520 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
but they love it more because they have
seen its crimson colors
reproduced in the blood of America. We
love this country, but
they love it more, because they have
seen the sacrifices which have
made it what it is, and while we hope
that we will have peace,
we are going to claim our right and
recognize our right under
any circumstance, at any time, to
protect our homes, our loved
ones, our country, and our flag, to
maintain American institutions
and to preserve American traditions. I
thank you. (Applause.)
ADDRESS OF MAJOR-GENERAL BENSON W. HOUGH
President Johnson next presented
Major-General
Hough, who in behalf of the service men
and women of
Ohio thanked the Society for its
manifestation of inter-
est and the interest of the great state
of Ohio in the
erection of the Memorial this day
dedicated. President
Johnson spoke as follows:
Now, we have come to the last of the
addresses of the day.
It is to be made by one of our own, Late
Colonel of the 166th
Infantry of Ohio, 42nd Division of A. E.
F., who recently re-
ceived a deserved recognition and honor,
appointment to the Fed-
eral Judgeship of the Southern District
of Ohio. I have the honor
to present Major-General Benson W.
Hough, who will give a
response on behalf of the Service Men
and Women of Ohio.
Judge Hough responded as follows:
Mr. President, Senator Burton, My
Comrades, Friends, La-
dies and Gentlemen: It is no
insignificant duty to be called upon
to state the congratulations and
sentiment of more than a quarter
of a million Ohio service men. It is no
small task, either, to tell
this Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society, in adequate
terms, of the appreciation that is due that
society for and in be-
half of this their splendid permanent
Memorial. It is my belief
that this should be approached in
modesty and humility, in a spirit
of thankfulness, for what has been
accomplished, in a spirit of
thankfulness that the occurrences of
1918 have terminated and
with the voice of hope that those times
may never be reenacted.
The man who conceived the idea of this
project must have been
a patriot. To James E. Campbell and his
associates, whose
thoughts developed into plans, and whose
plans through effort
finally developed into this completed
enterprise, all thanks must
Dedication of Ohio's World War Memorial 521 cheerfully be given. I am sure it is the hope of the speaker and of those men whom he represents, that future wars may be ob- viated, and I agree with the Senator that the best guarantee for the obviation of future war is preparedness, adequate, at least, for protection and defense. The people of this country will make a serious error, if now |
|
or in the future they fail to use their efforts, their funds and their services in developing and making the National Defense act that is on the statute books of the United States a continued and ulti- mate success. With that in view, we haven't much fear for the future. In 1918, that splendid one-armed French General said to his troops, "The assault is coming, the armament of the enemy is |
522 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
formidable, their numbers are legion,
and they are selected from
the cream of the German Army, but you are prepared,
your
armament is formidable, you have had
time to develop your plans,
and more than all, there beat in your
troops, both French and
American, the hearts of patriots, and
when the attack comes, your
General says to you, 'You will stop that
attack'." The faith of
that General was borne forth in success
and those troops did stop
and turn back that great German drive of
July 14,
1918, and
it
was because of the faith that he had in
the patriotism of his Army
that that thing became a possibility.
The State of Ohio contributed to the
World War two hun-
dred and sixty-odd thousand soldiers of
the Army, Navy and
Marine Corps; one-sixteenth of the
entire American forces, more
than six per cent of the four million
men that served during the
World War. Ohio participation, not only
in numbers, but in re-
sults, bespeaks honor to the State of
Ohio.
Seven thousand of those boys went to
France and did not
return alive. Their bodies came back for
the most part in wooden
boxes and caskets. Upon arrival, those
bodies and caskets were
placed in the pier building at Hoboken,
six or eight thousand at a
time. One night, just after the arrival
of a fleet carrying the dead
bodies of our American soldiers, a fire
broke out, and the next
morning down on those piers it was
plainly noticeable that two
of the pier buildings had burned to the
ground, and to the as-
tonishment of the spectators the next
two buildings were un-
harmed. And why? Those other two
buildings were filled to
capacity with the wooden boxes which
were brought by the Amer-
ican fleet with the American dead, but
there the Leviathan lay
across the way, and its great steel
sides loomed up a hundred
feet from the water. Those sides burned
and seared, with the
paint off, and that fire had come down
in that direction and those
great steel sides had effectively stopped
the flame from reaching
the dead bodies of our comrades. I say,
with all the mishaps to
that great ship and all the history that
is behind it, whatever the
cost to the Government of the United
States may be, for keeping
that ship in service it is money well
spent, and I thank God for
the Leviathan.
The Service Men and Women of the State
of Ohio sincerely
and earnestly thank the President of
this organization and his
associates living and dead, for the
manifestation of their interest
and of the interest of the great State
of Ohio, which we all love,
for the development and final completion
of a memorial here to
the soldiers, both living and dead, as
long as time may last.
Mr. Chairman, I congratulate you and
again thank you on
behalf of all our boys. (Applause.)
Dedication of Ohio's World War
Memorial 523
President Johnson thanked Judge Hough
for his
words of appreciation and paid merited
tribute to Gen-
eral Orton, Chairman of the Building
and Dedication
Committees:
The Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society appre-
ciates these expressions from the War Veterans'
representatives
who have spoken here today, but I want
to digress for just a
moment to say that the Society as such
cannot accept all of that
credit, without a word of explanation.
We believe that it is
proper to give credit where credit is
due, and while this work,
this Memorial, was erected under the
auspices of this organiza-
tion, and its officers and many of its
members, the yeoman work
in the development of the idea and in
bringing it to completion;
I wish to explain, the burden of this
labor and the development
of the idea and plan of the dedication
fell upon the shoulders of
one stalwart in our organization. I
refer to General Edward
Orton. (Applause.)
Benediction.
The program concluded with the
benediction by the
Chaplain of the Second Field Battalion,
First Division,
A: E. F., Rev. Dr. Arthur H. Limouze:
Almighty God, by whose favor we have
come to this day,
wherein in humility and gratitude we
have remembered the sac-
rifices of our sons and daughters, and
wherein Thou hast privi-
leged us to erect this Memorial as a
constant reminder to our State
and our Republic of the sacrifices of
the past, be pleased, we pray,
to accept our pledge given to the world
in the spirit of those who
laid down their lives, that they shall
not have made their sacri-
fice in vain; and help us to pledge
ourselves anew to the unfin-
ished task which with failing hands they
passed on to us, from
Flanders Fields where they lie asleep,
and may the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with us always.
Amen.