Page:The history and achievements of the Fort Sheridan officers' training camps.djvu/359

 THE SECOND OFFICERS' TRAINING CAMP

��He stood there that day the living embodiment of American valor. A real fighting man, still affected by the refusal of the War Department to let him go to France with a fighting division, he referred to this early in his remarks when he said:

For us, this opportunity is denied; the supreme privilege is yours. It is our duty to back up at home the fighting men at the front in every w^ay we can. It is our duty to keep the spirit alive and burning and vic- tory will come speedily, and. Lord, men, how I wish I were going w^ith you !

Every man feels that the w^ar should go on and once for all remove the menace of Prussianism and the iron and bloody rule of the Hohen- zollerns forever. Yours is the honor of going. You will not have to explain to your children why you did not go to war. This is the great chance. Be equal to it. You are the flow^er of our country chosen for this great task. It is a great opportunity and a great responsibility.

The British and French are fighting our battles and we are their debtors. Your duty is to go forth as missionaries, and w^hen you have awakened th^s country from its lazy, opulent slumber, see that you keep it aw^ake forever. See that w^e are never again put in the position w^e are now, of vast, lazy strength unmobilized. The men of France and England are protecting us with their bodies. Let us, here, in the first place make America safe. We owe a big debt to the Allies in this w^ar, and 1 say again, be missionaries, so that never again shall we be so help- less to defend our honor. Never again should w^e ow^e our safety to the blood of others. The one step for our protection is universal obligatory military training for all our young men.

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�� �� ���MARTIN DELANEY COACHING RIGHT AND LEFT JABS

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