FIGHTING 69TH AND FATHER DUFFY
By General Douglas MacArthur
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| General Douglas MacArthur |
No greater fighting regiment has ever existed than the One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Infantry of the Rainbow Division, formed from the old Sixty-ninth Regiment of New York. I cannot tell you how real and how sincere a pleasure I feel tonight in once more addressing the members of that famous unit. You need no eulogy from me or from any other man. You have written your own history and written it in red on your enemies' breast, but when I think of your patience under adversity , your courage under fire, and your modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot express. You have carved your own statue upon the hearts of your people, you have built your own monument in the memory of your compatriots.
One of the most outstanding characteristics of the regiment was its deep sense of religious responsibility, inculcated by one of my most beloved friends - Father Duffy. He gave you a code that embraces the highest moral laws, that will stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever promulgated for the uplift of man. Its requirements are for the things that are right and its restraints are from the things that are wrong.
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| The crest of the 69th NY |
The soldier, above all men is required to perform the highest act of religious teaching - sacrifice. However horrible the results of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and perchance to give his life for his country is the noblest development of mankind. No physical courage and no brute instincts can take the place of the divine annunciation and spiritual uplift which will alone sustain him. Father Duffy, on those bloody fields of France we all remember so well, taught the men of your regiment how to die that a nation might live - how to die unquestioning and uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts and the hope on their lips that we might go on to victory.
Somewhere in your banquet hall tonight his noble spirit looks down to bless and guide you young sliders on the narrow path marked with West Point's famous motto - duty, honor, country.
We 'll hope that war will come to us no more. But if its red stream again engulf us, I want you to know that if my flag flies again, I shall hope to have you once more with me, once more to form the brilliant hues of what is lovingly, reverently called by men at arms, the Rainbow.
May God be with you until we meet again.
(From an address heard by the veterans of the 69th at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, delivered over short wave radio from Manila, January 24, 1940)
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