Lanterna Rally

Author: N. C. Department Of Public Instruction

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-11-28

Total Pages: 34

ISBN-13: 9780332100388

Excerpt from Program of Exercises for North Carolina Day, Monday, October 12, 1925: The State Flag of North Carolina and "Some Makers of the Flag" Of the North Carolinians who went into the army and navy, in the World War, some died gloriously on the field of battle; some died from hor rible wounds; some died of disease. Others went through the same dangers without a scratch; Others never went to France at all, but served here. At home. Why was this-so? The answer is - the fortunes of war. When a man joins the army of his country he lays aside for the time his own will and interests. It is not what he wants, but what his superiors think best that he does. This is true from the humblest private to the commanding general of all the armies. The watchword of the army is Service. Service means to obey orders. That is what every soldier is trained to do. He is trained to fear neither death nor suffering: He is trained to fear only failure to do his duty. An example of the greatest service is Robert Lester Blackwell. Robert Lester Blackwell was a farmer boy. I He was born in Hurdle Mills in Person County, North Carolina. When the war broke out he joined the 119th Infantry and went abroad to fight. He served with honor in Belgium and on the Hindenburg Line at Bellicourt. On October 11, 1918, in a great battle before St. Souplet in France, he-and a few of his comrades were cut off from their re'giment by. The German artillery fire. They knew that unless some one carried a message back to the regiment all of them would be captured or killed. They knew also that any man who tried to get through the German fire would probably be killed. The commanding officer asked for volunteers to carry the message. Without hesitation Blackwell stepped forward. He took the message and plunged into the hail of shells that churned up every foot of the ground. A shell struck him and the brave soldier fell dead. In memory of this brave deed Congress gave to Blackwell's father a beau tiful medal of honor, the highest honor our country can bestow on a soldier. Throughout all the country was read the order citing his bravery for an act that was above and beyond the call of duty. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.