Speech: Veterans Day Commemoration
Remarks Prepared For Veteran’s Day Commemoration
By Crook County Judge Scott R. Cooper
Nov. 11, 2005, Crook County High School Auditorium
(This speech was ultimately not delivered)
On Nov. 21, 1864, the Civil War raged. Amidst the battle, President Abraham Lincoln was moved to write a letter. He wrote to one Lydia Bixby, a mother of sons, all fighting for the Union Cause:
The letter reads:
Dear Madam,--
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
On this Veterans Day, 2005, Lincoln’s words are strangely contemporary.
How “weak and fruitless” are any efforts on our part to convey the regret we feel for the loss of young life fighting on foreign soil for causes and ideals that transcend the understanding of many of us.
How grateful is the nation to those men and women for their commitment to defend freedom for people they have never met.
How we cherish the memory of loved ones lost which is all that remain to us.
How we hope that God will touch the grieving heart of loved ones left behind, for we know that none but God can ever hope to set things right again.
And how solemn is our pride in our nation, and in the men and women who serve it, that we stand still today as we have for 229 years as the world’s bastion for Freedom.
That love of Freedom sets our country apart from other regions of the world, those dominated by terrorists, by fanatics and by brutal dictators. That Freedom is itself a precious thing, and like all precious things, it provokes in others envy. And as with anything which is envied, there are those who would take away from us that which we most love.
As Lincoln so elegantly put it to Mrs. Bixby, to keep our freedom we are called upon to make sacrifices, which by definition, means giving up that which we are least willing to lose. The Bixby family of Massachusetts in 1864 was called upon to make such a sacrifice. The Lucas family of Oregon, and many others, received a similar summons in 2005.
I don’t know if it is possible to convey adequately the sorrow and regret we feel for these families for their sacrifice on Freedom’s Altar even while we also extend to them our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation. The pain and pride of expressed by Lincoln yesterday, we feel anew today.
Lincoln’s war engulfed a nation and caused a nation to re-examine its commitment to its founding principals The war we are fighting today is provoking similar soul-searching and passionate debate. History ultimately deemed Lincoln’s war as one which was worth the price of fighting. History has yet to render a final judgment on the present war. But there is a theme and a desire common to both wars:
God Bless the men and women who donned uniforms and fought for this country and what it stands for in times past. God Bless the men and women who wear the uniform of this nation today. God Bless this great nation with continued Freedom, and let me conclude as Lincoln so eloquently expressed in his second inaugural address: “Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this (the) mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.”
By Crook County Judge Scott R. Cooper
Nov. 11, 2005, Crook County High School Auditorium
(This speech was ultimately not delivered)
Lincoln's Letter To Mrs. Bixby Rings Relevant Still
On Nov. 21, 1864, the Civil War raged. Amidst the battle, President Abraham Lincoln was moved to write a letter. He wrote to one Lydia Bixby, a mother of sons, all fighting for the Union Cause:
The letter reads:
Dear Madam,--
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
On this Veterans Day, 2005, Lincoln’s words are strangely contemporary.
How “weak and fruitless” are any efforts on our part to convey the regret we feel for the loss of young life fighting on foreign soil for causes and ideals that transcend the understanding of many of us.
How grateful is the nation to those men and women for their commitment to defend freedom for people they have never met.
How we cherish the memory of loved ones lost which is all that remain to us.
How we hope that God will touch the grieving heart of loved ones left behind, for we know that none but God can ever hope to set things right again.
And how solemn is our pride in our nation, and in the men and women who serve it, that we stand still today as we have for 229 years as the world’s bastion for Freedom.
That love of Freedom sets our country apart from other regions of the world, those dominated by terrorists, by fanatics and by brutal dictators. That Freedom is itself a precious thing, and like all precious things, it provokes in others envy. And as with anything which is envied, there are those who would take away from us that which we most love.
As Lincoln so elegantly put it to Mrs. Bixby, to keep our freedom we are called upon to make sacrifices, which by definition, means giving up that which we are least willing to lose. The Bixby family of Massachusetts in 1864 was called upon to make such a sacrifice. The Lucas family of Oregon, and many others, received a similar summons in 2005.
I don’t know if it is possible to convey adequately the sorrow and regret we feel for these families for their sacrifice on Freedom’s Altar even while we also extend to them our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation. The pain and pride of expressed by Lincoln yesterday, we feel anew today.
Lincoln’s war engulfed a nation and caused a nation to re-examine its commitment to its founding principals The war we are fighting today is provoking similar soul-searching and passionate debate. History ultimately deemed Lincoln’s war as one which was worth the price of fighting. History has yet to render a final judgment on the present war. But there is a theme and a desire common to both wars:
God Bless the men and women who donned uniforms and fought for this country and what it stands for in times past. God Bless the men and women who wear the uniform of this nation today. God Bless this great nation with continued Freedom, and let me conclude as Lincoln so eloquently expressed in his second inaugural address: “Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this (the) mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.”
posted by Scott Cooper | 11:09 AM
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