Illinois News Index

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 5 Jul 1974, p. 1

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- X •V 15* Q THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER £ 15' M S E R V I N G T H E C H A I N - O - L A K E S R E G I O N S I N C E 1 8 7 5 ~ trrrrni VOLUME 98 NUMBER 98 - FRIDAY, JULY 5, 1974 * 18 PAGES FIFTEEN CENTS Can We Wave The Flag Too Much? Is it possible to wave the flag too much? Provided, of course, that you wave it with integrity? Is it possible to study Lincoln or Shakespeare too much? Is it possible to read the Bible too much? ^ The great, the good, the true, are inexhaustible for inspiration, example and strength. I believe that we are not waving our flag enough, not nearly enough. • It seems to me that we are developing a tendency to be timid or even apologetic about waving the stars and stripes. Walk up and down the streets on July 4th and count the flags. It is our nation's birthday, a sacred day in world history, the most important day of America. Why isn't the flag flying on every rooftop and from every home and building? This complacent attitude is strong evidenceof cancerous patriotic decay. The flag is a symbol of our national unity. It is the spirit of our undying devotion to our country. It stands for the best that is in us . . . for loyalty, character, and faith in democracy • isn't our flag a synonym of the United States of America? Does it not represent man's greatest, noblest, most sublime dream? Is it not the zenith of achievement, the goal to which generations have aspired? • Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is time for us . . . for the mad, rushing Twentieth Century American ... to stop for a moment and think. Let us arrest our near reverential admiration of material success and return to the spiritual and ethical values. Let us imbue and rekindle in ourselves and our children the so called old-fashioned way of patriotism, a burning devotion to the principles and ideals upon which our country was founded • Should not every home own and proudly display the colors on holidays and other such occasions? Isn't the flag Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Nathan Hale, Gettysburg and Valley Forge, Paul Revere, Jackson and other great men and women who have given us our heritage. When you look at the flag can't you see the Alamo, Corrigedor, Pearly Harbor, The Monitor, The AAerrimac, Wake Island, and Korea? Lest we forget, isn't the flag Flanders Field, Bataan, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Babe Ruth and Davy Crockett? The great events of our past and present are wrapped up in our flag • It is a symbol of this blessed nation, a giant in industry, education and commerce. Millions of fertile square miles, wheatlands, coal mines, steel plants. Our great republic, the chosen infant destined to be man's last and remaining hope for suffering humanity, a shining beacon of light, noble and glorious, the haven for the oppressed and persecuted and truly God's gift to mankind • That is what the flag means to me. Can we wave it too much? I don't think so. JOHN F. KENNEDY HAS THE MORAL. AND INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY, AS WELL AS THE INALIENABLE RIGHT, TO GOVERN HIMSELF WITH HARRY S. TRUMAN THE LIBERTY ENJOYED BY THE PEOPLE OF THESE STATES OF WORSHIPPING ALMIGHTY GOD AGREEABLY TO THEIR CONSCIENCES, IS NOT ONLY AMONG THE CHOICIEST OF THEIR BLESSINGS, BUT ALSO BF THEIR RIGHTS. GEORGE WASHINGTON T ET RONG ULL ALLOT ST HA ABRAHAM LINCOLN THE CLASSROOM--NOT THE TRENCH--IS THE FRONTIER OF FREEDOM NOW AND FOREVER. -- LYNDON B. JOHNSON MY FELLOW AMERICANS: ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU; ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUN­ TRY. WE VOTE AS FREE MEN, IMPELLED ONLY BY THE URGINGS OF OUR OWN WISDOM AND OUR OWN CONSCIENCE. IT IS THAT RIGHT, THE RIGHT TO DETERMINE FOR THEMSELVES WHO SHOULD BE THEIR OWN OFFICERS OF GOVERNMENT, THAT PROVIDES FOR THE PEOPLE THE MOST POWERFUL SAFEGUARD OF OUR DEMOCRACY. GOD' HOW LITTLE DO MY COUNTRYMEN KNOW WHAT PRECIOUS BLESSINGS THEY ARE IN POSSESSION OF, AND WHICH NO OTHER PEOPLE ON EARTH ENJOY.' THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH AMERICA THAT THE FAITH, LOVE OF FREEDOM, INTELLIGENCE AND ENERGY OF HER CITIZENS CANNOT CURE. DW1GHT D. EISENHOWER FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT THOMAS JEFFERSON IT DOES NOT REQUIRE A LAWYER TO INTERPRET THE PRO­ VISIONS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. THEY ARE AS CLEAR AS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. THE FLAG IS THE EMBODIMENT, NOT OF SENTIMENT, BUT OF HISTORY. \ WOODROW WILSON HERBERT HOOVER

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