Brothers in arms

BROTHERS IN ARMS
BY E. ALEXANDER POWELL
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON AND NEW YORK :: THE RIVERSIDE PRESS CAMBRIDGE
COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY E. ALEXANDER POWELL ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Published June 1917
To Brigadier-General Joseph E. Kuhn, U.S.A. and his associates of the Army War College in appreciation of the many kindnesses they have shown me
BROTHERS IN ARMS
BROTHERS IN ARMS
We fight once more for freedom. For the fifth time in our history we draw the sword in the cause of liberty. The Revolution won the freedom of the nation. In 1812 we fought for the freedom of the seas. The Civil War was waged for the preservation of the Union and the liberation of the slaves. We went to war with Spain that Cuba might be free. Now we enter the Great War to preserve democracy and to insure the freedom of the world. And France, after an interim of nearly seven-score years, is our ally once again. In order to draw closer the bonds of our ancient friendship, to hearten us in the tremendous task which we have undertaken, and to place at our disposal the knowledge for which she has paid in blood and tears, France sent to us across perilous seas a mission composed of her most illustrious men. She sent them as a reminder that she was our first friend among the nations and an old comrade in arms, and because her ideals and aspirations are identical with our own. It was as though she had stretched out a hand across the ocean and laid it on America’s shoulder and had said, “Sister, well done.”
Though the coming of these men stirs our souls and grips our imagination, we are still too close to the picture to perceive its full beauty and grandeur. Real appreciation of its significance to ourselves and to the world can come only with the years. When time grants it the justice of perspective, the visit of the French envoys to our shores will be recognized as one of the turning-points in our history. It will prove as epochal as the landing of the Pilgrims, as the coming of Rochambeau, as the emancipation of the slaves. Meanwhile we must not make the mistake of looking on it as merely a picturesque incident which afforded an excuse for processions and banquets and addresses of welcome. It has a far deeper meaning; it means that History, in writing the story of the American people, has begun a new chapter.