The WWII Memorial has some missing words....
SHALL WE HIRE A MONUMENT ENGRAVER TO GO TO ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY AND ADD THE MISSING WORDS ?A MESSAGE FROM AN APPALLED OBSERVER:
Today I went to visit the new World War II Memorial in Washington,DC. I got an unexpected history lesson. Because I'm a baby boomer, I was one of the youngest in the crowd. Most were the age of my parents, veterans of "the greatest war," with their families.
It was a beautiful day, and people were smiling and happy to be there. Hundreds of us milled around the memorial, reading the inspiring words of Eisenhower and Truman that are engraved there.On the Pacific side of the memorial, a group of us gathered to read the words President Roosevelt used to announce the attack on Pearl Harbor: Yesterday, December 7, 1941-- a date which will live in infamy--theUnited States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.
One elderly woman read the words aloud:"With confidence in our armed forces, with the unboundingdetermination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph."But as she read, she was suddenly turned angry. "Wait a minute," she said, "they left out the end of the quote. They left out the most important part. Roosevelt ended the message with 'so help us God.'" Her husband said, "You are probably right. We're not supposed to say things like that now.""I know I'm right," she insisted. "I remember the speech." The two looked dismayed, shook their heads sadly and walked away.
Listening to their conversation, I thought to myself, "Well, it has been over 50 years. She's probably forgotten."But she had not forgotten. She was right.I went home and pulled out the book my book club is reading --- "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley. It's all about the battle at IwoJima. I haven't gotten too far in the book. It's tough to read because it's a graphic description of the WWII battles in the Pacific. But! right there it was on page 58. Roosevelt's speech to the nation ends in "so help us God."The people who edited out that part of the speech when they engraved it on the memorial could have fooled me. I was born after the war. But they couldn't fool the people who were there. Roosevelt's words are engraved on their hearts.Now I ask: "WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE WORDS OF HISTORY?????????"
Send this around to your friends. People need to know before everyone forgets. People today are trying to change the history of America by leaving God out of it, but the truth is, God has been a part of this nation, since the beginning. He still wants to be...and He always will be!If you agree, pass this on. If not, MAY GOD BLESS YOU
Thanks, Jack Stout, for emailing this to me.....I'm passing it on. It just breaks my heart that this kind of thing is happening in our country.
posted by Lucy Stern @ 7:48 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I posted on this last year and yes, it needs to be passed around.
http://tfsternsrantings.blogspot.com/2005/01/so-help-us-god.html
You can't always believe those emails you recieve.
I checked this out on the Urban Legends website. It says that the entire speech isn't on the memorial only exerpts.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_war_memorial.htm
People seem to want to leave God out of more and more things. Sad....
That would be ashame.
However, Oh Great One is correct - always check urban legends on stories like this. A great site to do so it snopes.
Here is a link stating this story is false:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/memorial.asp
OK everyone, I should have checked this one out with urbans legends or snopes.com. I think the point I am trying to make is that they were not allowed to use the word "God" on the memorial. The ACLU is doing everything possible not to allow any reference of God anywhere in public. I can bet you will not see any new memorials with that reference.
I think that even if its supposed to be exerpt, it is highly disrespectful to edit ANY speech that Roosevelt gave.
Sorry folks, but this is an internet myth, a hoax, circulating since at least 2004. It's taken in a lot of good people, but it's a fiction based on a poor recollection instead of fact.
You can check Snopes or Urban Legend fact check sites, or if you'd prefer, just look to pearlharbor.org (or the National Archives web site, etc.) to find the exact text, which shows that the WWII Memorial engraved quote is exactly correct, and that the words 'so help us God' appear not in the qoted sentence but later in the speech, to wit:
"But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.
I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the People when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our People - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God."
Sorry folks, but this is an internet myth, a hoax, circulating since at least 2004. It's taken in a lot of good people, but it's a fiction based on a poor recollection instead of fact.
You can check Snopes or Urban Legend fact check sites, or if you'd prefer, just look to pearlharbor.org (or the National Archives web site, etc.) to find the exact text, which shows that the WWII Memorial engraved quote is exactly correct, and that the words 'so help us God' appear not in the qoted sentence but later in the speech, to wit:
"But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.
I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the People when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our People - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God."
In fact, here's the response from the American Battle Manuments Commission to an inquiry from Elizabeth Dole on behalf of one of her misinofrmed constiuents in January 2006:
"This letter responds to your inquiry on behalf of your constituent <> who expressed concern regarding editing of FDR's "Day of Infamy speech on the National World War II Memorial.
As is so often the case in reports that become widespread, criticism of editing FDR's famous speech on the memorial is unfounded.
The line in the speech that some claim was edited - "With confidence in our anned
forces, with the unbounded determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable
triumph, so help us God" - is not inscribed on the memorial.
The sentence that is inscribed - "No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion,the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory" appears earlier in FDR's speech and is used in its entirety.
The entire speech contains more than 450 words. Because of proper letter sizing
and inscription area, we had to manage between 35 and 40 words in total to achieve both the aesthetic effect and evocation desired. The inscribed sentence was selected because its phrasing ("No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion...") directly relates to the rest ofthe carved inscription, which commemorates the attack on Pearl Harbor. The complete inscription in the memorial reads as follows:
PEARL HARBOR
DECEMBER 7,1941, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY ... NO MATTER
HOW LONG IT MAY TAKE US TO OVERCOME THIS PREMEDITATED INVASION,
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, IN THEIR RIGHTEOUS MIGHT,
WILL WIN THROUGH TO ABSOLUTE VICTORY
the actual speech (which never said GOD anyplace in it: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/fr32/speeches/ph.htm This is such BUNK.
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