“Eichelberger saluted, repeated the order, and the band played the national anthem. As the guard of honor and the others present saluted, the flag was raised on the pole where it can be seen from much of Tokio. The chaplain of the First Cavalry Division gave the benediction, and the ceremony was over.” But how thrilling and unforgettable must it have been to have listened to the strains of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in that momentous hour!
A news item observed that the American flag unfurled on this occasion was the very flag that floated over the Capitol in Washington on December 7, 1941. This was the day when we were attacked by the Japanese.
Vauntingly the Japanese had declared, it was reported, that peace terms would be signed in the White House in Washington. Far different, however, was the reality. The terms of the “unconditional surrender” of Japan were made known, and the ceremonies relating to the signing of the same were observed on board the battleship Missouri in Tokio Bay. These were reported in the morning papers of September 3, 1945, though millions of citizens in the United States heard them over the radio the previous night. We were told that the “Missouri’s band outdid itself providing music, playing ‘Anchors Aweigh’ ... and ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever.’ A bugler sounded ‘Taps’ in memory of the gallant band of men and women who had gone into the great conflict with mighty forces with the hopeful feeling that
“... conquer we must when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, ‘In God is our trust.’”
Thus the national anthem was played at the hour of the formal surrender of Japan on the Missouri and also when General MacArthur set up power in Tokio, “and the same historic flag was flown on both occasions.” The Star-Spangled Banner always has a special appeal when it is rendered in the presence of the Stars and Stripes. Our national anthem had gone with the nation from peace to war and from war to peace.
Kipling’s “Recessional”
“Perhaps the greatest single production of Rudyard Kipling’s pen,” remarked Nutter and Tillett concerning “The Recessional.” It is a hymn of majestic greatness, and one can easily imagine the deep impression it must have made when heard in Westminster Abbey on the day when the body of the brilliant author was placed in that historic shrine. The honor of being buried there, with the great of the nation, was well deserved.
“The Recessional” was published in the London Times, July 17, 1897; and it was written in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The very next year it appeared in a hymnal published by the American Baptist Publication Society. Since then it has appeared in many hymnals, and has frequently been sung on great patriotic occasions.
Fortunately the author has told us how the hymn came to be written. Said he: “That poem gave me more trouble than anything I ever wrote. I had promised the Times a poem on the Jubilee; and when it became due, I had written nothing that had satisfied me. The Times began to want that poem badly and sent letter after letter asking for it. I made many more attempts but no further progress. Finally the Times began sending telegrams. So I shut myself in a room with the determination to stay there until I had written a Jubilee poem. Sitting down with all my previous attempts before me, I searched through those dozens of sketches till at last I found one line I liked. That was ‘Lest We Forget.’ Round these words ‘the Recessional’ was written.”