of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 101

Our obligation to those who have died to give us the benefits of the
American Way of living will never be repaid if we relax our vigilance. We
owe it to their memory to rededicate ourselves today to perpetuating every-
thing worthwhile in American life. We owe it to our fellow-men to strive for
the eradication of un-American activities and practices. We owe it to our
Country to exert every possible effort to maintain what is the Land of the
Free and Home of the Brave.

In that way, and that way alone, shall we render respect to those who are
not here, those who offered their lives as sacrifices to good government.
Memorial Day, of 1940 should mean more than any Memorial Day in the
history of our Country and with full confidence in the American people, I am
certain that they stand ready to fulfill every requirement so that Ameri-
can ideals may be preserved for those who are to come after us.

MARYLAND NATIONAL GUARD

Radio Station WFBR, June 1, 1940
Baltimore

IT is somewhat unusual to hear myself introduced as the Commander-in-chief
of the Maryland National Guard. No one realizes better than I that this
title is purely honorary. For were the National Guard called into active serv-
ice to meet an emergency, it would be Major General Milton A. Reckord,
Adjutant General of Maryland, who would lead it.

But recently I have come to learn that this title, though honorary, is not
without high honor—not without very real responsibilities. During years of
peace, like my fellow citizens, I took the National Guard very much for granted.
Today, / know that these citizen soldiers, together with the National Guard
units of our sister States, form a powerful and important link in our system
of national defense.

National Guardsmen are our friends—our neighbors—our employees or
our employers. We see them in our daily life, but only occasionally do we see
them in uniform.

When "Peace in our time" was the slogan of the world's statesmen,
familiarity hung a veil between our eyes and the citizen in uniform. We did
not see a patriot, who, of his own free will, spent hours of his own time each
week in learning to fight if necessary—willing to die if necessary, in our
defense. Instead, we saw old "Bill Jones, " a man playing at soldiering as we
played golf.

So short were our memories that we did not recall that it was men like
this, National Guardsmen, who followed hard on the heels of the regular
army to Europe in 1917 and 1918 and proved their valor for all time on the
battle fields of France. In the first World War.

But in the cold white light of the present emergency—when peace and
liberty depend upon our ability to enforce peace and defend liberty, the men of
the Maryland National Guard stand revealed for what they are—soldiers and
patriots.