A January 28, 1968 address at his alma mater. (I started school there in February 1968 - nuts):
If conscience dictates that you disapprove of it—speak out that disapproval. Carry a sign, if you like. Or a placard or a banner. Yell out the slogan that comes to mind and that comes from heart. Too many wars are fought almost as if by rote. Too many wars are fought out of sloganry, out of battle hymns, out of aged, musty appeals to patriotism that went out with knighthood and moats. Love your country because it is eminently worthy of your affection. Respect it because it deserves your respect. Be loyal to it because it cannot survive without your loyalty. But do not accept the shedding of blood as a natural function or a prescribed way of history—even if history points this up by its repetition.
Find the whole speech here. It's a link on a Serling pathfinder.
An essay (or sermon) on Rod.
ROG
1 comment:
My father graduated from the same HS in 1968...Don Patton. I wonder if he heard that same commencement speech.
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