It is a great honor and pleasure for me this morning to open the 47th National Encampment of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Thankful for the great honor you have accorded me, I am most happy to welcome you to Boston.
It seems to me most appropriate that this Encampment should be held in this ancient city. The old landmarks of this country’s struggle for liberty are near this meeting place – Faneuil Hall, Bunker Hill, the Old North Church. They are part of our American history and they are part of Boston. But there are other symbols of our fight for freedom – living symbols – and they are the young men of Boston and of Massachusetts, some of whom are here today, who in this recent war carried on the fighting tradition of this great state. In this war, as in all the wars of our history, the men from Massachusetts were among the first to be committed to battle.
We are gathered here today for a most serious purpose. A few short hours ago a memorial service was held to commemorate the sacrifice of those who died in the service of this country – from Lexington to Omaha Beach – from Saratoga to Guadalcanal. We have gathered here today to implement their sacrifice. Certainly, the Veterans of Foreign Wars should be the organization that should make the greatest contribution towards insuring the triumph of the principles for which they died.
This is a day of recollection and of hope. This is the day that the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States begin to hammer out their peacetime contribution to this nation’s welfare.
In doing so, we must remember that veterans now compose 43 per cent of the men in this country. This is a large percentage – too large to permit ourselves to feel that we are a privileged minority – too large to feel that we have only rights not duties – too large indeed to be indifferent to the future of our country.
Our work has just begun. The decisions we make here will have an important influence on the policies of this country. This places upon our shoulders a great responsibility.
It is with a solemn recognition of this responsibility that we must make our decisions. This is the most critical moment in the history of this nation. Our future is in our hands.
Source: David F. Powers Personal Papers, Box 28, "Veterans of Foreign Wars, 2 September 1946." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.