Abraham Lincoln (November 1863) Photo by Alexander Gardner
…to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan…
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1865)
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
Full text and Source: Yale Law School-The Avalon Project
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Photo: Arlington National Cemetery)
Lincoln’s words became the motto of the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1959. Read about the origins of Veterans Day here.
The Hidden History of America At War (Hachette Books Random House Audio)
Don’t Know Much About® History: Anniversary Edition (Harper Perennial and Random House Audio)
Don’t Know Much About® the American Presidents (Hyperion/Random House Audio)
