified and confirmed it in blood; the Spanish-American War proved that we were willing to fight for the extension of the principles of freedom to the oppressed peoples of the American Hemisphere; the two world wars emphasized the purity of the se motives, and evidenced to the world that Americans were willing to die that our ideals and principles in Government based on the doctrine of human dignity might be dis- seminated throughout the globe. It is to the credit and glory of this country that we have never willing- ly sought war. We have never entered war for the purpose of commercial advantage nor of national expansion. Neither greed nor selfishness has ever motivated America's entrance into war. Always this Nation was impelled to enter war for the sake of preserving the freedom of our people and the freedom of others. As a result of this unselfish American spirit our Nation is at the very pinnacle in world affairs. Although we have fought and won two wars in the last 35 years and are now involved in another, in the long viewwar at best does not help civilization. Every war sets civilization back for generations. The toll of war is inestimable. Funda- mentally money which is spent for weapons to slaughter the people of other nations is money ill spent. Money which is spent to build ships to wage battles on the FORD & LIBRARY GERALD seven seas could better be used to foster the commercial and the cultural growth of -7- our people. Money spent to teach the youth of our land to kill the youth of other lands is money wquandered. I do not deny that military action for defense of our way of life has been essential in the past. It may be nec- essary in the future despite our hopes and plans for peace. Nevertheless we must continue to set our ultimate goal as peace, not war, for only through peace can civilization march forward. In this crucial hour of the World's history it is important to remind ourselves that we are not resisting merely a century-old concept labeled Communism, or a revolutionary state dating from 1917. What we are really combating both at home and overseas are forces of military aggression and tyranny, evil under whatever banner. We are struggling against the police state which would deny free inquiry, free religion, free art, free music, free thinking - all the liberties and rights of man. What we are opposing in America and elsewhere throughout the world is not just Communism, but treason and subversion and sabotage. For the future well being of mankind our best efforts must be dedicated to the destruction of these diabolical evils. 08.00 is LIBRARY GERALD -8- To destroy these insidious forces and for the preservation of our freedoms, the citizens of this great Republic must act collectively at home. Abroad we must act collectively with our allies if the treacherous forces of totalitarianism are to be contained and eventually destroyed. To be successful at home or abroad our policies must be based on sound and righteous principles. We cannot and must not sacrifice principle for expediency. If the United States and its allies are to have the respect and support of the 800 million p& ple of Asia and others behind the Iron Curtain, we must convince them by our actions that our intentions are above reproach. It seems appropriate on this occasion to call your attention to a letter from a retired Army Captain who recently lost his son in the battle- fields of Korea. This father well expresses what many of our citizens have felt over the past months. It reads as follows: "I have just buried my son at Arlington, a boy who in dying earned the award next in rank to the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross. "My son was killed by a piece of metal; a piece of metal shipped FORD LIBRARY to the enemy in all likelihood by our so-called allies whose continuing recog- 'nition and support of our enemy will long live in infamy. -9- "He was killed by a piece of metal brought down over supply lines we were forbidden to bomb, and made into ammunition by power from Korean dams we were forbidden to destroy; a piece of metal whose transportation was protected by Red planes we were forbidden to pursue and shoot down. "The name for the reason this and other bits of metal were transported and protected until they could kill this boy and other thousands of American boys is a justly hated and dishonorable one - it is appeasement. "Our leaders prefer to call it by another name and they excuse it on the grounds of expediency. It has, they say, given us more time which is but a paraphrase of, 'peace in our time.' It has, they say, kept us out of a big war. Those excuses are but echoes of the words of the man with the umbrella at Munich. "This boy, these boys, fought and died without hope or chance for victory. when before in our history has America ever committed such a crime against its fighting sons? Appeasement tied one of their hands; the Reds tied the other, and so shackled they died. "The reasons for paying blackmail are always compelling, and the alterna- tive to paying it is always horrible. Pay or have you house burned down; pay GERALD FORD LIBRARY or have your child musdered. The reasons today are no less compelling - pay or have World War III, pay or have Washington atomic-bombed. -10 Nevertheless, appeasement or paying blackmail is wrong and does not work. The child held for ransom has already been killed; the decision to burn your house down has been made no matter how much blackmail you pay. Today the Russian decision as to whether and when to attack will not be altered by our hand-tying appeasement. "We are paying with beloved human lives to buy time that we might have for nothing. Our blackmail payments in American blood purchase neither time nor security." The words of that fine father seem to express the long pent up feeling of many of our citizens, particularly those who have loved ones on the battlefields in far off lands. It has seemed paradoxical that American G.I.s and a limited number of fighting men from our allies should be valiantly battling the enemy in Korea while less than all and out opposition to the Chinese Reds and their ob- jectives has prevailed in high diplomatic and commercial circles. It is encouraging to report that in recent weeks there has been a stiffen- ing determination and a straightening of our collective policies in the struggle against Communist aggression in Korea and elsewhere. The United Nations through collective action is now acting to prevent the flow of war materiel to the Communists GERALD LIBRARY -11- in the Far East. The United States is now staunchly committed diplomatically and militarily to the preservation of Formosa's status quo. The Red China government is not to be admitted to the United Nations under our present policies. We are assured that the Chinese Communists cannot "shoot their way" into the United Nations. These recent developments on the diplomatic front have undoubtedly encouraged our troops on the battlefields and bolstered the morale of our citizens at home. Let us hope and pray that we will not again fall into the trap of fence straddling and the sacrifice of principles for expediency. insert At this perilous hour in the history of our Nation we must have a pro- gram for action, a plan that will maintain the strength and productivity of our domestic economy and at the same time prevent further Communist aggression against ourselves and our allies. I strongly suggest and recommend the following: First, our military strength in combination with that of our allies must be of sufficient physical force to stop Communist aggression against the free peoples of the world. American military strength is vital and essential but it must be closely coordinated and correlated with the ability of our economy to sustain such unproductive drains in our natural resources. A point of equilibrium - not too big, not too small - is a necessity, for our Armed Forces of the requisite GERALD size CIBRARY may have to be mobilized for a considerable period during the struggle between freedom and totalitarianism. -12- Second, the soundness of our domestic economy must be preserved at all costs. The gravest danger to the United States today may well be inflation rather than communism. Upon the stability of the American economy depends the stability of the free world. We have lost much ground to inflation in the past months. Some losses can be regained if all our people are sufficiently resolute and unselfish and our leaders assume the statesmanship which the times require. Third, there must be a higher standard of public service in executive, legislative and judicial offices throughout America. The decline in Public morals must be checked. It can be checked if there is a sufficient public awakening to the inherent danger. This can result by exposure and analysis, and a long needed resur- gence of over-all morality. Fourth, the United Nations must be skrangahk strengthened and improved. In 1945 it was founded in a hope that it would solve all international problems and be the means of achieving an everlasting world peace. The organization has been successful to a degree in the past. It is still the best hope for future international security. Obviously revisions are desirable in its basic structure. However, mere changes in the charter will not alone achieve the desired results. Substantial and FORD certain LIBE success for the United Nations will inevitably come to pass only when all the 14 people and the governments of the free world subdue selfish aims for the common good. -13- Fifth, last but not least, we must proclaim and clarify to ourselves, to all the citizens of the free world, and to those unfortunates behind the Iron Curtain the spiritual significance of the free system, as the true and liberating revolution of human history. With the highest motives this must be set forth in very practical terms; it must bring hope of relief and comfort to the suffering masses in backward nations who through all their history have not had the benefits of our system of government which is avowedly dedicated to human dignity. Tonight we have honored the one hundred and seventy-third birthday of and those valiant sons four land who are of have been reverently, Old Glory and so will you repeat with me now, quietly,/the pledge of allegiance to the flag, written by Francis Bellamy, who died August 23, 1931: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Repubic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." to them & in respect to our Flay let us gallanthy defenling our natur. In hearthelt appreciation repeat FORD i LIBRARY GERALD (This page presents the opinion of the Editor. The news pages are written by other staff members independently of these editorial views.) OLD PRINCIPLES NEVER DIE BY DAVID LAWRENCE T HE LESSONS of history teach us that, while the cir- to visit the territory beyond the 38th parallel? Are na- cumstances of human conduct may vary in scope or tions which become aggressors to go scot free so that intensity, the fundamental principles of human be- they can at their convenience regroup and reorganize havior remain the same throughout the ages. and begin anew their aggressions? The man who always takes counsel of his fears in- vites attack. Admiral Sherman, Chief of Naval Operations, The nation which proclaims its own weakness and spoke last week in a somewhat different voice from that allows its dread of war to be construed as a fear of war which we have been hearing from his colleagues in the will find itself engaged in war because that's the signal Joint Chiefs of Staff. He drew attention to an old, old for an aggressor to fling his challenge. principle of international law-the economic blockade. America is today the most powerful nation in the He showed how it could be effective if the United Na- world in resources and industrial organization. tions proclaimed it. The basic principle always has But mere machines do not win wars or prevent them. been to deprive the enemy of supplies. That's one of It is only the spirit of a nation which, if indomitable the very things which General MacArthur has advo- and courageous, can win victory. cated. Why has it taken so long for this age-old prin- ciple to be brought into public discussion among the What is this strange defeatism that seems to U.N. members? have become the voice of America today? What official Tons upon tons of valuable war materials have been counsels have persuaded the President of the United shipped, primarily in British ships, to aid Red China- States to emphasize in public speeches not only our al- as disclosed by Admiral Sherman's testimony. This is leged unreadiness to fight but our fear of a fight? It a record which cannot be brushed aside by our allies. implies a willingness to accept peace at any price lest The British Minister of Trade offered last week the we face the horrors of war. technical excuse against blockade that Britain and If this means that we have become pacifists in doc- China are still "not at war." Let him tell that to the trine, then we are dishonoring the men who have fought British troops in Korea! Fidelity in alliances is one of for the United States in the past. the oldest principles of international behavior. If we are afraid to risk fighting a war to win vic- We are engaged in a war in the Far East, but we tory, then we never should have ordered our troops into seem to be timid about fighting it vigorously to an Korea. To the American boys fighting in Korea, war is early conclusion. We seem to be waiting for the enemy just as horrible already as it would be to the civilians in to take over Asia and then to attack us in Europe. American cities that might be bombed. As far back as 432 B.C., just before the Peloponne- To tell the American people repeatedly that, because sian War, Thucydides narrates that Corinth, appealing their cities may be bombed, they should refrain from to her ally, Lacedaemon, stated her case thus: pursuing to its victorious conclusion a war in which we "And so we have met at last, but with difficulty! And are already engaged, is to tell them, in effect, that in- even now we have no definite object. The aggressor evitably they must accept any "settlement" which our is not now threatening, but advancing. He has made up potential enemies shall dictate. his mind, while we are resolved about nothing. And we What has come over some of our military men who know too well how by slow degrees and with stealthy now testify that to win is not the object of war and that steps the Athenians encroach upon their neighbors. a stalemate in Korea is a "victory"? While they think that you are too dull to observe them, Have our military men been ordered to speak the they are more careful, but when they know that you "party line" of a vacillating Administration? Other- wilfully overlook their aggressions, they will strike and wise, what is the meaning of these statements we are not spare. hearing that, if the Red Chinese aggressors will oblige "Of all Hellenes, Lacedaemonians, you are the only us by making peace at the 38th parallel, this will be ac- people who never do anything: on the approach of an cepted as a "victory"? enemy you are content to defend yourselves against Does this mean that our 140,000 casualties incurred him, not by acts, but by intentions, and seek to over- since June 26, 1950, have been wasted, and that we are throw him, not in the infancy but in the fulness of his FOR to be satisfied with a return to the situation then exis- strength. How came you to be considered safe?" GRAPLO tent-when a U.N. commission was not even permitted Old principles never die! U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT JUNE 8, 1951 as americans must machtain this spirt for the benefit 4th free world, Flay represents that Agent and not the few in the mends we What It Takes to Fire a Howitzer Barrage DANGER EXPLOSIVES EXPLOSIVES + + + + DANGER + TNT I EXPLOSIVES EXPLOSIVES ROWDER TNT Steel Men Brass Smokeless Powder Civilian Manhours 500 lbs. 2600 lbs: 7 600 lbs: 300 lbs. 1400 hrs. $2800.00 An Hour and worth every penny of it! Even privileges as free men and women. though the cost of freedom might seem staggering in Skill and speed in our work keep freedom a part- terms of a single howitzer barrage-in terms of civilian time job enable us to enjoy a richer spiritual and effort, our freedom is the biggest bargain in the history material life. But even if freedom were a full-time job, of mankind. On an average, we work less than two it would be well worth the effort as millions of en- hours a day to pay the cost of defending our rights and slaved people would testify if they could. Above figures are given with due regard to security. AMERICAN MACHINE & FOUNDRY COMPANY Executive Offices, 511 Fifth Avenue, New York 17, N. Y. AMF does it better-automatically! 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