Árdís - 01.01.1947, Blaðsíða 12

give tender, loving care to the graves of their young benefactors. Many
a monument, many a cenotaph, have been raised and blest to the mem-
ory of our soldier dead. Many more memorials will be erected in their
honor.
Now the question comes to us. How shall we best commemorate
their valor? What sort of monument, what form of memorial can we
erect that shall best befit and honor the memory of those who died that
we might live our lives in peace?
In seeking an answer to such a question, we can well agree with
the words of the renowned Pericles, which he addressed to the people
of ancient Athens in paying tribute to soldiers who had given their iives
in defence of their fair city and native land. He said: “Each one, man
by man, has won imperishable praise; each has gained a glorious grave—
not that sepulchre of earth wherein they lie, but the living tomb of ever-
lasting remembrance wherein their glory is enshrined, remembrance
that will live on the lips, that will blossom in the deeds of their country-
men the world over. For the whole earth is the sepulchre of heroes;
monuments may rise and tablets be set up to them in their own land,
but on far-off shores there is an abiding memorial that no pen or chisel
has traced; it is graven, not on stone or brass, but on the living heart of
humanity. Take these men for your example. Like them, remember, that
prosperity can be only for the free, that freedom is tlie sure possession
of those alone who have courage to defend it.”
This calls for a spirit of dedication in those who best would honor
the memory of those who by their lifeblood have purchased freedom
for their compatriots. Many centuries after Pericles called on the people
of Athens to exhibit this spirit, Abraham Lincoln uttered a plea for a
similar spirit of dedication in his immortal Address over the graves of
the war-dead at Gettysburg. We recall his words: “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 govemment of the people,
by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Those are the ideals, that is the cause, for which our soldiers laid
down their lives in two world conflicts. The best memorial we can raise
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