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"The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army?Our cruel and unrelenting Enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; that is all we can expect?We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die."
General George Washington, general orders, July 2, 1776.
"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."
Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
"The soldier, above all other men, is required to perform the highest act of religious teaching?sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when He created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instincts can take the place of the divine annunciation and spiritual uplift which will alone sustain him."
General Douglas MacArthur, speech at the annual reunion of veterans of the Rainbow (42d) Infantry Division of World War I, Washington, D.C., July 14, 1935.
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!
I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!
Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, Order of the Day, June 6, 1944. (Click to hear the General read the Order.)
"Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen."
Colonel James H. O?Neill, prayer for good weather, December 1944. General George S. Patton, Jr., ordered Colonel O?Neill, chaplain of the Third Army, to produce this prayer.
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."
General George S. Patton, JR, speech at the Copley Plaza Hotel, Boston Massachusetts, June 7, 1945
"Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye."
General Douglas MacArthur (1880?1964), Speech, April 19, 1951, to Congress.
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
Navy Hymn
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By UNITED STATES MARINES.
From the Marine Corps Hymn
Semper Fidelis
Latin for always faithful.
Faithful to God, Country, Family and the Corps
Marine Corps Motto
"Remember, you are accountable first to your God, this great nation, our great Air Force, our Air Force Academy and lastly your teammates."
Brigadier General Johnny Weida, Commandant of Cadets, USAF Academy, Commander?s Guidance
Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other military officials to move quickly to stop acts of religious bias at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
(Unattributed AUSCS press release)
General Weida has, for example, officially endorsed ?National Prayer Week? in a mass email message to the Cadet Wing that can only be described as a prayer and a directive to pray. Among other things, General Weida?s e-mail message instructed cadets to ?[a]sk the Lord to give us the wisdom to discover the right, the courage to choose it, and the strength to make it endure?; and the message informed the cadets that ?He has a plan for each and every one of us.? Similarly, in an official ?Commander?s Guidance? document, General Weida instructed cadets that they ?are accountable first to your God.? Such official proselytization and prayer by a public official is, of course, the hallmark of unconstitutional conduct under the Establishment Clause.
Report of Americans United for Separation of Church and State on Religious Coercion and Endorsement of Religion at the United States Air Force Academy
"Religious intolerance and the mixing of church and state have no place in any of our service academies. Air Force officials must move quickly to ensure that church-state separation is respected at the Academy."
Barry W. Lynn, executive director of AUSCS
"National Socialism and Christianity are irreconcilable."
Martin Bormann (head of the Nazi Party Chancellery and Private Secretary to Adolf Hitler.)
"To morrow being the day set apart by the Honorable Congress for public Thanksgiving and Praise; and duty calling us devoutely to express our grateful acknowledgements to God for the manifold blessings he has granted us. The General directs that the army remain in it?s present quarters, and that the Chaplains perform divine service with their several Corps and brigades. And earnestly exhorts, all officers and soldiers, whose absence is not indispensibly necessary, to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day."
General George Washington, general orders, December 17, 1777.
"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid."
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890?1969), U.S. general, president, from his inaugural address, Jan. 20, 1953.
