Dwight Eisenhower
Kinship among nations is not determined in such measurements as proximity, size, and age. Rather, we should turn to those inner things, those intangibles that are the real treasures free men possess. To preserve his freedom of worship, his equality before the law, his liberty to speak and act as he sees fit, subject only to the provision that he trespass not upon similar rights of others, the Londoner will fight. So will a citizen of Abilene.
London, England, June 12, 1945
The high sense of distinction that I feel in the great honor conferred upon me this morning by the city of London is inescapably mingled with feelings of the most profound sadness. All of us must always regret that your great country and mine were ever faced with the tragic situation that compelled the appointment of an Allied Commander in Chief, the capacity in which I have just been so extravagantly commended this morning.
Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and in the sacrifices of his friends. Conceivably, a commander may have been professionally superior. He may have given everything of his heart and mind to meet the spiritual and physical needs of his comrades. He may have written a chapter in military history that will glow forever brightly.
Even such a man—if he existed—would sadly face the fact that his honors cannot hide in his memories the crosses that mark the resting places of the dead. They cannot soothe the anguish of the widow and the orphan, whose husband or whose father will not return.
Yet this feeling of humility cannot erase, of course, my tremendous pride in being tendered the freedom of London. I am not a native of this land. I come from the very heart of America. » Read More
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