San Antonio Academy - Blue Bonnet Yearbook (San Antonio, TX)

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.I U T .lj,z,,,.-ll-l 0.1, 3'-5 ., 1-. Z wc. -N v,,A,j' A t - elwidltlyll l llllIIIIIIJIIHIHHHIIHIHWIWIWQIQHIHIQMKWIUW . iiT'! '1'l::7'2-fl'55Xii. g , Hi 1:51, f IWIHIWIHIIIIWIIIIF may 1 f 0 . '- E ' ' mfffx. f Ebe fl5xmerican'1Dzgion . Following the close of every civil conflict, after peace had been assured and the minds of the participants had become tranquilized, the almost universal custom has prevailed amongst the survivors on either side, of forming an association in which the members might be drawn more closely together in the bonds of an intimate and considerate fellowship through which they might also commemorate and memorialize the stirring events of the shared conflict. It is but natural that such a desire should animate the minds and stir the hearts of men, who, after a season of peril in which many of them were mirac- ulously snatched from the jaws of death, many of them become mute witnesses to terrifying and pathetic scenes, all of them standing ready and willing to make the great sacrifice for Country demanded by honor and duty, should feel drawn irresistibly towards each other, should wish to perpetuate for all eternity the patriotic principles that called them to service, should delight to cement the common ties of unity that bound them so closely as they enlisted in the cause and thereafter served together through times of adversity that tried men's souls to the utmost. ' Thus at varying periods in the history of our own Country we have had, in addition to auxiliary associations, the Society of Colonial Wars, the General Society of the War of 1812, Association of Mexican Veterans, Grand Army of the Republic, United Confederate Veterans, United Spanish War Veterans, and now, latest but not least, the American Legion. When the United States of America determined to enter the Great World War, to cast its lot with the Allies who were in a death struggle with their enemies on the battle fields of Europe, four million American boys were quickly recruited for military service, made ready, though not wholly prepared, to take up the gage of battle as it was being waged in foreign lands, and, in the face of unknown, unexpected and to them untried methods of warfare, to fight in the air, on the sea, or in the trenches against an implacable foe, in the righteous cause to which, with the Allies, we ourselves were and always will be irrevocably pledged. Page Tlzrcc I UZDIIZW il ff ,J I-'llll ,.. 'Maas wule:'p S ,hal-9 fa ,fast ,fee u,,,,,.d,i,,.. , ,rw ,, i -. .-, - .,',f V if ,F 1 . , ,..- Q--7,-if-1,25-v 'ggi-.Ju 'lf' --fffezee 'wR,9 E0ll'- r i -If 55 ' --ef' li live-2. ff? 59.4 ' gl as i :' M A ,lfhmliggfe-emsilnlllllllullmwlll

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C U '! it rv 9 9 ref Fl -': , . W !' i Ut:-H i ' I . M , , -ilk,-g ,. , fini M Ali? f ,f 1 lllllllllllllll0IIIIHIllIHHWIIHIIJHIHHFHJWIJJIHJ -ai p .T-11 1 it... l- F-5.44 'f f f ff f WW W if f' W W ' 'F' llllllllllIlllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIHIHlllllllllA 1' r' 2 ' ' f ffffffff f ff f ff !14aLZ.ffff,ff4,g.ffff r It was a struggle for the preservation of Liberty, to make the world safe for the privileged enjoyment of the highest human ideal, without the indulgence of which the march of civilization would have been retarded, as individual freedom of thought, speech and action must have yielded to the dictum of an otherwise self-imposed autocrat and War Lord. Even as Eternity was opening to view, the last pathetic and impelling cry from Flanders field, came in the deathless words: ' To you from failing hands, we throw the torch, Be yours to hold it high. It was the torch of Liberty, and our 'brave boys in battle line, catching and holding the great light higher and still higher, vowed that it should never be extinguished, that it must remain the beacon to guide unborn generations in their search foran' ideal system of government in which the rights of the individual will not be circumscribed by accident of birth, by social caste, by privileged superiority of wealth, or by the exercise of preferential political power. In other words to quote Abraham Lincoln: A government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And thus, in forming their association, the American Legion, the founders promulgated a preamble to their Constitution, that has the appealing force of an emphatic and irresistible call to patriotic service which no self-respecting American can deny or disdain. Indeed, to be eligible for membership therein, and thereafter to be known and recognized as a Legionnaire is a privileved 7 -5 opportunity none will neglect. It speaks with emphasis in thesetterse sentences: F0r God and Country, we associate ourselves together for the following purposes: to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, to maintain law and order, to foster and perpetuate a one hundred per cent Americanismg to preserve the memories and incidents of our association in the Great War, to in- culcate ag sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation, to combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses, to make right the master of might, to consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness. Page Four I U ?- a'eqqr - sq--. ws- ix. . Yer' .... 5, ff-H !m'iizg:':e.sS' -wfifgif M mx'?i'U ?W 'w'a's'c+ -wf.-- ----in isiimll 'ffgigfw-eg::.:I:MI ll I' I 52'-Egtgsfi? N'-' . in.gliliiiilniii........W. .lil ig