这并不意味着你们是战争贩子。相反,士兵比其他人更诚心祈求和平,因为士兵必须忍 受战争最深刻的伤痛。但是,我们的耳边经常响起那位伟大的哲学之父柏拉图的警世之言: “只有死者看过战争的终结。”
我的生命已近黄昏,暮色已经降临。我昔日的风采和荣誉已经消失。它们随着对昔日事 业的憧憬,带着那余晖消失了。昔日的回忆是非常美好的,是以泪水洗涤,以昨天的微笑抚 慰的。我渴望但徒然地聆听着远处那微弱而迷人的起床号声,那咚咚作响的军鼓声。在梦境 里,我又听到隆隆的炮声,滑膛枪的射击声,战场上古怪而悲伤的低语声。然而,在我黄昏 的记忆中,我时常回到西点,耳边始终回响着:责任、荣誉、国家。
今天标志我对你们的最后一次点名。但我希望你们知道,当我死去时,我最后想到的一 定是你们这支部队——这支部队——这支部队。
我向你们珍重道别。
Duty Honor Country
Douglas MacArthur
As I was leaving the hotel this morning; a doorman asked me; “Where are you bound for; General?” And when I replied; “West Point;” he remarked; “Beauti ful place。 Have you ever been there before?”
No human being could fail to be deeply moved by such a tribute as this ayer Award。 ing from a profession I have served so long; and a people I have loved so well; it fills me with an emotion I cannot express。 But this award is not in tended primarily to honor a personality; but to symbolize a great moral code — the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent。 That is the animation of this medallion。 For all eyes and for all time; it is an expression of the ethics of the American soldier。 That I should be integrated in this way with so noble an ideal arouses a sense of pride and yet of humility which will be with me always: Duty; Honor; Country。
Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be; what you can be; what you will be。 They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for f aith; to create hope when hope bees forlorn。书 包 网 txt小说上传分享
序 言(5)
Unhappily; I possess neither that eloquence of diction; that poetry of imagi nation; nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean。 The unbe lievers will say they are but words; but a slogan; but a flamboyant phrase。 Ever y pedant; every demagogue; every cynic; every hypocrite; every troublemaker; and I am sorry to say; some others of an entirely different character; will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule。
But these are some of the things they do。 They build your basic character。 T hey mold you for your future roles as the custodians of the nation's defense。 Th ey make you strong enough to know when you are weak; and brave enough to face yo urself when you are afraid。 They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest f ailure; but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for actions; n ot to seek the path of fort; but to face the stress and spur of difficulty an d challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm but to have passion on those w ho fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart th at is clean; a goal that is high; to learn to laugh; yet never forget how to wee p; to reach into the future yet never neglect the past; to be serious yet never to take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simpl icity of true greatness; the open mind of true wisdom; the meekness of true stre ngth。 They give you a temper of the will; a quality of the imagination; a vigor of the emotions; a freshness of the deep springs of life; a temperamental predom inance of courage over timidity; of an appetite for adventure over love of ease。 They create in your heart the sense of wonder; the unfailing hope of what next; and the joy and inspiration of life。 They teach you in this way to be an office r and a gentleman。
And what sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they capable of victory? Their story is known to all of you。 It is the story of the American manatarms。 My estimate of him was formed on the battlefield many; many years ago; and has never changed。 I regarded him then as I regard him now — as one of the world's noblest figures; not only as one of t he finest military characters; but also as one of the most stainless。 His name a nd fame are the birthright of every American citizen。 In his youth and strength; his love and loyalty; he gave all that mortality can give。
He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man。 He has written his own his tory and written it in red on his enemy's breast。 But when I think of his patien ce under adversity; of his courage under fire; and of his modesty in victory; I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words。 He belongs to h istory as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism。 He b elongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom。 He belongs to the present; to us; by his virtues and by hi s achievements。 In 20 campaigns; on a hundred battlefields; around a thousand ca mpfires; I have witnessed that enduring fortitude; that patriotic selfabnegati on; and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people。 From one end of the world to the other he has drained deep the c halice of courage。
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As I listened to those songs the glee club; in memory's eye I could see thos e staggering columns of the First World War; bending under soggy packs; on many a weary march from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn; slogging ankledeep through the mire of shellshocked roads; to form grimly for the attack; bluelipped; covered with sludge and mud; chilled by the wind and rain; driving home to their objective; and for many; to the judgment seat of God。
I do not know the dignity of their birth; but I do know the glory of their d eath。
They died unquestioning; unplaining; with faith in their hearts; and on t heir lips the hope that we would go on to victory。
Always; for them: Duty; Honor; Country; always their blood and sweat and tea rs; as we sought the way and the light and the truth。
And 20 years after; on the other side of the globe; again the filth of murky foxholes; the stench of ghostly trenches; the slime of dripping dugouts; those boiling suns of relentless heat; those torrential rains of devastating storms; t he loneliness and utter desolation of jungle trails; the bitterness of long sepa ration from those they loved and cherished; the deadly pestilence of tropical di sease; the horror of stricken areas of war; their resolute and determined defens e; their swift and sure attack; their indomitable purpose; their plete and de cisive victory — always victory。 Always through the bloody haze of their last r everberating shot; the vision of gaunt; ghastly men reverently following your pa ssword of: Duty; Honor; Country。
The code which those words perpetuate embraces the highest moral laws and wi ll stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever promulgated for the uplift of mankind。 Its requirements are for the things that are right; and its restrain ts are from the things that are wrong。
The soldier; above all other men; is required to practice the greatest act o f religious training: sacrifice。 In battle and in the face of danger and deat h; he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image。 No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him。
However horrible the incidents of war may be; the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country is the noblest development of man kind。
You now face a new world — a world of change。 The thrust into outer space o f the satellite; spheres; and missiles mark the beginning of another epoch in th e long story of mankind。 In the five or more billions of years the scientists te ll us it has taken to form the earth; in the three or more billion years of deve lopment of the human race; there has never been a more abrupt or staggering evol ution。 We deal now not with things of this world alone; but with the illimitable distances and as yet unfathomed mysteries of the universe。 We are reaching out for a new and boundless frontier。
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We speak in strange terms: of harnessing the cosmic energy; of making winds and tides work for us; of creating unheard synthetic materials to supplement or even replace our old standard basics; to purify sea water for our drink; of mini ng ocean floors for new fields of wealth and food; of disease preventatives to e xpand life into the hundreds of years; of controlling the weather for a more equ itable distribution of heat and cold; of rain and shine; of space ships to the m oon; of the primary target in war; no longer limited to the armed forces of an e nemy; but instead to include his civil populations; of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy; of such dreams and fantasies as to make life the most exciting of all time。
And through all this welter of change and development; your mission remains fixed; determined,inviolable: it is to win our wars。
Everything else in your professional career is but corollary to this vital d edication。 All other public purposes; all other public projects; all other publi c needs; great or small; will find others for their acplishment。 But you are the ones who are trained to fight。 Yours is the profession of arms; the will to win; the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory; that if you lose; the nation will be destroyed; that the very obsession of your public service must be: Duty; Honor; Country。
Others will debate the controversial issues; national and international; whi ch divide men's minds; but serene; calm; aloof; you stand as the Nation's warg uardian; as its lifeguard from the raging tides of international conflict; as it s gladiator in the arena of battle。 For a century and a half you have defended; guarded; and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom; of right and justice。
Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of governm ent; whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing; indulged in too long; by federal paternalism grown too mighty; by power groups grown too arrogan t; by politics grown too corrupt; by crime grown too rampant; by morals grown to o low; by taxes grown too high; by extremists grown too violent; whether our per sonal liberties are as thorough and plete as they should be。 These great nati onal problems are not for your professional participation or military solution。 Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: Duty; Honor; Cou ntry。
You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national sy stem of defense。 From your ranks e the great captains who hold the nation's d estiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds。 The Long Gray Line has n ever failed us。 Were you to do so; a million ghosts in olive drab; in brown khak i; in blue and gray; would rise from their white crosses