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Memorial Day Ceremony from Jody Johnson
Commander: Comrades, this day is sacred with
the almost visible presence of those who have gone before us. We honor
the memory of those who gave their lives on the service of our country,
and of those others who have dropped their burdens by the wayside of
live, and are gone to their eternal rest. May the ceremonies of today
deepen your reverence for our departed friends and comrades. Let us
renew our pledge of loyalty to our Country and its Flag. Let us resolve
by word and deed to emphasize the privilege and duty of patriotism.
Chaplain: Almighty God, Giver of all
victories, we thank Thee for the opportunities which abide in our land,
for Thy guidance in the hour of peril and Thy tender love in times
of need. Help us to remember with reverence the valor and devotion of
our departed comrades; not only those whose bodies consecrate our
Country's soil, but also those who sleep beyond the seas, and those
others whose resting places will not be known until that last day when
the deep will have given up its dead. O God, teach us to honor them by
ever cherishing the ideals for which they fought. Grant that the
American Legion may preserve the high ideal for which our comrades died.
May Thy merciful blessing rest upon those they left behind. Keep us
forever firm in righteousness, humble of heart, and unselfish in
purpose. Amen.
Commander: Again our nation has assembled to
honor its heroic dead. A thousand battles of land, sea, and air echo the
glory of their valiant deeds. Under the quiet sod, or beneath the
murmuring waves, their bodies sleep in peace. But in the destinies of
veterans, their souls go marching on. Because of them our lives are
free. Because of them our nation lives.
When we recall the things they did, the hero costs seem mighty in our
midst. When peril threatened and their Country called, with what
self-sacrifice they left their paths of peace to spring to arms, to make
their breasts a barricade against the nation's foes.
No sorrow for the ones they left behind could dim the purpose in
their souls. No weariness of of march and watch could keep them from
their hearts' desire. No horror of the field, or sea, or air could beat
their courage down.
They fought for us, for us they fell. Now, with one accord, in deepest
reverence, we do them honor. Let us not remember them in anguish; they
would not wish our pity. For their sakes let us not forget the loves
ones left behind. Our tears or words of sympathy cannot bring back the
comfort of those loving hands or the music of those voices stilled. Only
the solemn pride of having given more than all the rest is theirs who
live to weep. But all the world, because of what they gave, is debtor to
them.
Comrades, on this Memorial Day let us pledge ourselves anew to patriotic
service. Let us make ourselves the friend and brother, son and father,
of those who will not see their own again in mortal flesh. Let us grasp
with fearless hands the Flag so nobly borne before, and, like those
others, plant it always on the battlements of righteousness.
All who stand with us today, will you not consecrate yourselves with us
to emulate their sacred service that those who rest in heroes' graves
may not have died in vain?
Chaplain: Eternal God, wee thank Thee for this
hallowed soil. Make us worthy, we pray Thee, to guard our heritage of
pride through all the years to come. In memory of these, our dead, may
we pledge to our beloved land the same service and the same devotion.
And, O Lord, secure us evermore the peace for which our comrades died.
Amen.
Commander: The flowers may wither but the
spirit of which they are the symbol will endure until the end of time.
A 21 gun salute is performed immediately followed by taps and several
tears by yours truly.
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