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AY November 19, 1927 WINNETKA TALK 45 Winnetka's VILLAGE PAYS TRIBUTE TO WORLD WAR HEROES | Gold Star Parents Among Fifteen Hundred Attending Cere- monies On the Green By Ray C. Pearson The heart of Winnetka beat fast last Sunday afternoon. Winnetka, which gave and gave and gave, gave of 'that which is cherished most of all--life--back in those days on Flanders Field, stood in silence a few moments. Those were the mo- ments just before the dedication of Winnetka's Memorial to her boys who went "Over There" and fought the fight, fought it for liberty, peace, hap- piness and progress. And in fighting the battle there was no thought of self. To die for the cause was not a loss. It was as Dinsmore Ely--we read that name on the cold stone-- said: "An investment, not a loss when a man dies for his country." Fifteen Hundred Present Small wonder that some fifteen hun- dred Winnetkans gathered at the crest of the slight rise of ground on the west side of the village green to honor those boys--there were ten of them, and here they appear in the chronolog- ical order of their "going," Philip Com- fort Starr, Dinsmore Ely, Vincenzio di Georgio, Wesley Magor Juleff, James Edward Hayes, Roswell Hayes Fuller, George Raymond Kelley, Pas- quale Salerno, Charles Douglas Weart and Fletcher Ladd McCordic--who willingly, yes aggressively, made the big investment, which earned the divi- dend so eagerly sought. We draw a contrast. There was mud and grime; there was stinky gas; there was blood and death in France. All of that was in the "investment." There was sunshine and hearts that beat fast with the joy of standing before Winnetka's Memorial last Sun- day afternoon to do honor to the heroes and to show them that they never will be forgotten. The gold star fathers and mothers will go often to stand there before the big stone because it will bring them closer to "my boy." And as the years roll along there will come others down the line, the children of brothers and sisters and after them the children of these children to stand there, too, and pay tribute. But that is not all. None of Winnet- ka forget. They, too, will take a place before the Memorial and let minds drift retrospectively. Honor and pride will accomplish that. Those ten boys will live forever in the hearts of Win- netkans. Perhaps no day could have been more perfect for the dedication. The ceremonies required just forty-two minutes. Preceding the exercises the New Trier High school band played patriotic airs. In order that all might hear those who spoke, a loud speaker was employed. Old Glory Is Raised After the unveiling, a beautiful American flag, the gift of Samuel S. Otis, designer of the Memorial, was hoisted to the top of the flagstaff, as the band played the Star Spangled Banner. We have mentioned that fifteen hun- dred were present at the dedication which was the most impressive ever held in Winnetka, and among these were the Members of Winnetka Post No. 10 of the American legion, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Camp Fire Soldier Memorial Is Dedicated Cenotaph--Winnetka's Memorial to Soldier Heroes Gold Star Parents Dr.and Mz1s. J. OQ Ely...ivvvus.s Mr. and Mrs. Alfred E. McCordic. Mrs. Mary Kelley.......... iia .....430 Walnut street, Winnetka § Eger 559 Oak street, Winnetka ......706 Center street, Winnetka Mr. and Mrs. James G. Weart. .108 West avenue, Oconomowoc, Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Merritt Starr........695 Prospect avenue, Winnetka Mrs. Waldemar Hultgren (wife)......2344 Touhy avenue, Chicago Mrs. Frank R. Fuller....................98 Church road, Winnetka Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence J. Hayes. .....869 Locust street, Winnetka (Note: Vincenzio di Gegorio's parents unknown. unknown.) Pasquale Salerno's parents Girls. "Chief" Davies was in command Those who spoke were : WILLIAM S. ELLIOTT (Dedication Chairman) In the Great World war which ended nine years ago last Friday, three hundred eighty-five sons of Winnetka served in the military forces of the United States. Of that number ten did not return to us. We are gathered here today to honor those ten boys who made the supreme sacrifice and gave their lives for their country anf ours--to honor their memory, their bravery, their sacrifice and their patriotism--by dedicating to them this memorial of lasting stone. It was the expressed request of the Winnetka Post of the American Legion that this should be a memorial only to their ten comrades who died in the service, and that wish has been respected. I am sure, however, that it is the feeling of all citizens of Winnetka that in honor- ing their ten dead comrades, we are honoring all those who served their coun- try in time of war and that we desire to do so. Trio of Active Workers The dedication services will consist of the turning over of the completed memor- ial by the Trustees who have had charge of the memorial fund and the erection of the memorial, to those who will have its care and custody in the future. These are the Village of Winnetka which owns this common on which the memorial stands, the Winnetka Park district which, by agreement with the Village, maintains the common and will maintain the me- morial, and the Winnetka Post of the American Legion. The three Trustees who have had active charge of the build- ing of the memorial are Mr. George B. Massey. Mr. Heyliger DeWindt and Mr. John R. Leonard. Mr. Massey will present the memorial on behalf of the Memorial Committee of Fifty, following which it will be accepted by representa- tives of the Village, the Park Board and the American Legion. Mr. Massey, Mr. DeWindt and Mr. Leonard were largely responsible for the organization of the Memorial Committee of Fifty and for encouraging that com- mittee to believe that the funds could be raised to build a memorial on the plan and scale desired. At the request of the Committee Mr. Massey consented to be General Chairman, Mr. DeWindt Chair- man of the Finance Committee and Mr. Leonard the Treasurer. The raising of the memorial fund was largely the result of the personal work of these three men who gave most generously of their time. As they come now and ask to be relieved of further duties by turning over the memorial to its future custodians, we can truly say, and I think we would all like to say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servants." MERRITT STARR (A Gold Star Parent) By the Declaration of Independence our Fathers accepted for America the separ- ate and equal station among the nations of the earth to which the laws of nature and of nature's God en- title her. Thirteen years ago the empires of Middle Europe, having become arrogant with the power resulting from years of special military and technical industrial preparation, and from the naval resource afforded by new uses of submarine craft, sought to dominate the commerce and industrial development of Europe, and seizing the lawless act of a fanatic in the wrongfully annexed Jugo Slavic Sarajevo as a pretext, claimed the power to dominate other nations, to direct and control their internal police, and define the fields and terms of interna- tional commerce, and impose by war her mastery of the continent. And so the World war came. Civilized nations rose in resistance and the youth of America rushed to the field, and pour- ed out their blood in common streams with the heroes of other lands. And in order to maintain their claims in that war, those empires of Middle Europe assumed to forbid America, with whom they were at peace, from pursuing peaceful intercourse with the rest of the world, and to dictate the conditions upon which America might conduct her com- merce; and in the vain effort to make good that assumption they deliberately sank American ships, burned American factories, drowned and slaughtered Amer- ican men and women and children, and incited our Neighbor Mexico to make war upon us with their help, promising Mexi- co sovereignty over several of our states in case of victory. ¥ 'equal place among the nations of the And so, after many protests, warnings, and appeals to their better nature, Ameri- ca recognized that those empires were warring upon us, invoked nature's first law of self-defense, and exerted her right to regain peace by means of the sword. And all America rose, to save the life of the nation by the selfless sacrifices of her sons; to suppress that false, unnatur- al claim, and to maintain that equal station, among the powers of the earth, which our Fathers had achieved. And buoyant youtn, with the vision and understanding of new life, grasped the high occasion in its meaning, its duty and its opportunity. . "So nigh is grandeur to our dust So near is God to man When duty whispers low 'Thou must' The youth replies 'I can." One common purpose inspired them all. "I felt I had to go," said one. "My life is an investment," said another, and leaving the companionships and loves of life and all that was dear to them each of them said as he went: --*I could not love thee dear so much, loved I not truth - and honor more." And have we lost them? No. A man's life is an investment when he dies for his country. "Tomorrow, when the masks shall fall, That dizen nature's carnival, The pure shall see by their own will. Tis not within the force of fate The fate--conjoined, to separate. Light is light which radiates, Blood is blood which circulates, Life is life which generates, And many--seeming life is one. Wilt thou transfir and make it none? Nor see the Genius of the whole Ascendant in the private soul? PRET LE what is excellent. As God lives, is permanent ; Hearts are dust, hearts' loves remain And their hearts' loves will meet again O children, dear, of paradise, Boys who made dear their fathers' home, In whose deep eyes Men read the welfare of the times to come, A music heard by you alone To works as noble led you on." Give Lives for Others And these brave young men whose names are carved upon this stone paid the last full measure of devotion to our country. They gave their lives that oth- ers might live in freedom and that our country and the causes for which it lives, our liberty, peace and progress, may have life and may have it more abundantly. They have died where youths with glory die. And with grateful hearts we meet and dedicate this votive stone and flagstaff to enshrine the memory of their noble deeds to future generations. Our inheri- tance from this world war should be the Will for Peace. and it is our greater op- portunity and higher duty here to renew our devotion to the aims for which they died: To consecrate our lives anew to ng our nation's government and, earth: to prove that government of the people, bv the peonle and for the people (Continued on Page 47)