(page 1) 1776 BICENTENNIAL 1976 ★ 1868 ★ 1976 ★ Memorial Day Service ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY (monochrome blue photograph; man on leftmost edge of image dressed in United States military uniform, a cord strung thorough his right epaulet, looks to the right; the man holds the butt of a rifle which is propped against his right shoulder aiming upwards and behind him; coniferous trees line the background; a large white stone tomb with three wreaths carved into its longer side stands atop a white stone floor base on the rightmost half of the image) Tomb of Unknown Soldier THE G. A. R. MEMORIAL CORPORATION WASHINGTON, D. C. The Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Day Corporation was organized under the Laws of the District of Columbia, November 17, 1928, by the united action of the District of Columbia Departments of the Grand Army of the Republic, The United Spanish War Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and The American Legion. Thereafter the Disabled American Veterans, the Amvets, Veterans of World War I, and Military Order of Purple Heart were admitted into constituent membership. The corporation was formed for two specific purposes: (a) To decorate the graves of veterans buried in Arlington National Cemetery and other local and national cemeteries in the District of Columbia; and (b) To hold fitting memorial services on Decoration Day. Memorial services of this character have been held annually by the Grand Army of the Republic since Memorial Day was established, May 5, 1868. Four representatives from each organization constitute its Board of Directors, no one of whom receives any compensation for his services. The expenses of the Corporation are borne by small contributions donated by public spirited citizens who are interested in honoring the nation's service dead and who value the sacrifice and offer of sacrifice made by those who have followed the Flag. The legacy of today and the heritage for posterity come from their services. "Whenever a people forgets its worthy past, the day will come when it will not have a past worth remembering." DR. HENRY NELSON SNYDER, President Emeritus, Wofford College. (end of page 1) (page 2) BOARD OF DIRECTORS G. A. R. MEMORIAL DAY CORPORATION ★ OFFICERS President ROBERT F. SUTPHIN Past Department Commander Veterans of Foreign Wars Secretary-Treasurer ALBERT C. ALLEN Past Nat. Exec. Com. DAV Vice Presidents JAMES R. BROOKS Past Department Commander Veterans of Foreign Wars JAMES J. MURPHY Past Department Commander The American Legion NELLIE I. McMILLAN Past Department Commander Disabled American Veterans WILLIAM R. MAYBERRY Department Secretary AMVETS LOUIS ZARUBA Past Department Commander Veterans of World War I DONALD SKINDER Adjutant, Chapter 353 Military Order of Purple Heart DIRECTORS United Spanish War Veterans Veterans of Foreign Wars LEO F. TIPPEN, Department Commander ROBERT F. SUTPHIN, Past Dept. Commander JAMES R. BROOKS, Past Dept. Commander GEORGE A. LANGE, Past Dept. Commander The American Legion CHESTER F. BORATENSKI, Department Commander WILLIAM J. HOLLIMAN, Past Nat. Vice-Comdr. JAMES J. MURPHY, Past Dept. Commander Disabled American Veterans JOHN T. JOHNSON, Department Commander ALBERT C. ALLEN, Past Nat. Exec. Committeeman NELLIE I. McMILLAN, Past Dept. Commander PRESTON SNELSON, Past Dept. Commander AMVets EVA MANCHESTER, Department Commander JOHN C. BALLARD, Past Nat. Vice-Commander WILLIAM R. MAYBERRY, Department Secretary EARL B. WRIGHT, Past Dept. Commander Veterans of World War I LEO A. MILLER, Department Commander LOUIS F. ZARUBA, Past Dept. Commander FAITH WINDSOR, Past Dept. Commander MADISON W. MANLEY, Past Dept. Commander Military Order of Purple Heart LLOYD HENRY, Commander, Chapter 353 DONALD SKINDER, Adjutant, Chapter 353 LTC. FREDERICK A. MESSING, Retired CAPT. PATRICK H. McGANN, Retired (end of page 2) (page 3) (monochrome blue profile portrait photograph of Major General John A. Logan, a man with slicked collar-length hair and a large mustache covering his upper lip, in 19th-century United States military uniform, facing to the right) Maj. Gen. John A. Logan HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC Washington, D. C., May 5, 1868 General Orders No. 11 ★ I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form or ceremony is prescribed, but Posts and comrades will, in their own way, arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit. We are organized, Comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors and marines, who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead? We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic. If other eyes grow dull and other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us. Let us, then, at the time appointed, gather around their sacred remains, and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledge to aid and to assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon the Nation's gratitude—the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan. II. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to call attention to this Order, and lend its friendly aid in bringing it to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith. III. Department Commanders will use every effort to make this Order effective. By Command of: N P CHIPMAN, Adjutant-General. JOHN A. LOGAN, Commander-in-Chief. (end of page 3) (page 4) COMMITTEE FOR MEMORIAL DAY EXERCISES - 1976 GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS: Board of Directors AUDIT: James J. Murphy, Chairman PRESENTATION AND RETIRING OF COLORS: Edward M. Clough, Captain INVITATIONS, TICKETS, PROGRAM, MUSIC, SPEAKER: Robert F. Sutphin, Chairman USHERS AND SEATING: Albert C. Allen, Chairman MASTER OF CEREMONIES, TOMB OF UNKNOWN SOLDIER, WREATH LAYING CEREMONIES: GEORGE A. LANGE, JR. The VFW National Honor Guard, under Command of Captain Earl A. Pellegreen, officiating with wreath-laying, assisted by Honor Guard of DAV and AMVETS. Korean Embassy, Ambassador Dr. Pyong-choon Hahm United Spanish War Veterans Auxiliary (Natl.), Miss Irene K. Petty, Natl. Treasurer United Spanish War Veterans Auxiliary (Dept.), Mrs. Blanche M. Ball, Dept. President United Spanish War Veterans Auxiliary (Dept. of Potomac), Martha A. Tribbett, Dept. President Sons of Spanish-American War Veterans (Natl.), Walter G. Shannon, Jr., Vice President Veterans of Foreign Wars (Dept. D.C.), Leo Tippen, Department Commander Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary (D.C. Dept.), Doris A. Sutphin, Department President The American Legion (Natl.), James Stroud, Chief of Contact The American Legion Auxiliary (Natl.), Mrs. George Gibbs, National Historian American Legion Auxiliary (D.C. Dept.), Mary E. Collins, Department President La Societe Des 40 Hommes et 8 Chavaux (Natl.), Loran C. Cottrell, Chef de Chemin de Fer 20/4 Honor Society of Women Legionnaires, Mary Elliott, National Director Disabled American Veterans (Dept.), John T. Johnson, Department Commander Veterans of World War I (Natl.), Louis F. Zaruba, Natl. Commander Military Order of the Purple Heart, Donald M. Skinder, Chief of Staff Widows of World War I, Inc. (Natl.), Virginia Campbell, National President Army and Navy Union (Natl.), Abdulah Hageage, Past National Commander Catholic War Veterans Auxiliary (D.C. Dept.), Adelaide V. Kowansky, Department President Marine Corps League Auxiliary (Natl.), Kay Wallace, National President Women's Army Corps, Veterans' Association, Miss Yvonne M. Hegedus, National President Women's Relief Corps Auxiliary of G.A.R. (Natl.), Joan Bennett, President by Gertrude Guthreau, Department President National Society Daughters of Union, 1861-1865, Elsie Butler, President General Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (Natl.), Miss Ellen J. Beckman, National President Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (Dept.), Miss Marquerite Harris, Department President The American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. (Natl.), Mrs. Josephine J. Holmes, National President The National Gold Star Mothers, Inc., Mable Paine, National President La Societe De Femme (Natl.), Mrs. Thelma P. Brewer, La Presidente Nationale Japanese-American Citizen's League (Natl.), Ira Shimasaki, National President United Daughters of the Confederacy, Mrs. L. Watson Seale, Division President G.A.R. MEMORIAL DAY CORPORATION, Robert F. Sutphin, President (escorted by Members of Veteran Groups) (end of page 4) (page 5) MEMORIAL DAY EXERCISES NATIONAL AMPHITHEATRE THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE CEREMONIAL BAND Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel, Commanding Captain James M. Danielsen, Conducting THE UNITED STATES ARMY CHORUS Lt. Colonel Eugene Allen, Commanding Major Allen Crowell, Directing THE UNITED STATES TROOP SUPPORT THIRD UNITED STATES INFANTRY (THE OLD GUARD) Colonel Robert Wiegand, Commanding SOUND PROVIDED BY SIGNAL SUPPORT GROUP Under Direction of Robert Winters 1. 11:00 A.M. D.S.T. Moment of silence while the President places his wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 2. Call to Order and Presentation of Colors under the direction of Robert F. Sutphin, President, G.A.R. 3. The National Anthem U.S. Air Force Ceremonial Band and The U.S. Army Chorus 4. Pledge of Allegiance John T. Johnson Department Commander, D.A.V. 5. Invocation Chaplain, Colonel John D. Benson Staff Chaplain, Military District of Washington 6. The Lord's Prayer The U.S. Army Chorus M/Sgt. Kenneth B. Corcoran, Soloist 7. Introductions Robert F. Sutphin, President G.A.R. Memorial Day Corp. 8. Welcome Address Army Major General Robert G. Yerks Commanding General, Military District of Washington 9. America the Beautiful The U.S. Army Chorus 10. General Logan's Order Establishing Memorial Day Chester F. Boratenski Department Commander, American Legion 11. O God, Our Help in Ages Past The U.S. Army Chorus 12. Memorial Day Address Gerald R. Ford President of the United States 13. Battle Hymn of the Republic The U.S. Air Force Ceremonial Band 14. Benediction Chaplain, Colonel John D. Benson 15. Taps M/Sgt. Joseph Baldo 16. Retirement of the Colors Edward M. Clough, Captain The American Legion National Honor Guard NOTE: PLEASE REMAIN IN YOUR SEATS UNTIL THE PROGRAM IS COMPLETED AND THE PRESIDENT HAS RETIRED IN ORDER TO AVOID CONFUSION DURING AND AT THE END OF THE PROGRAM. ALSO HELP US KEEP THESE GROUNDS SACRED BY TAKING THE PROGRAM WITH YOU. (end of page 5) (page 6) (monochrome blue bust-up portrait of Abraham Lincoln in a three-piece black suit, black bow-tie, and white winged-collar shirt, facing three-quarters to the right and towards the viewer) LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg November 19, 1863 ★ FOURSCORE and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on 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 the 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 the 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 can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not 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 we 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. ★ (end of page 6) (page 7) Memorials MYRTLE L. BURKE We are saddened by the recent passing of Myrtle L. Burke, who has held National and Department Offices in many Veterans Organizations. She served for many years with the G.A.R. Memorial Day Corporation as an ex officio member. She was a great help to the president and officers of the Corporation. She served as Chair Person of the Transportation as well as the Flower Committees until she was seriously injured in an automobile accident. From that time until her death she rendered assistance from her bed side and/or wheel chair by telephone. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and worked with her. (the remainder of this page is boxed-in with a thick blue line) Other Members of the Corporation Who Passed Away in the Past Twenty-five Years United Spanish War Veterans Charles H. Appich, Past Department Commander Frank L. Berry, Past Department Commander Claude K. Bittenbinder, Past Department Commander Walter F. Eich, Past Department Commander Frederick L. Fridley, Past Department Commander John A. Martin, Past Department Commander Harry F. Patterson, Past Department Commander Peter Roesle, Past Department Commander Otto Zambreny, Past Department Commander Glen Seaman, Past Department Chaplain American Legion F. G. Fraser, Past National Vice Commander L. J. P. Fichthorn, Past Department Commander Rudolph Blick, Past Post Commander Sylvan Richgut, Past Post Commander Ada M. Riley, Past Department President Auxiliary Disabled American Veterans Lee R. Pennington, Past President G.A.R. Amvets John M. Murphy, Past National Vice Commander Bernard S. Spalding, Past Department Commander World War I Col. Waldron E. Leonard, Past Department Commander (end of page 7) (page 8) (monochrome blue aerial photograph showing a white stone amphitheater in a wooded cemetery and several paved sidewalks leading up to it; a large white Christian cross is visible behind the amphitheater and a number of tombs are visible in the landscape behind the cross) Approach to Memorial Amphitheatre and Tomb of Unknown Soldier Arlington National Cemetery was established by order of the Secretary of War Stanton, June 15, 1864. It now comprises 517.83 acres of land with 13 miles of paved roadways and three miles of paved sidewalks. It contains 168,000 burials of service men and dependents from all wars and conflicts. Burials now average 13 a day. There were 2460 burials during the year 1975. The service men come from each state, all of our foreign possessions and thirty-eight foreign countries. Men of the North and South hallow this sacred ground and sleep together in peace. In 1975 the records show that approximately 4,000,000 visitors viewed the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier. The Memorial Amphitheatre was dedicated May 15, 1920, and the Unknown Soldiers of World War II and Korea were buried May 30, 1958. During the year 1975 there were 391 Wreath Ceremonies conducted at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by various Veteran, Patriotic organizations, and Civic bodies, schools and State Heads of various Countries. ★ AMERICA My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim's pride, From every mountain side Let freedom ring! Our father's God to thee, Author of liberty, To thee I sing; Long may our land be bright, With freedom's holy light; Protect us by thy might, Great God our King. (small indistinct monochrome blue printers mark) 14 (end of page 8)