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Annual Flag Day Services of Grand Rapids Elks Lodge and Century Club with VFW Post No. 830, at Elks Lodge No. 48, June 14, 1969
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Annual Flag Day Services of Grand Rapids Elks Lodge and Century Club with VFW Post No. 830, at Elks Lodge No. 48, June 14, 1969
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The original documents are located in Box D27, folder "Grand Rapids Elks Lodge and
Century Club with VFW Post No. 830, at Elks Lodge No." 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 D27 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FLAG DAY SERVICES OF GRAND RAPIDS ELKS LODGE
AND COUNTRY CLUB IN CONJUNCTION WITH VFW
POST NO. 830, AT 6 P.M. SATURDAY, JUNE 14,
1969 1969, AT ELKS LODGE NO. 48.
Jan Parkerton
IT IS WONDERFUL TO BE HERE WITH
YOU TONIGHT. IT'S GOOD TO BE AMONG FRIENDS
AND A GREAT RELIEF TO GET OUT OF WASHINGTON.
RIGHT NOW THE TOURISTS ARE SO THICK IN THE
UNITED STATES CAPITOL THAT THEY KEEP GETTING
INTO EACH OTHER'S SNAPSHOTS.
AS FOR ME, I HAVE TO MOVE LIKE
A BROKEN-FIELD RUNNER TO GO FROM MY OFFICE
TO THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT IS
WONDERFUL TO SEE THESE PEOPLE -- THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE -- GAZING ABOUT AS THEY WANDER THROUGH
THE CAPITOL OF THE UNITED STATES. YOU KNOW
THAT AS THEY WALK THROUGH THOSE HALLS THEY
GET A FEELING OF THE HISTORY THAT PERMEATES
LIBRARY
-2-
EVERY STONE / EVERY PAINTING / EVERY STATUE /
EVERY PARTICLE OF WHAT MAKES UP THE BUILDING
THAT RANG WITH THE ORATORY OF HENRY CLAY,
DANIEL WEBSTER, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, WILLIAM
JENNINGS BRYAN, AND OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
WITH A UNIQUE STYLE OR A GIFT FOR THE
WELL-ROUNDED PHRASE.
EACH DAY, TOO, AS I LOOK OUT THE
WINDOW OF MY OFFICE I SEE THE THRILLING
NEEDLE SHAPE OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT AND
THEN, CLOSER AT HAND, A SIGHT THAT ALWAYS
GIVES MY HEART A TURN -- THE STARS AND
STRIPES, OUR NATIONS FLAG, THE EMBLEM OF
THE GREATEST AND THE FINEST NATION ON THE
FACE OF THIS TROUBLED EARTH.
I SERVED AS A JUNIOR OFFICER
ABOARD AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER DURING WORLD WAR 11,
BUT IT IS MORE THAN JUST MY MILITARY SERVICE
THAT MAKES MY HEART LEAP INSIDE ME WHENEVER
I SEE OUR FLAG.
-3-
THE FLAG SPEAKS TO ME OF MUCH
MORE THAN THE KIND OF PATRIOTISM THAT IS
ROUSED BY THE RUFFLE OF DRUMS AND THE BLARE
OF BUGLES. IT SPEAKS TO ME OF THE LONG,
GLORIOUS HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY -- OF THE
INCREDIBLY COURAGEOUS MEN AND WOMEN WHO
CROSSED THE STORM-SWEPT ATLANTIC OCEAN IN
TINY SHIPS MORE THAN THREE CENTURIES AGO AND
BRAVED THREATS OF SHIPWRECK, MUTINY,
STARVATION, DISEASE AND DEATH AT THE HANDS
OF HOSTILE INDIANS TO ESTABLISH THE MIGHTIEST
NATION THE WORLD HAS KNOWN
A NATION THAT
GREW FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA WITH THE
WINNING OF THE WEST AND THE SLOW HEALING THAT
FOLLOWED A CIVIL WAR WHICH THREATENED TO TEAR
IT COMPLETELY ASUNDER
A NATION THAT TODAY
MUST FULFILL ITS DESTINY AS LEADER OF THE
FREE WORLD DESPITE THE DESPERATE DESIRE OF
ITS PEOPLE SIMPLY TO LIVE IN PEACE.
IF WHENEVER WE LOOK AT OUR FLAG
FORD LIBRARY
-4-
WE FEEL A SENSE OF THE GREAT HISTORY THAT
HAS BEEN OURS WHEN WE CELEBRATE FLAG DAY EACH
DAY OF OUR LIVES.
BUT WE HAVE SET ASIDE THIS SPECIAL
DAY -- JUNE 14TH -- TO SPEAK OUT AND SAY JUST
WHAT THE FLAG MEANS TO EACH OF US.
IT WAS PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON
WHO DESIGNATED JUNE 14TH AS FLAG DAY. HE
DID SO BECAUSE IT WAS ON JUNE 14, 1777, THAT
THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS DECIDED WHAT THE
FORM OF OUR FLAG SHOULD BE. UNDER THAT FLAG,
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION WAS FOUGHT TO A
GLORIOUS END, AND THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES WAS INAUGURATED.
GEORGE WASHINGTON DESCRIBED THE
SYMBOLISM IN THE FLAG. HE SAID: "WE TAKE
THE STARS FROM HEAVEN, THE RED FROM OUR
MOTHER COUNTRY, SEPARATING IT BY WHITE STRIPES,
THUS SHOWING THAT WE HAVE SEPARATED FROM HER,
AND THE WHITE STRIPES SHALL GO DOWN IN
-5-
POSTERITY REPRESENTING LIBERTY."
LIBERTY. THERE ARE SOME AMERICANS
WHO FLEE FROM DEFENSE OF IT TODAY. AND
THERE ARE THOSE WHO SCOFF AT PATRIOTISM, AS
THOUGH IT WERE AN EMOTION TO BE ASHAMED OF.
I FEEL PITY FOR THOSE AMERICANS
WHO HAVE NO DEEP LOVE FOR THEIR COUNTRY.
I
PLACE MYSELF ON THE SIDE OF JOHN HANCOCK, WHO
SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WITH
A MAGNIFICENT FLOURISH AND CALLED PATRIOTISM
"THIS NOBLE AFFECTION WHICH IMPELS US TO
SACRIFICE EVERYTHING DEAR, EVEN LIFE ITSELF,
TO OUR COUNTRY."
AND WHAT MAN WORTHY OF THE NAME
DOES NOT ADMIRE THE WORDS OF JAMES OTIS, WHO
DECLARED IN 1761, "I AM DETERMINED TO
SACRIFICE ESTATE, EASE, HEALTH, APPLAUSE --
AND EVEN MY LIFE ITSELF -- TO THE SACRED
CALLS OF MY COUNTRY."
BR. FORD LA
AMERICA HAS PAID A HIGH PRICE TO
-6-
KEEP ALIVE THE PRINCIPLES THAT MOST AMERICANS
STILL CHERISH. NEARLY 32 MILLION MEN HAVE
FOUGHT FOR THIS COUNTRY IN NINE MAJOR
CONFLICTS SINCE THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. OF
THOSE, 1,100,000 GAVE THEIR LIVES IN BATTLE
AGAINST OUR ENEMIES.
I DO NOT BELIEVE PATRIOTISM IS
DEAD IN AMERICA. IT IS NOT ALWAYS EVIDENT,
BUT THE LOVE THAT MOST OF OUR PEOPLE FEEL
FOR OUR COUNTRY IS THERE NEVERTHELESS.
HENRY WARD BEECHER WROTE: "A
THOUGHTFUL MIND, WHEN IT SEES A NATION'S FLAG,
SEES NOT THE FLAG ONLY, BUT THE NATION ITSELF,
AND WHATEVER MAY BE ITS SYMBOLS, ITS
INSIGNIA, HE READS CHIEFLY IN THE FLAG THE
GOVERNMENT, THE PRINCIPLES, THE TRUTHS, THE
HISTORY WHICH BELONGS TO THE NATION THAT SETS
IT FORTH."
HOW GLORIOUS IS THE NATION THAT
SETS FORTH OUR FLAG! WHAT A GREAT BANNER
-7-
IT IS -- STANDING AS IT DOES FOR THE DEEP
MORAL VALUES, THE DIVINE PRINCIPLES AND THE
RUGGED DETERMINATION THAT HAVE MADE US A
FREE AND DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE.
I KNOW YOU AND NEARLY ALL
AMERICANS JOIN WITH ME IN TRIBUTE TO THE
FLAG AS AN EMBLEM OF THE FREEDOMS WE CHERISH
AND SHARE WITH ME THE LOVE I FEEL FOR OUR
GREAT COUNTRY. WITH GOD'S HELP, IT WILL BE
EVER THUS.
-- END --
LISBARY GERALD R. FORD
Distribution 20 Copies Mr. Ford
Office Copy
NEWS
CONGRESSMAN
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY--
Saturday, June 14, 1969
Remarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford at annual Flag Day services of Grand Rapids Elks
Lodge and Country Club in conjunction with VFW Post No. 830, at 6 p.m. Saturday,
June 14, 1969, at Elks Lodge No. 48.
It is wonderful to be here with you tonight. It's good to be among
friends and a great relief to get out of Washington. Right now the tourists are
so thick in the United States Capitol that they keep getting into each other's
snapshots.
As for me, I have to move like a broken-field runner to go from my office
to the floor of the House of Representatives.
But at the same time it is wonderful to see these people -- the American
people -- gazing about as they wander through the Capitol of the United States.
You know that as they walk through those halls they get a feeling of the history
that permeates every stone, every painting, every statue, every particle of what
makes up the building that rang with the oratory of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster,
Abraham Lincoln, William Jennings Bryan, and other members of Congress with a
unique style or a gift for the well-rounded phrase.
Each day, too, as I look out the window of my office I see the thrilling
needle shape of the Washington Monument and then, closer at hand, a sight that
always gives my heart a turn -- the Stars and Stripes, our Nation's Flag, the
emblem of the greatest and the finest Nation on the face of this troubled earth.
I served as a junior officer aboard an aircraft carrier during World War II,
but it is more than just my military service that makes my heart leap inside me
whenever I see our Flag.
The Flag speaks to me of much more than the kind of patriotism that is
roused by the ruffle of drums and the blare of bugles. It speaks to me of the
long, glorious history of our country -- of the incredibly courageous men and
women who crossed the storm-swept Atlantic Ocean in tiny ships more than three
centuries ago and braved threats of shipwreck, mutiny, starvation, disease and
death at the hands of hostile Indians to establish the mightiest Nation the world
has known a Nation that grew from sea to shining sea with the winning of the
West and the slow healing that followed a civil war which threatened to tear it
(more)
LIBRARY
-2-
completely asunder .a Nation that today must fulfill its destiny as leader of
the Free World despite the desperate desire of its people simply to live in peace.
If whenever we look at our Flag we feel a sense of the great history that
has been ours then we celebrate Flag Day each day of our lives.
But we have set aside this special Day -- June 14th -- to speak out and
say just what the Flag means to each of us.
It was President Woodrow Wilson who designated June 14th as Flag Day. He
did so because it was on June 14, 1777, that the Continental Congress decided
what the form of our Flag should be. Under that Flag, the American revolution
was fought to a glorious end, and the first President of the United States was
inaugurated.
George Washington described the symbolism in the Flag. He said: "We take
the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white
stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes
shall go down in posterity representing liberty."
Liberty. There are some Americans who flee from defense of it today. And
there are those who scoff at patriotism, as though it were an emotion to be
ashamed of.
I feel pity for those Americans who have no deep love for their country.
I place myself on the side of John Hancock, who signed the Declaration of
Independence with a magnificent flourish and called patriotism "this noble
affection which impels us to sacrifice everything dear, even life itself, to our
Country."
And what man worthy of the name does not admire the words of James Otis,
who declared in 1761, "I am determined to sacrifice estate, ease, health,
applause and even my life itself -- to the sacred calls of my Country."
America has paid a high price to keep alive the principles that most
Americans still cherish. Nearly 32 million men have fought for this country in
nine major conflicts since the American Revolution. Of those, 1,100,000 gave
their lives in battle against our enemies.
I do not believe patriotism is dead in America. It is not always evident,
but the love that most of our people feel for our country is there nevertheless.
Henry Ward Beecher wrote: "A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's
flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself, and whatever may be its
symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles,
the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth."
How glorious is the Nation that sets forth our Flag! What a great banner
it is -- standing as it does for the deep moral values, the divine principles and
the rugged determination that have made us a free and democratic people.
I know you and nearly all Americans join with me in tribute to the Flag as
an emblem of the freedoms we cherish and share with me the love I feel for our
great country. With God's help, it will be ever thus.
###
NEWS
CONGRESSMAN
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY--
Saturday, June 14, 1969
Remarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford at annual Flag Day services of Grand Rapids Elks
Lodge and Country Club in conjunction with VFW Post No. 830, at 6 p.m. Saturday,
June 14, 1969, at Elks Lodge No. 48.
It is wonderful to be here with you tonight. It's good to be among
friends and a great relief to get out of Washington. Right now the tourists are
so thick in the United States Capitol that they keep getting into each other's
snapshots.
As for me, I have to move like a broken-field runner to go from my office
to the floor of the House of Representatives.
But at the same time it is wonderful to see these people -- the American
people -- gazing about as they wander through the Capitol of the United States.
You know that as they walk through those halls they get a feeling of the history
that permeates every stone, every painting, every statue, every particle of what
makes up the building that rang with the oratory of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster,
Abraham Lincoln, William Jennings Bryan, and other members of Congress with a
unique style or a gift for the well-rounded phrase.
Each day, too, as I look out the window of my office I see the thrilling
needle shape of the Washington Monument and then, closer at hand, a sight that
always gives my heart a turn -- the Stars and Stripes, our Nation's Flag, the
emblem of the greatest and the finest Nation on the face of this troubled earth.
I served as a junior officer aboard an aircraft carrier during World War II,
but it is more than just my military service that makes my heart leap inside me
whenever I see our Flag.
The Flag speaks to me of much more than the kind of patriotism that is
roused by the ruffle of drums and the blare of bugles. It speaks to me of the
long, glorious history of our country of the incredibly courageous men and
women who crossed the storm-swept Atlantic Ocean in tiny ships more than three
centuries ago and braved threats of shipwreck, mutiny, starvation, disease and
death at the hands of hostile Indians to establish the mightiest Nation the world
has known a Nation that grew from sea to shining sea with the winning of the
West and the slow healing that followed a civil war which threatened to tear it
(more)
-2-
completely asunder a Nation that today must fulfill its destiny as leader of
the Free World despite the desperate desire of its people simply to live in peace.
If whenever we look at our Flag we feel a sense of the great history that
has been ours then we celebrate Flag Day each day of our lives.
But we have set aside this special Day -- June 14th -- to speak out and
say just what the Flag means to each of US.
It was President Woodrow Wilson who designated June 14th as Flag Day. He
did so because it was on June 14, 1777, that the Continental Congress decided
what the form of our Flag should be. Under that Flag, the American revolution
was fought to a glorious end, and the first President of the United States was
inaugurated.
George Washington described the symbolism in the Flag. He said: "We take
the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white
stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes
shall go down in posterity representing liberty."
Liberty. There are some Americans who flee from defense of it today. And
there are those who scoff at patriotism, as though it were an emotion to be
ashamed of.
I feel pity for those Americans who have no deep love for their country.
I place myself on the side of John Hancock, who signed the Declaration of
Independence with a magnificent flourish and called patriotism "this noble
affection which impels us to sacrifice everything dear, even life itself, to our
Country."
And what man worthy of the name does not admire the words of James Otis,
who declared in 1761, "I am determined to sacrifice estate, ease, health,
applause -- and even my life itself -- to the sacred calls of my Country."
America has paid a high price to keep alive the principles that most
Americans still cherish. Nearly 32 million men have fought for this country in
nine major conflicts since the American Revolution. Of those, 1,100,000 gave
their lives in battle against our enemies.
I do not believe patriotism is dead in America. It is not always evident,
but the love that most of our people feel for our country is there nevertheless.
Henry Ward Beecher wrote: "A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's
flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself, and whatever may be its
symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles,
the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth."
How glorious is the Nation that sets forth our Flag! What a great banner
it is -- standing as it does for the deep moral values, the divine principles and
the rugged determination that have made us a free and democratic people.
I know you and nearly all Americans join with me in tribute to the Flag as
an emblem of the freedoms we cherish and share with me the love I feel for our
great country. With God's help, it will be ever thus.
# # #