IN THE HEARTS OF MEN

[Music] hello everybody I am lo Thomas you may have watched this scene before chances are that in mid May 1963 you were one of the 90 million citizens of these United States glued to a television set watching and praying for air force major Leroy Gordon Cooper jr. his mission to orbit the earth 22 times in 33 hours and returned to tell the tale [Music] what bond ties Maj Cooper dropped from the sky and fish from the sea to a group of men gathered under the sign of the green dragon in the year 1775 what were they doing at the Green Dragon they were meeting as Lodge brothers to plan the unique event that's so effectively dramatized America's fight against tyranny by staging the Boston Tea Party what is the sign that points to the source whence flows the spirit that has contributed so much to the triumphs of freedom for these united states [Music] that sign is in the hearts of men who know this emblem who have known it since america's dawnie there you will find the answer George Washington knew that sign and all that it stands for he lived his life according to the principles for which it stands and so helped lay the cornerstones of Liberty this is the sign of Architects of freedom sign of a shared faith in the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God wherever you see it this emblem signifies belief in the dignity and worth of the individual in his God ordained right to achieve his destiny through his own effort now here is the key to our theme every man I mentioned everyone with whom this film concerns itself is a member of the brotherhood of Freemasonry who are the men who called themselves Masons today as always Masons are men who act on the square who guide their actions according to their belief in the Supreme Architect of the universe thus are they pledged to uphold the age-old ideals of honesty integrity and forthrightness major Cooper's devotion to these ideals is symbolized by this flag he actually took it with him in his capsule on his historic flight through space and so in every age the temple is erected by Americans in every field of public service and private enterprise by 13 presidents of the Republic under our Constitution from George Washington to Harry Truman by five men who have served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by countless members of the national legislature past and present and by such public figures as J Edgar Hoover of the FBI and today scores of bills are introduced by governor's senators and members of Congress who are Masons add to them the names of some of our greatest military men our captains of industry and finance and our artists carving out of the wilderness their vision of the American dream their forefathers built their temple upon reverence reason and love of country in carpenter Hall Philadelphia 56 men gathered together on July 4th 1776 to institute a new kind of government among men 31 of them were members of Masonic lodges Benjamin Franklin Robert Livingston John Hancock and Richard Henry Lee who on June 7th 1776 in the Second Continental Congress authored the resolution that preordained the Declaration of Independence said Lee these United colonies are and of a right ought to be free and independent states this famous painting of the signing of the Declaration hangs in the Capitol building in Washington DC Washington DC here in its monuments and buildings of stone in its works of free government the design and stamp of those who have called themselves brothers under God here is the towering Washington Monument to remind us of the works of the greatest of all Americans from this spot it's but a few miles to another monument to the memory of our first president the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria Virginia constructed in 1929 from contributions of millions of patriotic Americans here stands the image of the first man ever to serve as active master of a Masonic Lodge while President of the United States the one man more than any other who taught all Americans for all time to love God and honor country another short journey brings us even closer to the home of Washington's heart here at Mount Vernon in the afternoon of his life the great man must have reflected upon the glorious endeavors of those who served with him those who did mutually pledge to each other their lives their fortunes and their sacred honor in short did make a pledge of brotherhood how long a journey to the signing of freedoms pledge from Virginia's House of Burgesses where Patrick Henry demanded liberty or death how long a journey from that Lodge meeting at the Green Dragon how long the way that Paul Revere rode through every Middlesex village and farm calling a mission to arms at Concord and Bunker Hill and breeds Hill where men like Grand Master Joseph Warren died for freedom and how high the scaffold that Nathan Hale ascended speak the words which will live forever I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country brothers in arms brothers in the forging of a nation and in the fraternity which remains to this day a wellspring of patriotism Benjamin Franklin diplomat extraordinary rallied many Europeans who like their American counterparts met in lodges to evidence their belief in the rights of man under the supreme architect France gave us many including lafayette french nobleman by birth american by mutual adoption brother in arms with george washington in the cause of liberty from poland caused you skull and Pulaski and on the high seas The Scotsman named John Paul Jones christened his ship the bonhomie Richard after Franklin's poor Richard of Almanac faith his immortal cry sir I have not yet begun to fight and in the terrible winter at Valley Forge Germany's Baron von Steuben skilled in the military arts drilled the Continental troops for the stern tests that lay ahead from the dim pages of history comes the story beloved of all Americans of the first true flag of our country he was designed by Betsy Ross at the behest of George Washington and Robert Morris 13 stripes and 13 stars one for each of America's original sovereign states but the leaders of this infant nation had discovered that the best will on this earth was not enough to resolve factions and conflicts into a durable Constitution at the Constitutional Convention serene Ben Franklin rose from his seat and addressed George Washington in this situation of this assembly group being as it were in the dark to find political truth how has it happened sir that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it without his concurring aide we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve protect and defend the Constitution of the United States so help me God and the standard as highest can be achieved on earth was raised for those who would follow including brother Masons like Madison Monroe Jackson and Polk for presidents and statesmen for all time to come for what they started would grow and grow and grow the first giant stride westward the Louisiana Purchase which more than doubled the size of the nation two men Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were sent to explore the nation's rich new lands and open the Northwest to the mouth of the Columbia River but while America began to stretch his muscles into the limitless west danger threatened from across the seas the war of 1812 British troops nearly destroyed the seat of government forcing President James Madison and his wife Dolly to flee for their lives the greatest hero of that war was Andrew Jackson Old Hickory from Tennessee later our 7th President President James Monroe on December 2nd 1823 delivered his annual message to Congress the newly independent nations of South America were being threatened by certain European powers but these powers were duly warned that we could not review any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them or controlling in any other manner their destiny by any European power in any other light then as a manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States and so the Monroe Doctrine was born meanwhile a new Empire of freedom was a building in the vast area called Texas in 1821 stephen f austin established the first anglo-american settlement other great names echo down the halls of texas history at a place called the alamo Colonel William Travis battling fiercely against overwhelming odds and dying a martyr's death with his determined band of comrades at the Battle of San Jacinto Sam Houston winning an enduring place in the heart of every Texan and later to become the first president of the early Texas Republic back east New York Governor DeWitt Clinton had fostered a big move toward opening up the West with the Erie Canal at this point perhaps Americans began to think that nothing could threaten the bright future just over the horizon nothing except war [Music] on April 12 1861 at Charleston South Carolina Confederate batteries under the command of general Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter for April 14th Union troops under Major Anderson evacuated the port tension between North and South had exploded into the tragedy of American fighting American in the south many were the brothers who appeal for compromise men like John J Crittenden and Robert Toombs and in the north men like Steven a Douglas sought to prevent the flow of American blood even in war many were those who refused to forget the meaning of brotherhood Stonewall Jackson Winfield Hancock McClellan Pickett Nathan Bedford Forrest Farragut John Hunt Morgan Lew Wallace who later wrote the classic Ben Hur Simon Buckner Sterling Price Johnston Beauregard wheeler Magruder and Albert Pike despite four years of fighting all were reunited as brothers and Masons for all Americans to honor for their valor and their sacrifice 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 the driving of this golden spike by Leland Stanford bound the mission together as never before here at promontory point Utah the tracks of the Central Pacific met those of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railways to form the nation's first transcontinental railway Lane together with a new Telegraph transmitter invented by Samuel FB Morse the railroad spelled the end of an era the legendary Pony Express of Alexander matrice and William Russell had done its job now videos traveled faster than ever before tales of the fabulous wonders of the Wild West giant herds of bison Indian terror and massacres best typifies for Easterners in the legend of William F Buffalo Bill Cody [Music] the man who went westbound lives of hardship courage and adventure and just plain hard work man of the wide-open spaces who said don't fence me in to those who came to farm the land the sodbusters could the farmer and the cow and be friends one who called himself a friend of the farmer was William Jennings Bryan possibly the greatest orator this country has ever produced he served his country well first as a US congressman three times as a candidate for president and finally as Secretary of State the man who defeated him in 1896 William McKinley whose second term as president was cut short tragically by an assassin's bullet I wish to preach not the doctrine of ignoble ease but the doctrine of the strenuous life there is a homely and ease which runs speak softly and carry a big stick you will go for Theodore Roosevelt one of the first to visualize America's world role on the twentieth-century stage infusing a new tone a new tonic into the bloodstream of a nation now America seemed almost ready to dawn the mantle of a great world power but first the mantle of leadership passed from Teddy Roosevelt to William Howard Taft the 27th president of the United States Taft later finished his career of distinguished public service as chief justice then under his successor America was again called to arms [Music] by 1917 the United States was engulfed by the war we didn't want to fight but once in it we were in it to win the doughboys of the AEF marched off to the music of John Philip Sousa Irving Berlin and George M Cohan commanding the American troops in Europe General John J Pershing and not satisfied to be General Pershing chauffeur Eddie Rickenbacker transferred to the new Air Service and before the war was over he became our first air ace shooting down 29 enemy planes the war that was to end them all then peace and all over the nation people forgetting their troubles and learning how to get happy a new young America flexing its muscles tweaking the noses of its elders and beginning to enjoy an era of booming prosperity an era of economic expansion Henry Ford in automobiles Thomas Watson and machines for business David Sarnoff in electronics JCPenney and retailing all for the sake of the rising consumer and who was he this new breed of man he was the American worker marching behind labor leaders like Samuel Gompers he was the man in the white collar at an office desk and he was the American farmer who had long since found his voice in the person of men like Oliver Hudson Kelly founder of the National drain in a brief interlude before the stresses and storms to come people watch the stock market go up then up then up as they worked and enjoyed the greatest show on earth [Music] it was an era of fabulous entertainment provided on an unprecedented scale by the Ringling Brothers the great Houdini and the immortal Will Rogers coach master here my friend mr. John Depp you don't mind me calling you friend in public mean something to me if you not [Applause] you want to be nice to me mr. Davis because I will say that everybody has certainly been nice to you tonight but I certainly don't want to be the first speaker to drag in any of your past [Applause] in the Roaring Twenties the sky was the limit for the nation's heroes with Lindbergh leading the parade that ushered in the air age I asked Charles Lindbergh once the meaning of the name he gave his fragile little monoplane he answered that the spirit of st. Louis signified the faith of those in Missouri's largest city who backed his mission but later the name became a symbol of his own unshakable faith in the God who has guided the hearts of so many great Americans [Music] Sambas 7th 1941 a date which will live in infamy the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute creatures [Music] from baton [Music] to the sands of Iwo Jima to the beaches of Normandy Americans fought and died to win that inevitable triumph and in this unprecedented time of terror and destruction we asked ourselves is the spirit of America still meaningful consider George Catlett Marshall architect of military victory or Omar Bradley who led the greatest number of American fighting men to victory in Europe or ask Audie Murphy an example of the fighting spirit of the American GIs who made that victory possible on the battleship Missouri General MacArthur makes a request of an old comrade and general Percival step forward and accompany me while I sign September 2 1945 the official surrender of the Japanese ends world war two and pray the peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always these proceedings are closed that every man who cheered for peace in 1945 who now fears for freedom's future let every man asked himself what beliefs will serve us best in the struggle that lies ahead what faith will still connect the hearts of men today those who still hold high this banner this standard of devotion to God and to country these men fear not the future shall we rededicate ourselves to the faith for which our fathers lived and died today there nearly five million who not only answer yes but who have asked for and received entrance into masonry they carry in their hearts and minds the same love of country the same dedication to the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God which has motivated Masons throughout our history from George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to Douglas MacArthur they are men who share a special bond with greatness the brotherhood they work to perfect they construct in the hearts of men for a greater stronger America ever proud and ever free [Music] [Applause] [Music]