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Gettysburg\u2019s Memorial Day festivities started with religious services throughout the area followed by a concert by the US Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corp held on Lincoln Square <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Memorial Day Festivities then moved to the Rostrum located on the grounds of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. After the Gettysburg Senior High School sang \u201cAmerica,\u201d Donald Swope, a Gettysburg attorney, recited President Lincoln\u2019s Gettysburg Address and the US Marine Drum and Bugle Corps played. Gettysburg resident and US Ambassador to the Netherlands John S. Rice then introduced Vice President Lyndon B Johnson.(4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much of Johnson\u2019s seven-minute speech came as a direct response to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King\u2019s \u201cLetter From Birmingham Jail.\u201d(5,1) <\/span><\/font>Johnson challenged Americans \u2013 to \u201cmaintain the vigil of peace, we must remember that justice is a vigil, too \u2013 a vigil we must keep in our own streets and schools and among the lives of all our people \u2013 so that those who died here on their native soil shall not have died in vain.\u201d The last phrase of this quote echoed President Lincoln\u2019s line from the Gettysburg Address. Johnson continued his challenge by stating, \u201cOur nation found its soul in honor on these fields of Gettysburg one hundred years ago. We must not lose that soul in dishonor now on the fields of hate.\u201d(6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n After making his remarks, Johnson and his party needed to return to Washington, DC. During the benediction and the US Marine Drum and Bugle Corps playing \u201cStar Spangled Banner,\u201d he and Lynda stood at attention in the car which would return them to the helicopter.(3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vice President Lyndon Johnson\u2019s trip to Gettysburg on Memorial Day 1963 lasted only 2 hours and 34 minutes and outside of central Pennsylvania, his trip was reported as a second-day story In an article written when President Johnson died in 1973, Harry McLaughlin, the journalist who covered the speech for the Harrisburg Patriot-News<\/em>, thought Johnson\u2019s words still had so much meaning that he included the whole text with his recollections of Memorial Day 1963. The speech can be found on the LBJ Presidential Library\u2019s website –http:\/\/www.lbjlibrary.net\/collections\/selected-speeches\/pre-presidential\/05-30-1963.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n _________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Special thanks to the Adams County Historical Society, Gettysburg, PA, and the LBJ Presidential Library, Austin, TX for assistance in writing this entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>DM Shribman, \u201cL.B.J.\u2019s Gettysburg Address,\u201d New York Times<\/em>, May 26, 2013, SR8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2<\/sup>\u201c19-Gun Salute Will BE? Given Vice President On Arrival Here Today,\u201d The Gettysburg Times<\/em>, May 30, 1963, 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3<\/sup>\u201cVice President Pleads For End Of Hate Among Men In May 30 Address,\u201d The Gettysburg Times,<\/em>May 31, 1963, 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4<\/sup>Program Ninety-Sixth Annual Memorial Day Exercises, Gettysburg, PA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5<\/sup>Harry McLaughlin, \u201cOne of LBJ\u2019s Greatest Talks at Gettysburg,\u201d Sunday Patriot-News<\/em>, January 28, 1973. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 6<\/sup>Press Release, \u201c5\/30\/63, Remarks by Vice President, Memorial Day, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,\u201d Statements File, Box 80, LBJ Library.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over the years, Gettysburg Memorial Day celebrations have featured many distinguished speakers including Rutherford Hayes, Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover (whose remarks were broadcast by both CBS and NBC radio networks) and Franklin Roosevelt. For Memorial Day 1963, Vice President Lyndon Johnson was invited to be the keynote speaker as part of Gettysburg\u2019s battle … Continue reading LBJ’s Memorial Day Speech<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[259,175,123,258],"class_list":["post-1153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-memorial-day","tag-civil-rights-movement","tag-gettysburg","tag-lbj","tag-memorial-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1153"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1300,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153\/revisions\/1300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rufusyoungblood.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Program-Back2-616x1024.jpg\")