American Minute with Bill Federer
U.S. Military's Tradition of Faith
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Yale President Ezra Stiles
addressed Connecticut's General Assembly, May 8, 1783, regarding
General George Washington
being chosen to
command the Continental Army:
"The memorable battle of Bunker Hill. (June 17, 1775) ... convinced us ... that Americans both would and could fight with great effect.
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... Whereupon Congress put at the head of this spirited army,
the only man (George Washington),
on whom the eyes of all Israel were placed ...
This American JOSHUA
was
raised up by God,
and divinely formed by a peculiar influence of the Sovereign of the Universe, for the great work of
leading the armies
... to liberty and independence ..."
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Stiles continued:
"And while we render our supreme honors to
the Most High, the god of armies;
let us recollect, with affectionate honor,
the bold and brave sons of freedom,
who willingly offered themselves, and bled in the defense of their country ...
The
officers and soldiers of the patriot army
... and ... gallant
commanders and brave seamen of the American navy,
have heroically fought the war by sea and by land ...
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... Never was the profession of arms used with more glory, in a better cause,
since the days of JOSHUA, the son of Nun."
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After having the Declaration of Independence read to his troops,
General George Washington
issued the order, July 9, 1776:
"Commanding officers of each regiment are directed to procure Chaplains ... persons of good Characters and exemplary lives -
To see that all inferior officers and soldiers pay them a suitable respect and attend carefully upon
religious exercises.
The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger -
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... The General
hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to
live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier,
defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country ...
The peace and safety of his Country depends,
under God,
solely on the success of our arms."
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On May 2, 1778,
General George Washington
issued the order to his troops at Valley Forge:
"The Commander-in-Chief directs that Divine service be performed every Sunday at 11 o'clock, in each Brigade which has a Chaplain.
Those Brigades which have none will attend the places of worship nearest to them. It is expected that officers of all ranks will, by their attendance, set an example for their men.
While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to
the higher duties of religion.
To the distinguished character of
Patriot,
it should be
our highest Glory
to laud
the more distinguished Character of Christian."
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On November 15, 1862,
President Abraham Lincoln
ordered:
"The discipline and character of the national forces should not suffer nor the cause they defend be imperiled by the profanation of the day or
name of the Most High ...
'At this time of public distress,' adopting
the words of Washington in 1776,
'men may find enough to do in the service of
God
and their country without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality ...'"
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Lincoln
added:
"... The first general order issued by the Father of his Country after the Declaration of Independence
indicates the spirit in which our institutions were founded and should ever be defended:
'The General
hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes
a Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.'"
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President Benjamin Harrison
ordered, June 7, 1889:
"In November, 1862,
President Lincoln
quoted
the words of Washington
to sustain his own views, and announced in a general order that -
'The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy,
desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in the military and naval service.
The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest,
the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors,
a becoming deference to the
best sentiment of a Christian people,
and a due regard for the
Divine Will
demand that
Sunday labor in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity'..."
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President Harrison
added:
"... To recall the kindly and considerate spirit of
the orders
issued by these great men in the most trying times of our history, and to promote contentment and efficiency, the President directs that Sunday morning inspection will be merely of the dress and general appearance."
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President Woodrow Wilson
gave the order, January 20, 1918:
"The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy,
following the
reverent example of his predecessors,
desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the
Sabbath
by the officers and men in the military and naval service of the United States.
The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest,
the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors,
a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a
Christian people,
and a due regard for the
Divine Will
demand that Sunday labor in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity.
Such an
observance of Sunday
is dictated by the
best traditions
of our people and by the convictions of all who look to
Divine Providence
for guidance and protection,
and, in
repeating in this order the language of President Lincoln,
the President is confident that he is speaking alike to the hearts and to the consciences of those under his authority."
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In 1917,
President Woodrow Wilson
wrote the foreword to
a pocket Bible
given out by the thousands to American soldiers heading to France and Belgium during World War I:
"The Bible is the Word of Life. I beg that you will read it
and find this out for yourselves ... When you have read the
Bible
you will know
it is the Word of God,
because you will have found in it the key to your own heart ...
-(signed) Woodrow Wilson."
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General John J. Pershing
wrote a Preface of the
New Testament & Book of Psalms,
August 10, 1917:
"To the American Soldier
aroused against a nation waging war
in violation of all Christian principles ...
Hardships will be your lot, but trust in
God
will give you comfort; temptation will befall you, but
the teachings of our Savior will give you strength.
-(signed) Pershing, Comdg."
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In 1917, former
President Theodore Roosevelt
inscribed the foreword to
a pocket New Testament & Psalms
given to World War I soldiers, published by the New York Bible Society:
"The teachings of the New Testament
are foreshadowed in Micah's verse (Micah vi. 8): 'What more does
the Lord
require of thee than to do justice, and to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with thy God?'
Do Justice; and therefore fight valiantly against the armies of Germany and Turkey, for these nations in this crisis stand for the reign of Moloch and Beelzebub on this earth.
-(signed) Theodore Roosevelt."
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At the beginning of World War II, on January 25, 1941,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
wrote the prologue of a special
Gideons' edition of the New Testament & Book of Psalms
distributed to millions of soldiers:
"As Commander-in-Chief,
I take pleasure in commending the
reading of the Bible
to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States ...
-(signed) Franklin D. Roosevelt."
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In December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge,
General George M. Patton
had Chaplain Fr. James O'Neil compose a
prayer.
It was printed on on a quarter of a million cards and distributed to the soldiers of the Third Army:
"Almighty and most merciful Father,
we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend.
Grant us fair weather for Battle.
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... Graciously hearken to us as
soldiers who call Thee
that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and
establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen."
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Five Star General Douglas MacArthur,
who was the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific during World War II, told West Point cadets, May 1962:
"The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the
greatest act of religious training-sacrifice.
In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those
Divine attributes
which
his Maker
gave when
He created man in His own image
...
No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of
Divine help
which alone can sustain him.
However horrible the incidents of war may be,
the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country
is the noblest development of mankind."
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In 1947, the U.S. Corp of Cadets required:
"Attendance at chapel is part of a cadet's training; no cadet will be exempted. Each cadet will receive
religious training
in one of the three particular faiths:
Protestant, Catholic or Jewish."
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In 1949, the U.S. Naval Academy required:
"All Midshipmen, except those on authorized outside church parties, shall
attend Sunday services in the chapel."
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On August 17, 1955,
President Dwight Eisenhower,
who had served as Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Forces during World War II, authorized the code of conduct for U.S. soldiers, which stated:
"I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense ... If captured ... I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy ...
I will never forget
I am an American fighting man,
responsible for my actions and dedicated to the principles which made my country free.
I will trust in my God
and in the
United States of America."
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The
Missing Man Table
to remember
Prisoners of War
has traditionally had
a Bible placed on it,
to represent the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country,
founded as
one nation under God
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On February 3, 1943, the overcrowded Allied ship
U.S.A.T. Dorchester
was hit by a Nazi torpedo.
During the chaos, four chaplains,
2 Protestant, 1 Catholic and 1 Jewish,
ripped off their life-jackets and gave them 4 sailors.
The chaplains were last seen together in
prayer
as the ship sank.
Eisenhower
stated February 7, 1954:
"And we remember that, only a decade ago, aboard the transport
Dorchester,
four chaplains ... willingly sacrificed their lives so that four others might live ...
Our common faith in
God
is a common bond among us ...
'In God is Our Trust.'"
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President Dwight Eisenhower
stated December 24, 1953, lighting the National Christmas Tree:
"George Washington
long ago rejected exclusive dependence upon mere materialistic values.
In the bitter and critical winter at Valley Forge, when the cause of liberty was so near defeat, his recourse was sincere and earnest
prayer ...
As
religious faith
is the foundation of free government, so is
prayer
an indispensable part of that
faith."
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President Eisenhower
broadcast from the White House for the
American Legion's Back-to-God Program,
February 7, 1954:
"As a former soldier,
I am delighted that
our veterans
are sponsoring a movement to
increase our awareness of God in our daily lives.
In battle, they learned a great truth - that there are no atheists in the foxholes. They know that in time of test and trial,
we instinctively turn to God for new courage."
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President Dwight Eisenhower
stated at the opening of the White House Conference of Mayors, December 14, 1953:
"I want to point out something about
fighting - about war ...
The winning of war - the effectiveness in such things - is in the heart, in the determination,
in the faith.
It is in our beliefs in our country,
in our God,
everything that goes to make up
America."
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President Eisenhower,
February 20, 1955, stated for the
American Legion Back-To-God Program:
"The Founding Fathers ... recognizing
God as the author of individual rights,
declared that the purpose of Government is to secure those rights ...
But in many lands the State claims to be the author of human rights ...
If the State gives rights, it can - and inevitably will - take away those rights.
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... Without God, there could be no
American form of Government, nor an
American way of life.
Recognition of the Supreme Being
is the first -
the most basic - expression of Americanism.
Thus the Founding Fathers saw it, and thus,
with God's help, it will continue to be ...
Veterans realize,
perhaps more clearly than others, the prior
place that Almighty God holds in our national life."
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American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.
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Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924
[email protected]
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