duty honor country
Duty, Honor, Country is the acceptance speech given by General Douglas MacArthur at West Point on 12 May 1962 on the occasion of his receiving the Sylvanus Thayer Award. [1]
Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. [2]
Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. [3]
In defining the significance of duty, honor, country, to the Corps at West Point–in reaffirming the role of the soldier in American life–the 82 year old MacArthur was, in part, responding to an address the previous year by the new President, John F. Kennedy, which had suggested a changing role for America’s professional soldiers. [4]
The first coherent thought that I mustered after recovering from the rage and embarrassment that I felt upon reading those words was the quote from General MacArthur 45 year ago: “Duty”, “Honor”, “Country”. [5]
But this award is not intended primarily to honor a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code — the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent. [2]
But this award is not intended primarily to honor a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code-a code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent. [3]
[This beautiful and inspiring tribute to the American man at arms, and to the Military Academy at West Point, by one of the latter's most distinguished graduates, was surely one of the most eloquent speeches by any American in the 20th Century. [4]
Recalled to active duty during World War II, he was commander of the Southwest Pacific Area during the greater part of the war. [3]
But this award is not intended primarily to honor a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code–the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent. [4]
However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country, is the noblest development of mankind. [1]
As I listened to those songs [of the glee club], in memory’s eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs, on many a weary march from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle-deep through the mire of shell-shocked roads, to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God. [2]
However hard the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country, is the noblest development of mankind. [4]
“Duty, Honor, Country -those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you want to be, what you can be, what you will be. [5]
They are your rallying points to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. [1]
Sources:
[1] Duty, honor, country - Wikisource
[2] American Rhetoric: General Douglas MacArthur — Sylvanus …
[3] General MacArthur’s Thayer Award Speech — Duty, Honor …
[4] Duty, Honor, Country–By Douglas MacArthur
[5] American Thinker: Whatever Happened to “Duty, Honor, Country“?