WWII Memorial - Shall We Engrave once more the Missing Words?
by Staff
A message from an appalled observer. Shall We hire a Monument Engraver to go to the World War II Memorial and add the MISSING WORDS?
Today I went to visit the new World War II Memorial in Washington , DC . I got an unexpected history lesson. Because I'm a baby boomer, I was one of the youngest in the crowd. Most were the age of my parents, Veterans of 'the greatest war,' with their families. It was a beautiful day, and people were smiling and happy to be there. Hundreds of us milled around the memorial, reading the inspiring words of Eisenhower and Truman that are engraved there.
On the Pacific side of the memorial, a group of us gathered to read the words President Roosevelt used to announce the attack on Pearl Harbor :
'Yesterday, December 7, 1941--a date which will live in infamy--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.'
One elderly woman read the words aloud:
'With confidence in our armed forces, with the abounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph.'
But as she read, she was suddenly turned angry. 'Wait a minute,' she said, 'they left out the end of the quote. They left out the most important part. Roosevelt ended the message with 'so help us God.' Her husband said, 'You are probably right. We're not supposed to say things like that now.'
'I know I'm right,' she insisted. 'I remember the speech.' The two looked dismayed, shook their heads sadly and walked away.
Listening to their conversation, I thought to myself, 'Well, it has been over 50 years; she's probably forgotten.' But she had not forgotten. She was right..
I went home and pulled out the book my book club is reading --- 'Flags of Our Fathers' by James Bradley. It's all about the battle at Iwo Jima . I haven't gotten too far in the book. It's tough to read because it's a graphic description of the WWII battles in the Pacific. But right there it was on page 58. Roosevelt 's speech to the nation ends in 'so help us God.' The people who edited out that part of the speech when they engraved it on the memorial could have fooled me. I was born after the war! But they couldn't fool the people who were there. Roosevelt 's words are engraved on their hearts.
The National World War II Memorial inscriptions make no mention of Roosevelt's speech. The 'truth finders' however deny that the phrase was omitted from the World War II engraving citing instead that it was never selected to be memorialized. North Carolina's 5th District Congresswoman Virginia Foxx states "So help us God," is neither omitted from the excerpt nor the final line of this speech as the chain email claims. The line that the anonymous woman is recalling is actually part of the last sentence of the 11th paragraph - the next-to-last paragraph of the [Roosevelt] speech."
Don't miss the subtlety here of the Congresswoman's remarks, the mere fact that the phrase was NOT selected to be included in one of the most important speeches by Roosevelt in the second world war despite profound evidence of devine intervention by God still means that it was omitted intentionally! The fact that the prhase was in the 11th paragraph of Roosevelt's speech is simply obfuscation. All that was needed was to engrave a series of dot's to note that all the text of the speech was not included and then conclude with the phrase 'So Help us God." It is without a doubt the most significant phrase in the entire speech that motivated the American public to get behind the war effort. When left out it renders the entire speech, no matter how otherwise elegant, simply another meaningless rant.
The people who edited out that part of the speech when they engraved it on the memorial could have fooled me. I was born after the war! But they couldn't fool the people who were there. Roosevelt 's words are engraved on their hearts.
Now I ask: 'WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE WORDS OF HISTORY?????????'
People today are trying to change the history of America by leaving God out of it, but the truth is, God has been a part of this nation, since the beginning. He still wants to be...and He always will be!
If you agree, pass this on and God Bless YOU! If not, May God Forgive You!