Veteran's Day (1 Viewer)

[Topsez]

The below letter was forwarded to me by a veteran friend and I though I’d share it with you.

This Veteran's Day, please remember the sacrifices America's veterans have made for our nation throughout history. If you are a veteran, thank you for your service! And also remember that freedom of religion (not freedom FROM religion!) are one of the ideals American troops have fought and died for!

A MESSAGE FROM AN APPALLED OBSERVER:

Today I went to visit t he 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--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.

One elderly woman read the words aloud:

With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbending determination 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 Iwo Jima


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 H ISTORY?????????"

 

[shuamort]

Now I ask:

"WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE WORDS OF H ISTORY?????????"

If there's one thing I hate, it's crap like this. So HELP ME GOD if I see more posts like this, I'm gonna make a nasty list.

From Snopes:

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, that 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.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.



Only a very short excerpt from President Roosevelt's speech is inscribed on the National World War II Memorial. The sentence that ends "so help us God" wasn't edited to remove those final four words — the phrase "so help us God" isn't there because the sentence that contains it (highlighted in blue above) doesn't appear on the memorial at all. The words inscribed on the memorial were taken from a completely different sentence (highlighted in red above) delivered earlier in the speech, which is reproduced in its entirety: