civilization on a platter of destruction. But the power of the atom to work evil gives only the merest hint of its power for good.
I believe that man stands on the eve of his greatest day. I know, too, that that day is not a gift but a prize—that we shall not reach it until we have won it.
Legionnaires are united by memories of war. Therefore, no group is more devoted to peace. I say to you now that there is work to be done, that the difficulties and dangers that beset our path at home and abroad are incalculable. There is sweat and sacrifice; there is much of patience and quiet persistence in our horoscope. Perhaps the goal is not even for us to see in our lifetime.
But we are embarked on a great adventure. Let us proclaim our faith in the future of man. Of good heart and good cheer, faithful to ourselves and our traditions, we can lift the cause of freedom, the cause of free men, so high no power on earth can tear it down. We can pluck this flower, safety, from this nettle, danger. Living, speaking, like men—like Americans—we can lead the way to our rendezvous in a happy, peaceful world.
General Douglas MacArthur Reminds West Point Cadets of Duty, Honor, Country
“Your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable. It is to win our wars… When I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the corps, and the corps, and the corps.”
Douglas Macarthur’s record as a cadet at West Point has served as a criterion for generations; after World War I, he returned to serve as commandant of the military academy; he went on to command all Allied forces in the Far East in World War II, and UN forces in Korea until he was fired by President Truman (see “Old Soldiers Never Die” speech, p. 425); and he returned to West Point on May 12, 1962, to deliver his most memorable address. He spoke as a soldier of one era to the soldiers of another to remind them of the values that undergird the profession of arms.
He took as his text “Duty, Honor, Country” from the legend on the West Point coat of arms, a motto adopted in 1898, one year before he entered the academy. Instead of dealing with each word, making that the organizing principle of his speech, MacArthur unified them as a trinity of patriotism. After an ostentatious bit of humility (“Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination…”), perhaps patterned on Lincoln’s “the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here,” the general pointed to all the valuable qualities that a dedication to the three created. From there, he pointed to the sufferings of the soldier who persevered to victory under the single “password” of duty, honor, country. From that look back, he then took a long look ahead, to “a conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy,” theme of a thousand television movies to come. Having established that sense of timelessness to the need for the military profession, the speaker reasserted the values that keep it outside the realm of politics—a poignant point to be made by a general who wanted to be president.
The language is poetic. Evoking the ghosts of the military dead, hedresses them in the colors of their wars: the “olive drab” of World War II, the “brown khaki” of World War I, “the blue and gray” of the Civil War. He uses surprising metaphors: “a thirsty ear,” the “mournful mutter of the battlefields,” and the curious “My days of old have vanished—tone and tints.” (The once-strong sound of fighting and once-vivid color of war?)
***
NO HUMAN BEING could fail to be deeply moved by such a tribute as this, coming from a profession I have served so long and a people I have loved so well. It fills me with an emotion I cannot express. But this award is not intended primarily for a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code—the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of
I believe that man stands on the eve of his greatest day. I know, too, that that day is not a gift but a prize—that we shall not reach it until we have won it.
Legionnaires are united by memories of war. Therefore, no group is more devoted to peace. I say to you now that there is work to be done, that the difficulties and dangers that beset our path at home and abroad are incalculable. There is sweat and sacrifice; there is much of patience and quiet persistence in our horoscope. Perhaps the goal is not even for us to see in our lifetime.
But we are embarked on a great adventure. Let us proclaim our faith in the future of man. Of good heart and good cheer, faithful to ourselves and our traditions, we can lift the cause of freedom, the cause of free men, so high no power on earth can tear it down. We can pluck this flower, safety, from this nettle, danger. Living, speaking, like men—like Americans—we can lead the way to our rendezvous in a happy, peaceful world.
General Douglas MacArthur Reminds West Point Cadets of Duty, Honor, Country
“Your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable. It is to win our wars… When I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the corps, and the corps, and the corps.”
Douglas Macarthur’s record as a cadet at West Point has served as a criterion for generations; after World War I, he returned to serve as commandant of the military academy; he went on to command all Allied forces in the Far East in World War II, and UN forces in Korea until he was fired by President Truman (see “Old Soldiers Never Die” speech, p. 425); and he returned to West Point on May 12, 1962, to deliver his most memorable address. He spoke as a soldier of one era to the soldiers of another to remind them of the values that undergird the profession of arms.
He took as his text “Duty, Honor, Country” from the legend on the West Point coat of arms, a motto adopted in 1898, one year before he entered the academy. Instead of dealing with each word, making that the organizing principle of his speech, MacArthur unified them as a trinity of patriotism. After an ostentatious bit of humility (“Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination…”), perhaps patterned on Lincoln’s “the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here,” the general pointed to all the valuable qualities that a dedication to the three created. From there, he pointed to the sufferings of the soldier who persevered to victory under the single “password” of duty, honor, country. From that look back, he then took a long look ahead, to “a conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy,” theme of a thousand television movies to come. Having established that sense of timelessness to the need for the military profession, the speaker reasserted the values that keep it outside the realm of politics—a poignant point to be made by a general who wanted to be president.
The language is poetic. Evoking the ghosts of the military dead, hedresses them in the colors of their wars: the “olive drab” of World War II, the “brown khaki” of World War I, “the blue and gray” of the Civil War. He uses surprising metaphors: “a thirsty ear,” the “mournful mutter of the battlefields,” and the curious “My days of old have vanished—tone and tints.” (The once-strong sound of fighting and once-vivid color of war?)
***
NO HUMAN BEING could fail to be deeply moved by such a tribute as this, coming from a profession I have served so long and a people I have loved so well. It fills me with an emotion I cannot express. But this award is not intended primarily for a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code—the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of
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