As has become my custom, I am posting a transcript of a speech given by US President Abraham Lincoln on the occasion of the dedication of the of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg. My purpose in doing so is to help ensure that we "never forget what they did here."

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
Given November 19, 1863
Near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA


Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war ... testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated ... can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate ... we cannot consecrate ... we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us ... that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion ... that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ... that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ... and that government of the people ... by the people ... for the people ... shall not perish from the earth.
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:-)
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That has long been my favorite historical speech. It's very moving every time I read or hear it. Thank you for the thoughtful post.
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:-)
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The greatest 2 minute speech of all time

Don
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Bravo! :-)
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Classic Mr. Mark.
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Thank you for the post Mark. It was one hell of a bloody war as most. Not only should we remember that period, and the period before which established our great Country, but the men and women who gave their lives in battles that followed thereafter.

I have a good friend named George, a mentor of mine in investigations, who was a Navy Corpsman during the Vietnam era. He had spent about a month getting it together over there and was attached to a small group of Marines. They were transported by chopper, and unfortunately, had to land in a hot LZ. George had no sooner jumped from the chopper and had taken a few steps, when a round struck him and had fortunately made a clean exit. He was medivac from that location, and spent a few months healing.

When the doctor cleared him, he was attached once again with another small group of Marines. This lasted a very short time as he was once again struck by a round which made a clean exit.

They gave George an Honorable discharge from the Navy following his second Purple Heart and a free ride home from Vietnam.

To this day, I shoot George an email and/or call him (mainly to hear him sob) to thank him for his service to our Country. Thereafter, I usually attend the Memorial Day Service at Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall.

So, on this Memorial Day, remember to thank a Vet for their service. They will greatly appreciate those words:-)
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The Corpsman on my boat served in Vietnam with a Marine unit and he had more medals than I ever saw on anyone else; he could barely fit his Dolphins on his uniform. One time in Holy Loch, Scotland, he was on the Tender during a security violation drill. He was standing in the middle of the passageway when a Marine butt-stroked him to the bulkhead. When the Gunny found out who he was, they assembled every Marine on the fantail in dress uniform to apologize. One time I got a metal sliver in my eye and he removed it with a syringe needle. What a steady hand! I've met very few MD's who I trust as much as him and we were lucky to have him.
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