Full text of Keep the Faith
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' If ye break faith with us who die W c shall not sleeJJ, though poppies g-row In Flanders field . V- 37 1 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/keepfaith00fede ''That these dead shall not hatt.1e died in vain '' La t niah I dr 1n d a dr am. I dreamed that I r u h d in h in -clad hill id in Fran 1n wilight of a day that a lm t d n . In th alley b low I h ard h har h l· nl of metal beating against m tal- th i iou ma hi1wgun pitting Death- and, a the barra mo d clo r, the shrill whining of h 11 through the air, and the dull roar a th y bur t om wh re down th valley.' And I h ard th shout and strang rie of men who fought with m n. In the dim light be ide m lay a boy. He just lifted hi h ad out of th mud a liUl smiled- and died. eventy-tw o thou. and m ri an di d lik that in France and p • ed along th tor h to th ir comrade in Fran e and to u - their ·omra<l s back horn. o nation in the hi tory of th world was I s • prepared for war than wa meri a wh n th war began. [3] o natio n wa h tt r prep ared when it ende d. rmi tic wa igned Ame rica was Wh n th turni ng out war ma erial on uch a gigan tic scale and at :u ·h a high peed that the whol e worl d wond r d. M n - m n y- mat rial. Guns - a ropla n - hip - moto r-tru ck gas - food - "T T" - 1 como tive - hoe hand -gr nad s - bull t - . ar hligh t - tank sLib rty moto r. - h 11 - helm t - tents - rifles - bayo n ts- mach ine-g un - battl e hips. Our lli s kn w. Uerm any kn w. E r ninet y days nearl y a milli on Ame rican oldiers- train d to fight - equip ped to figh tea,ger to fig·ht - ,v re landi ng in Fran ce- read y to da, h fon;v ard on th doub l -quic k to take their pl~c in the battl -line. Ev r r day gr at fleet of ship - laden until the rod lmv in the wate r- were steam ing full p d ah ad throu gh Germ an dang er zones in to Fr nch harb or and dump ing their cargo es of [ -! ] Ameri an ·w ar 1nat rial upon . . in Fran 111 n an do k - Ever da and all throuo·h th nio·ht . . \1rn.'r1 nn "orkm n ,Y r loadin • thi . . \111 ri nn fr ig-h t into m ri an fr i ·ht ar and ru ~hing it nt. tt p sp , d o er Americ an r ilr ad t . . \.111 ri an arnn )s on the merica n battl -front- in Fn. n :'..\I n- mon - mat rial. In eight en month ' . . \.m n billion dollar . n 1 l eio·ht, 'n And p nt it. "\Vhen the "'ar end d ther' wer ov 'r a rnillion and a half fine m ri an boy: in our c·arn ps over here, ready to fight, ag r to fight. rrlwy ·wore the sam mat rial that th G rman: got aeqw intc<l rg-onn, forc ,·t. Jt with at St. Mihi 1 and th co t million to train and quip thc'm. rrhcy But they fought didn't have their gr at chan • m riean fig!lting for Victory a a hig part of th machin . Th y w re ready, and U rmany knew they were ready. 1 [ ,j ] Am ri a was turning out war mat rials so fa t rmistic wa igned that in the next wh n th f w w k - before all the machin ery could be stopp d- w had enough- guns, clothes, ammun ition, a roplane , trucks- to equip in every detail an w army a larg a the one we already had in Franc . nd w :, ha e that materia l right now. It fought to bring a speedy victory just as much a. th materia l which were actuall y used. It was r ,ady. And Germa ny knew it was ready. @~ ' ,~-------... ~... ~ .. I ~ ::::::-,,,, Som time la t summe r, came a Germa n secret r i ag nt to th Germa n Great Headq uarters and told th Kai er, or on Hinden burg, or Ludendorff, or k om body the big things Americ a was doin to win the war. nd .. om body gave a long, loud laugh. Bu t th next day anothe r report of the same kind am in- and the next day anothe r-and th n x day- and the next[6] ntil aft r littl whil 1n b d quit lau~hin()' and ent a hurr -up n1 a· 1, D. ., that H n tut d uthori i f th b glad, ery , r o-lad ind T nd ould W a hino-t n pl reply promptl, . a' t Strang , i n't it. ermany had th m n and and he had th d ir - t for many month . h had th gun n with th War Why then, all thi • ru h about th(' 1n ovemb r. There i know ' it. JU n n ·w r- th whol :mi.'iieo world ermany wa • 'car d lo D alh. Sh knew that if h didn 't quit whil t}w quitting wa good, m ri ·an r plan w uld blacken her ki - Am ri ·an h 11 • w uld blow her i tie off th map- and m ri • n ·oldi r.• would be marching through th . tr t: of B rli n singing " Hail, Hail, th ang' 11 H r ! " b for the leave were gr en again in nt r d n Lind n. It co t a 1 t of money t [7 J ·ar a nation to d ath. Gen ral Per. hing' taff report officially that if th War had lasted for six months longer-one hundr d thousand more American soldiers would have b n killed. One hundred thousand of these American boys that are coming back to u every day now, would have b en smiling and dying in the mud of France - if the Armistice had been signed last Thursday instead of last ovember. Ar we grat ful to those who died . Are w grateful to those who were maimed for life in our fight ? Are w grateful to have so many boys back with u saf and sound ? Is there enough gratitude in the world to express the thank giving in our hearts because Victory came o oon? Th • money you and I are putting in to the , ictory Loan i the money we spent to end the W r ix months- perhaps twelve months- ahead of time. [ ] 1◄..,r One hundr d th u and . . 1n n a11 . . - in mud. ,Y ell-w ot our 111 11 J ' n h w rt h. , e might all hav b 11 w ari11~ n )f t ho~P little black arm-band with n, • lcl ~iar <.nit. When, retreating into th Fath rla,nd, . th whipped and beaten G rman rffil ·ross d th Rhine and n ter d G rma11 •i ti ·, tlH y W( r welcomed as conquerin • h r s. 1 t, t' n row: of cheering German p opl who r w l tl tlw c·urbs, they marched und r " r h of Triumph'' with their flags unfurl d- with th ir bands pla,ying "Deutschland ub r 11 ' and with How 'rs in the muzzles of their gun . 1 1 ' It is to laugh!" a th y u , d to .-ay in U< nrn1ny beforethe,Var. 'Iti t laug·h!" 1 [ u] On th eleventh of November last year a French soldier by the name of Foch said'' I t shall not be!'' With cold foresight and the knowledge born of experienc , he threw a cordon of guns and bayonets and m n around the German people. To-day, with their Allies, half a million of America's oldiers stand guard over the German border. Half a million of our soldiers are on the job to tay- un til th World is safe again. * * * It osts $2. 74 a day to keep one of those soldiers th re v r one and a quarter million dollars a day. I .· jt worth it? * * * It is ·oing to co t us an even $200 to bring each on of them home again- when that job is finished. I it worth it ? * * * Ther are some other things for us to pay for b fore we're through- before we finish our job. 1 1 wo hundred and eighty thousand of our sol di r were wounded in this War. Some of th 1n are well now- some of them aren't- some f them never will be. we ~ got to bind up th ir \V und ' G nd p r f th 111 w \: m for their nur ing-a nd for h u . 1 got to buy new arm and I o- - tbr and twent y-fou r arm and I o· And, we, th raise the mone y- meric an P opl , h· You and I and th famil If we are going to finish that Ii got to n xi d<JOr ur job. The Bank s? Why- if we leav it to th Bani • to tak J rno:-;t of the Victo ry Loan wh r will ur I rosp ri ty be ?- the prosp erity that w 'v w rk d f r and saved for-a nd waite d for- th pr ·p rity that is just aroun d th corn r now - pr011id d w do our share . H und Amer ican bu ·in • • ha · ot t hav to t· k banki ng y tern b hind it- if we ar advan tage of the pro perity that i ur fr th askin g- and the gr ater activ ity in v ry kind f indu try- with plent y of job and better tim s for u all. for us If w leave th Bank · t fini h ur j we'll hav the kind of pro p rity that : hows it 1f in slow bu ine - low wag - f w j bs. [ 11 ] Thi: loan i: our bu ·in - the bu ine of the Am ri •an p pl as a whole, the peop le who won th War. And it i good bu ine l f thi thing , too- the rrh r 's anot h r id inv :tm nt id of it. W don' t think f it very often- thi matt er t. f • J ut buyi ng Vi tory ote i n't like drop ping mon y down a w 11. In t ad of sayin g "The re it goes !" when we put fifty or a hun lr d or a thou sand dolla rs into th Vi tory Loan , w ay '' Here it come ! ''- for v ry ino-1 dolla r we put in come s back to us again with inter t. \\Te m rican didn 't put our mone y into this War b cau e it wa a good busin ess prop ositio n. Vv didn 't think of the inter est- and we didn 't car abou t it ither . And w don' t ar abou t it now, for its own sake. "\ 're not going to buy this Victo ry Loan just b cau it' a afe, soun d, mone y-ma king busin ess prop o .. it.ion that pays good inter est. That isn't th r a on. But th int r t is there just the ame. [ 12 ] w bu ?-y u and I- i ry Ti t r nt w can niake the be t po ibl inv nit d tntc~ th Go ernm nt and p pl f th of m ri a and b hind it . \nd th (10,· rnn1 nt lh r w put into t.h pledg it v ord that ba 'k t U t:,111 Vi tor Lib rt Loan dolla r for dolla r- ,:vith int r I • ther anything- mu h cf r thnin that in t,hi , worl l . EY .L The killin g i::, over. It lasted four y ar , t hr mon h: an i f our t n oar days . We American w r in it for on even mon ths, and fiv d y . nd w w n t to forg ,t it nd now it is over . and live the r t of our liv the wa ..\! migh ty God inten ded we shou ld ]iv th m in I Pac·, and Free dom and ome d gr e of IIapp in s.. But even ty-tw o t hou and m rican • died in a nd left a job for u to fini h - firs . I◄ ranc 1 " I f ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow I n Flanders fields." In Flander Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place, and in the sky, Th larks, still bravely singing, fly, carce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead ; short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. T al<e up our quarrel tvith the foe ! To you from failing hands we throw The tor h; be yours to hold it hiah ! If ye br ak faith with us who die W shall not sleep, though poppies grotu In Flanders fields. Li ut.,Col. MCCRAE If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. Gover nment Loan Organ ization Second Fed elral R e, e rve Dist rlic l Liberty Loan Committee