FLAG DEDICATION CEREMONY
28TH IOWA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY, CO. B,
June 4, 2005
Tim S. Anderson (representing Charles Kaufman), Donald Mayer, and SUVCW Commander walk to podium
ANDERSON:
Most Worshipful Grand Master Mayer, on behalf of Charles Kaufman, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota, I invite you at this time to accept from your fellow Masons of South Dakota, this flag from the American Civil War, and request that this flag may be preserved and dedicated by you to the noble purpose for which it has been preserved.
Mayer:
In the name of my fellow Masons, the Grand Lodge of Iowa, and the citizens of Iowa, I now accept this flag. I thank you and those whom you represent, for this important emblem of our country. Its very silence is impressive. Without articulate speech, it is eloquent. It needs no words. It is itself an oration. The flag signifies courage and loyalty to the command of the nation, always and everywhere, since the obligations of citizenship are not restricted to time or place, or to the conflict of arms. There can be no doubt that the honor we pay to the men who served under this flag. May their memorable deeds serve not only to make American citizenship in these days more reputable, but also to maintain and perpetuate through all future generations, the union and authority of the United States of America.
SUV Commander:
The fall of Fort Sumter was the awakening of patriotism. Love of country exists in the heart of every American citizen, but it sometimes lies dormant until quickened by an appeal to that sentiment by a crisis in national affairs. A true patriot’s heart beats faster at the sight of his country’s colors. A display of patriotism is one of the first objects of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Therefore, in the name of citizens of Iowa and the United States of America, I now dedicate this flag. I dedicate it to the memory of those in the Navy who guarded our inland seas and ocean coasts, and fell in defense of the flag.
I dedicate it to the memory of those in the Army who fought for our hillsides and valleys and plains, and fell in defense of the flag.
I dedicate it to all the citizens who fought for the authority of the Constitution and fell in defense of the flag.
Finally, I dedicate it in the memory of all Americans since our country’s beginnings, who on land, on sea, and in the air, fought for their country and fell in defense of the flag.
I would now ask those of you who are able to rise and bow your heads in a moment of silence in memory of those who served under this flag and to honor the flag itself;
PAUSE FOR SILENCE (ten seconds)
I would now ask the audience to turn to the flag, place your hand over your heart, and pledge allegiance to the flag:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
THANK YOU.
