Tarzan actor, Denny
Miller,
waves the flag as Uncle Sam
It is always
an honor, my friends, to serve The Flag, however humble our service may
be, and I consider it an especial honor to be permitted to speak here at
the raising of The Flag upon this day that has been set apart in token
of our love and reverence for this, our National Emblem.
This flag stands for the best and noblest ideals which we, as a Nation,
cherish …it is no better and no worse than these ideals — the flag is what
we make it. If as individuals our ideals are unworthy so will our flag
become unworthy in the eyes of the other peoples of the world, and thus
it behooves us to foster in our own bosoms characteristics of honor and
integrity, of chivalry and humanity, that our beloved flag may reflect
only the highest. This is our duty.
A few years ago the yearly observance of Flag Day was almost a necessity
lest we forget that we owned a flag or what it looked like. A few years
ago it was something of a fad among so-called intellectuals to scoff at
the puerile sentimentality of flag worship. I used to feel that there must
be something wrong with me—some taint of mental weakness—when the tears
came to my eyes as the colors passed under armed escort. I know better
now—I know that the trouble was with the scoffers; but it was only skin
deep—a veneer of affectation which the heat of the true patriotism in their
hearts has at last consumed.
And so now the annual observance of Flag Day is no longer a necessity—it
is merely an added honor to Old Glory—for today every day is Flag Day.
And this is just a superficial indication of one of the many blessings
that are bound to come to us out of this just and glorious war we are waging
to maintain the freedom that is our right and to help other good nations
to maintain theirs.
Our eyes have been opened. We still acknowledge the marvels of efficiency;
but we have learned that we possess many attributes that are too fine to
be sacrificed upon the altar of efficiency. It is well to develop the mind;
but the heart and soul must keep pace with the mind, or the result will
be not a super-man but a super-brute. We must not, then, be ashamed to
admit that we possess some of the softer characteristics of humanity, for
these are the true measure of the heart and the soul.
We should be proud to openly acknowledge our love of country and of
flag; we should be glad that we can choke up when the boys march past and
we should doubly rejoice not only that we have such a country and such
a flag, but that we have such boys to go forth across the seas and fight
for them as we are fighting on the western front today… fighting, my friends,
to keep that Flag at the top of this staff — forever.
