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6/14/75 - Army Bicentennial, Fort Benning, Georgia
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1252364
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6/14/75 - Army Bicentennial, Fort Benning, Georgia
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President's Speeches and Statements Reading Copies (Ford Administration)
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American Revolution Bicentennial, 1776-1976
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1975
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The original documents are located in Box 10, folder "6/14/75 - Army Bicentennial, Fort
Benning, Georgia" of the President's Speeches and Statements: Reading Copies 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. Gerald Ford 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 10 of President's Speeches and Statements: Reading Copies at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
def
PRESIDENT'S REMARKS AT ARMY BICENTENNIAL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THANK YOU GENERAL TARPLEY
GOVERNER BUSBEE
DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS OF THE GEORGIA
number
AND ALABAMA CONGRESSIONAL
DELEGATIONS
SECRETARY CALLAWAY
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
- I -
IT IS A GREAT HONOR TO BE HERE IN FORT BENNING,
"THE HOME OF THE INFANTRY,' AND TO JOIN WITH THE CITIZENS
OF COLUMBUS AND PHENIX CITY AS WELL, TO MAKE THIS A REAL
TRI-COMMUNITY CELEBRATION.
YOU HAVE MADE COMING FROM
THE BANKS OF THE POTOMAC TO THE VALLEY OF THE CHATTAHOOCHIE
(CHAT-A-HOO-CHEE) A VERY MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE.
- 2 -
YOU KNOW, ONE OF THINGS I HAVE ALWAYS ADMIRED
ABOUT OUR MEN IN UNIFORM IS THEIR EVER-PRESENT SENSE OF HUMOR
AND WHAT BROUGHT THIS TO MIND -- AS WE WERE WALKING OVER HERE --
MAJOR GENERAL TARPLEY TOLD ME HOW IMPRESSED ALL OF FORT BENNING
WAS WITH THE WAY I CAME OUT OF AIR FORCE ONE AND DOWN THOSE STEPS
IN SALZBURG, AUSTRIA.
- 3 -
I ASKED HIM WHAT HE MEANT.
HE SAID, "WELL, IT'S THE
FIRST TIME WE EVER SAW ANYONE COME OUT OF A PLANE LIKE
THAT -- AND NOT WEAR A PARACHUTE!"
I TOLD THE GENERAL, I WAS ONLY TRYING TO LIVE
UP TO ONE OF YOUR MOTTOS.
HE SAID, "WHICH MOTTO IS
THAT?"
I SAID, "AIRBORNE
t
ALL THE WAY!"
- 4 -
THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND
FOR ALL AMERICANS.
TODAY, I JOIN A GRATEFUL NATION IN SALUTING
THE ARMY ON ITS TWO HUNDREDTH YEAR OF SERVICE AND SACRIFICE TO OUR
COUNTRY.
- 5 -
ON THIS DAY, IN 1775 -- A YEAR BEFORE AMERICA'S
INDEPENDENCE -- OUR SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS CREATED THE
To
AMERICAN ARMY.
THE HAVE MEANING, THE DELIBERATIONS AND
DEBATES OF INDEPENDENCE HALL HAD TO BE BACKED UP BY STRENGTH.
- 6 -
THE DECISIONS MADE THERE HAD TO BE DEFENDED AT BUNKER HILL AND ON A
DOZEN OTHER BATTLEFIELDS ACROSS THIS NEW NATION.
IT WAS A BOLD STEP FROM WHICH THERE COULD BE NO RETREAT.
IT WAS A RECOGNITION OF THE REALITIES OF THE WORLD IN WHICH THE
COLONISTS LIVED -- AND IN WHICH WE LIVE TODAY: THAT THERE ARE TIMES
WHEN PRINCIPLES MUST BE DEFENDED WITH THE FORCE OF ARMS.
- 6a -
SINCE THAT DAY IN 1775, OUR SOLDIERS HAVE PROTECTED
AND PRESERVED THIS NATION AT HOME AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
- 7 -
I NOW THERE IS MUCH THAT I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER
ABOUT THIS VISIT. BUT PERHAPS THE ONE THING THAT BEST
SUMS UP THE SPIRIT OF THIS DAY IS THE SIMPLE BUT DEEPLY
MOVING STATUE HERE AT FORT BENNING OF AN AMERICAN
COMBAT INFANTRYMAN.
- 8 -
THE STATUE BEARS THE INFANTRY'S MOTTO -- ONLY TWO SHORT
WORDS.
BUT IT SPEAKS VOLUMES FOR THE COURAGE AND
SACRIFICE THAT THE AMERICAN FIGHTING MAN HAS ALWAYS
DEMONSTRATED.
THE MOTTO IS, "FOLLOW ME."
- 9 -
IT IS THIS "FOLLOW ME" SPIRIT,
THIS SENSE OF COURAGE,
LEADERSHIP AND SACRIFICE, THAT HAS CHARACTERIZED THE AMERICAN
ARMY FROM ITS BEGINNING AS A RAGGED BAND OF CITIZEN VOLUNTEERS,
UNITED ONLY IN LOVE OF LIBERTY AND A DEEP SENSE OF DUTY.
- 10 -
VERY FEW PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT THIS CITIZEN'S ARMY
HAD MUCH OF A FUTURE IN 1775.
AFTER ALL, THE COLONIES HAD
NO ALLIES AND ONLY LIMITED INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES.
AND THE ADVERSARY WAS THE GREATEST GLOBAL MILITARY POWER
OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
- II -
YET, THERE WERE SOME WHO SENSED FROM THE
START THAT, FOR ALL ITS WEAKNESSES AND HANDICAPS, THIS
WAS NO ORDINARY ARMY -- AND THAT THE GOAL IT SERVED WAS
SOMETHING SPECIAL, PERHAPS EVEN UNIQUE, IN THE ANNALS
OF HISTORY.
- 12 - -
ON JUNE 15, TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO TOMORROW, THE
CONTINENTAL CONGRESS CHOSE A COMMANDER FOR ITS NEW ARMY --
A TALL, QUIET VIRGINIAN.
IN A LETTER TO HIS WIFE, MARTHA,
GEORGE WASHINGTON EXPRESSED HIS PERSONAL FAITH IN THE MISSION HE
AND HIS FLEDGLING ARMY WERE ABOUT TO UNDERTAKE TOGETHER.
- 13 -
"IT IS A KIND OF DESTINY," HE WROTE, "THAT HAS
THROWN ME UPON THIS SERVICE."
AND THAT DESTINY SAW
WASHINGTON AND HIS MEN MARCH FROM THE HARSH WINTER AND
PRIVATION OF VALLEY FORGE TO THE ULTIMATE VICTORY OF YORKTOWN.
- 14 -
THAT FIRST AMERICAN ARMY FACED MANY OBSTACLES AND SOME
DEFEATS.
BUT IT HAD ONE ENDURING TRAIT -- IT WOULDN'T QUIT.
THE MAINSTAY OF WASHINGTON'S REVOLUTIONARY FORCE WAS THE WILL
TO BE FREE AND THE WILLINGNESS TO PAY THE PRICE OF FREEDOM.
TODAY'S ARMY CONTINUES IN THAT TRADITION.
- 15 -
ALTHOUGH WE STILL ENJOY THE FREEDOM WHICH THE
CONTINENTAL ARMY WON FOR US, WE HAVE ALSO LEARNED OVER THE
YEARS THAT FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE.
EACH SUBSEQUENT
GENERATION, IN ITS OWN TIME AND ITS OWN WAY, HAS ANSWERED
THE CALL TO SERVICE AND SACRIFICE TO PRESERVE OUR LEGACY OF
LIBERTY.
- 16 - -
TODAY'S GENERATION IS NO EXCEPTION.
AND ONE OF THE
MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS IT HAS MADE IS A PHYSICALLY AND
MORALLY STRONG UNITED STATES ARMY -- AN ARMY THAT IS WORTHY
OF THE HERITAGE OF TWO CENTURIES OF HEROES.
- 17 -
LIKE THE MEN OF 1775, YOU WHO SERVE TODAY ARE
VOLUNTEERS.
WITH YOUR COMRADES IN THE OTHER SERVICES,
YOU ARE THE GUARDIANS OF BOTH OUR PEACE AND OUR LIBERTIES.
FOR, IF WE ARE TO AVOID WAR, WE MUST MAINTAIN A CREDIBLE
AND READY FIGHTING FORCE.
- 18 - -
TODAY'S REALITIES HAVE INCREASED, RATHER THAN REDUCED, OUR
NEED FOR A SOLID CONVENTIONAL FIGHTING FORCE AND FOR STRONG
AND READY INFANTRY SOLDIERS SUCH AS THESE I SEE HERE TODAY.
IN TODAY'S WORLD, AS IN THE WORLD OF GEORGE
WASHINGTON, WEAKNESS IS A PROVOCATION TO AGGRESSION.
- 19 -
IT TOOK STRENGTH TO WIN OUR FREEDOM; IT WILL TAKE STRENGTH
TO KEEP IT, AND TO PRESERVE THE PEACE.
THE AMERICAN
SOLDIER HAS PAID THE PRICE OF FREEDOM ON COUNTLESS
BATTLEFIELDS AROUND THE WORLD.
- 20 -
FOR MY PART, I WILL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO SEE
THAT OUR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THE
RECOGNITION AND RESPECT THAT IS THEIR DUE.
AND I WILL
CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THE CONGRESS TO KEEP OUR ARMED FORCES
SUPPLIED WITH THE BEST AND MOST MODERN TRAINING,
\
WEAPONS
AND EQUIPMENT IN THE WORLD.
- 2I -
IN THE SHORT TIME I HAVE SPENT HERE AT FORT BENNING, I
HAVE SEEN AND FELT THE PRIDE AND VITALITY OF THE MODERN
VOLUNTEER SOLDIER.
LAST WEEK,
I FLEW TO WEST POINT TO GIVE
THE GRADUATION ADDRESS, THERE.
MY OLD FRIEND AND FORMER
COLLEAGUE IN THE CONGRESS, SECRETARY CALLAWAY, WAS ALONG
THEN AS HE IS TODAY.
- 22 -
I ASKED BO, WHILE WE WERE IN AIR FORCE ONE, HOW THE ALL-VOLUNTEER
FORCE WAS DOING.
WELL
/
IT'S A GOOD THING IT WAS A SHORT FLIGHT
BECAUSE WHEN Bo GETS TO TALKING ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF THE ALL-
VOLUNTEER ARMY, HE JUST WON'T QUIT.
BUT I CAN SEE HERE TODAY
WHY HE'S so EXCITED -- AND I SHARE HIS ENTHUSIASM.
- 23 -
FROM MY DAYS IN THE CONGRESS, I CAN WELL REMEMBER
THE SPIRITED DEBATE AND THE CONCERN EXPRESSED OVER THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF AN ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY.
AN ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY OF
782,000
SEVEN-HUNDRED-EIGHTY-TWO THOUSAND SOLDIERS WAS CONSIDERED
BY MANY TO BE IMPRACTICAL AT BEST AND IMPOSSIBLE AT WORST.
- - 24 -
I CAN REMEMBER ONE OF MY CONGRESSIONAL COLLEAGUES SAYING:
"THE ONLY WAY TO GET GOOD VOLUNTEERS
IS TO DRAFT THEM."
WELL,
AS so OFTEN HAPPENS, THE DOUBTERS WERE WRONG.
TODAY'S ARMY IS NOT ONLY AN ARMY OF VOLUNTEERS.
IT'S AN ARMY OF WINNERS.
AND IT IS TRULY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE.
- 25 -
AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE ARMY IS ATTRACTING BETTER
EDUCATED,
BETTER QUALIFIED AND HIGHER SKILLED YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN
INTO ITS RANKS THAN EVER BEFORE.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, FROM
WHAT I SEE HERE TODAY AND HAVE OBS.ERVED ELSEWHERE, THIS NEW ARMY
HAS KEPT INTACT THAT ESPRIT DE CORPS WHICH TWO HUNDRED YEARS
OF HISTORY AND TRADITION HAVE INSTILLED.
- - 26 -
SEEING so MANY FLAGS PROUDLY FLYING HERE REMINDS ME
OF THE FACT THAT, BESIDES MARKING AN IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARY
OF THE ARMY, TODAY IS ALSO FLAG DAY.
- 27 -
AS I TRAVEL ACROSS AMERICA, I AM PROUD TO SEE THAT
MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE DISPLAYING FLAGS IN THEIR YARDS
ON
THEIR CARS
THEIR PLACES OF BUSINESS.
PERHAPS THE SPIRIT
OF THE BICENTENNIAL HAS CAUGHT HOLD.
- 28 -
WHATEVER THE REASON, LET US NEVER FORGET THAT THE FLAG WE HONOR
TODAY EMBODIES TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF EXPERIENCES OF A GREAT PEOPLE
IT SYMBOLIZES THIS NATION'S HISTORY.
AS PRESIDENT WOODROW
WILSON ONCE SAID ABOUT THE FLAG, "NO MAN CAN RIGHTLY SERVE UNDER
THAT FLAG WHO HAS NOT CAUGHT SOME OF THE MEANING OF THAT HISTORY."
- 29 -
EACH OF US IN OUR DAILY LIVES -- IN OUR SENSE OF
PATRIOTISM AND PURPOSE -- CAN ADD TO THAT HISTORY AND THE FLAG
THAT EMBODIES IT.
FOR, \ WHEN YOU GET RIGHT DOWN TO IT, \ THE MOST REMARKABLE
THING ABOUT AMERICA IS NOT THE FACT THAT WE HAVE PRODUCED GREAT
LEADERS.
- 30 -
OTHER NATIONS AND OTHER CIVILIZATIONS HAVE DONE AS MUCH.
WHAT'S UNIQUE IS THE WAY IN WHICH GENERATION AFTER
GENERATION OF AMERICANS -- WORKING MEN AND WOMEN FROM ALL
NATIONAL, RACIAL, REGIONAL AND RELIGIOUS BACKGROUNDS -- HAVE
JOINED TOGETHER TO BUILD A NEW NATION AND NEW LIVES FOR THEMSELVES.
- 31 -
THE GREAT LESSON OF AMERICA IS THAT, IN A FREE SOCIETY LIKE OURS,
THE SO-CALLED "COMMON MAN'' CAN RISE TO UNCOMMON HEIGHTS OF
HEROISM,
SACRIFICE AND ACHIEVEMENT.
- 32 -
THAT IS WHAT THE AMERICAN FLAG STOOD FOR
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO AND WHAT IT STILL STANDS FOR TODAY --
THE INTEGRITY AND WORTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN.
AND THAT IS
WHAT EACH OF YOU IS SWORN TO DEFEND.
- 33 -
FROM THIRTEEN STARS, THE FLAG HAS GROWN TO FIFTY.
FROM THIRTEEN COASTAL COLONIES ON THE EDGE OF AN UNTAMED CONTINENT,
AMERICA HAS GROWN INTO THE MOST PRODUCTIVE,
STRONGEST AND
FREEST NATION IN HUMAN HISTORY.
- 34 -
BUT STRENGTH OF SPIRIT IS EVERY BIT AS IMPORTANT AS
WEALTH AND TERRITORY AND MATERIAL POWER.
WHAT THE AMERICAN
FLAG WILL STAND FOR TOMORROW DEPENDS ON EACH OF US TODAY.
- 35 -
IF WE LIVE UP TO THE TRUST OF THIS NATION'S FOUNDERS AND
TO THE DEDICATION OF ITS MEN IN UNIFORM -- AND I AM CONFIDENT WE
WILL -- THEN THE FLAG AND THE NATION WE PASS ON TO POSTERITY WILL
STILL JUSTIFY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES' ELOQUENTLY STATED VISION --
IN HIS WORDS -- OF
...
- 36 -
"ONE FLAG, ONE LAND, ONE HEART, ONE HAND,
ONE NATION, EVERMORE!"
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
END OF TEXT
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
CLEARANCE FORM FOR PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH MATERIAL
TO:
THE PRESIDENT
VIA:
ROBERT HARTMANN
11
FROM:
PAUL A. THEIS GAr
SUBJECT:
Army's Bicentennial Celebration
TIME, DATE AND PLACE OF PRESIDENTIAL USE:
10:00 a. m., Saturday, June 14, 1975, Ft. Benning, Ga.
SPEECHWRITER: Bakshian
EDITED BY:
Theis
BASIC RESEARCH/SPEECH MATERIAL SUPPLIED BY:
Research Office, Jack Marsh, Ted Marrs, Secretary of the Army
CLEARED BY (Please initial):
(X) OPERATIONS (Rumsfeld)
(x) CONGRESSIONAL/PUBLIC LIAISON (Marsh) Jm
(X) PRESS (Nessen) W greener for RHW
( ) LEGAL (Buchen)
( ) ECONOMIC POLICY BOARD (Seidman)
( ) OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET (Lynn)
( ) DOMESTIC COUNCIL (Cannon)
(X) NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL (Scowcroft) Rme. for
(X) RESEARCH (Waldron) LmD
(x) JERRY WARREN (FYI)
( ) ENERGY RESOURCES COUNCIL (Zarb)
(X) TED MARRS J m ,
( )