00:11 - >>HI I'M DAN VERMILLION A PARK

00:13 - RANGER AT THE EISENHOWER

00:14 - NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE.

00:16 - AND I'M JOINING YOU TODAY ON

00:17 - THE 100 57TH ANNIVERSARY

00:19 - OF THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

00:21 - HERE ON WARFIELD RIDGE ON WEST

00:24 - CONFEDERATE AVENUE.

00:25 - OVER THE LAST 3 DAYS MY FRIENDS

00:27 - AND COLLEAGUES AT GETTYSBURG

00:28 - NATIONAL MILITARY PARK HAVE

00:30 - BEEN SHARING A WIDE ARRAY OF

00:32 - PROGRAMS COVERING THE EVENTS OF

00:34 - THIS HISTORIC BATTLE THAT TOOK

00:35 - PLACE 157

00:38 - YEARS AGO. AND AS WE STAND HERE

00:40 - ON WARFIELD RIDGE

00:41 - WITH THE FARM OF PRESIDENT

00:43 - DWIGHT EISENHOWER ON ONE SIDE

00:46 - AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, A FARM

00:47 - OWNED BY AFRICAN-AMERICAN

00:49 - BLACKSMITH JAMES WARFIELD WHO

00:50 - LIVED HERE IN 1863. WE'RE

00:53 - STANDING HERE CONTEMPLATING THE

00:54 - LEGACY OF

00:55 - THIS BATTLE. ALL THESE YEARS

00:57 - LATER ASKING OURSELVES THE

00:58 - QUESTION. WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS

01:00 - MEAN.

01:01 - THIS BATTLE WAS OF COURSE A

01:02 - GREAT UNION VICTORY DURING THE

01:04 - AMERICAN

01:04 - CIVIL WAR. BUT IT CAME AT A

01:06 - TERRIBLE COST WITH OVER 50,000

01:09 - CASUALTIES, FALLING IN JUST 3

01:11 - DAYS BEFORE THE CONFEDERATE

01:12 - ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA BEGAN

01:14 - ITS RETREAT SOUTHWARD. PERHAPS

01:16 - THE FIRST ANSWER THE QUESTION

01:17 - OF WHAT THIS BATTLE NET WAS

01:19 - NONE OTHER THAN PRESIDENT

01:20 - ABRAHAM LINCOLN WHO TRAVELED

01:21 - HERE IN NOVEMBER OF 1863 JUST A

01:24 - FEW MONTHS AFTER THE GUNS HAVE

01:25 - FALLEN SILENT, THE SPEAK AT

01:27 - THE DEDICATION OF THE SOLDIERS

01:29 - NATIONAL CEMETERY. AS LINCOLN

01:32 - SPOKE THAT DAY HE TRIED TO GIVE

01:34 - VOICE TO WHAT THIS BATTLE MEN

01:36 - DESCRIBING THIS BATTLE HAS NO

01:37 - LESS THEN A STRUGGLE FOR THE

01:39 - FUTURE OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY

01:40 - TESTING WHETHER ANY DEMOCRACY

01:43 - BASED IN LIBERTY AND EQUALITY

01:45 - CAN ENDURE. INDEED LINCOLN

01:47 - DESCRIBED THIS BATTLE AS A

01:48 - CONTEST OVER THE VERY FUTURE OF

01:51 - FREEDOM IN THE UNITED STATES.

01:53 - AND THE YEARS AFTER THE CIVIL

01:55 - WAR AS THE PASSIONS FROM THE

01:57 - WAR COOLED. OFTENTIMES THIS LED

01:59 - TO A REUNION AND

02:00 - RECONCILIATION. BUT AS REUNION

02:03 - AND RECONCILIATION IN THIS

02:05 - COUNTRY TOOK HOLD. IT OFTEN

02:06 - CAME AT A COST PUSHING ASIDE

02:09 - THE CAUSES OF THE

02:10 - WAR ITSELF. DURING THIS ERA IN

02:12 - THE LATE 1800'S AND EARLY

02:14 - 1900'S, THIS BATTLE SCARRED

02:16 - LANDSCAPE WAS NOW DOTTED WITH

02:19 - MONUMENTS AS VETERANS CAME HERE

02:21 - TO MARK AND COMMEMORATE WHAT

02:23 - HAPPENED ON THIS LANDSCAPE IN

02:25 - 1863. SOME OF THESE MONUMENTS

02:27 - WERE MEANT TO MARK BATTLE

02:28 - LINES. SOME WERE MEANT TO MARK

02:30 - THE CAUSES THAT WERE

02:31 - CONTESTED HERE. MANY OF THEM

02:33 - WERE MONUMENTS TO UNION

02:35 - REGIMENTS AND GENERALS

02:37 - BY THE 1900'S, CONFEDERATE

02:38 - MONUMENTS WERE ALSO PLACED ON

02:40 - THIS LANDSCAPE. SOME

02:42 - CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS, MARKING

02:43 - TO POSITIONS OF TROOPS. SOME OF

02:46 - THESE CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS,

02:47 - WE'RE MARKING THE CAUSES THE

02:49 - CONFEDERACY HAD FOUGHT FOR THE

02:52 - PLACEMENT OF MONUMENTS

02:53 - CONTINUED HERE ALL THE WAY INTO

02:55 - THE 1960'S DURING THE

02:57 - CENTENNIAL ONE 100TH

02:58 - ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN

03:00 - CIVIL WAR AND IN 1963 DURING

03:03 - THE ONE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF

03:05 - GETTYSBURG. THERE ARE NUMEROUS

03:07 - EXAMPLES OF LEADERS WHO CAME

03:09 - HERE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS

03:10 - BATTLE STILL MEANT.

03:12 - 100 YEARS LATER. ONE OF THOSE

03:14 - LEADERS WAS CONGRESSMAN SAM

03:16 - GIBBONS FROM FLORIDA. A WORLD

03:18 - WAR 2 VETERAN WHO HAD

03:19 - PARACHUTED INTO NORMANDY ON

03:21 - D-DAY IN 1944. GIVEN

03:25 - SPOKE AT THE DEDICATION OF THE

03:26 - FLORIDA MONUMENT

03:27 - JUST A FEW 100 YARDS SOUTH OF

03:29 - WHERE WE ARE STANDING TODAY IN

03:31 - HIS SPEECH THAT DAY

03:32 - AND THE CONTEXT OF THE CIVIL

03:34 - RIGHTS MOVEMENT WHICH WAS

03:35 - OCCURRING IN THE UNITED STATES

03:37 - ACROSS THE COUNTRY. GIVEN SPOKE

03:39 - OF WHAT THIS BATTLE STILL MET

03:40 - AND OF THE CONTEST OVER THE

03:42 - FUTURE FREEDOM.

03:44 - IN OUR COUNTRY FREEDOM

03:45 - INEQUALITY WILL BE BROUGHT

03:46 - ABOUT BY UNDERSTANDING HONESTLY

03:48 - PRACTICED, EDUCATION EARNESTLY

03:51 - PURSUIT AN OPPORTUNITY FREELY

03:53 - GIVEN WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION.

03:55 - IF WE FAIL,

03:56 - AND WE WILL FAIL IF LEADERSHIP

03:58 - PASSES TO THE EXTREMIST

04:00 - THE MAN'S BEST CHANCE FOR

04:01 - FREEDOM AND EQUALITY UNDER LAW

04:03 - WILL HAVE BEEN TOTALLY ECLIPSED

04:05 - THOSE WHO DIED HERE AND ON

04:07 - OTHER AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD.

04:09 - WELL, THEN HAVE DIED IN VAIN.

04:12 - WHILE GIVENS CALLED FOR

04:13 - EXPANDING CIVIL RIGHTS IT CAME

04:15 - AT A CONTENTIOUS TIME DURING

04:16 - THE GETTYSBURG CENTENNIAL

04:18 - OTHERS SUCH AS GEORGE WALLACE

04:20 - WERE HERE TRYING TO USE THE

04:21 - EXAMPLE OF THE 1860'S TO

04:24 - SUPPORT SEGREGATION. AND THE

04:26 - 1960'S.

04:27 - ANOTHER WHO SPOKE TO THE

04:29 - CONTESTED LEGACY OF THIS BATTLE

04:30 - AROUND THE SAME TIME AS GIVENS

04:32 - WAS FATHER THEODORE HESBURGH

04:34 - FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE

04:36 - DAME HESBURGH SPOKE AT A

04:38 - SPECIAL MASS THAT WAS HELD AT

04:40 - THE ETERNAL LIGHT PEACE

04:41 - MONUMENT ON THE NORTHERN END OF

04:43 - THIS BATTLEFIELD ON

04:44 - JUNE 29TH OF 1963.

04:48 - HESBURGH REMINDED THOSE IN

04:49 - ATTENDANCE THAT DAY THE POWER

04:51 - OF THIS LANDSCAPE

04:53 - SAYING THAT'S WHAT BETTER PLACE

04:55 - TO PONDER UNFINISHED BUSINESS

04:57 - THIS MORNING THAN AT

04:58 - GETTYSBURG. WHERE SO MUCH OF

05:00 - THE BLOOD AND SWEAT AND TEARS,

05:02 - THERE ARE THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

05:03 - TOOK PLACE. GETTYSBURG IS NOT

05:06 - JUST

05:06 - A BATTLEFIELD. IT IS A SACRED

05:08 - SHRINE OF FREEDOM ONE AGAIN FOR

05:10 - A NATION CONCEIVED

05:12 - IN LIBERTY AND DEDICATED TO THE

05:14 - PROPOSITION THAT ALL MEN ARE

05:15 - CREATED EQUAL. THE STRUGGLE

05:17 - HEROICALLY ENGAGED HERE

05:19 - STILL GOES ON AS WE COMMIT

05:21 - OURSELVES ANEW TO THIS

05:22 - PROPOSITION IN EVERY VILLAGE

05:24 - AND EVERY CITY EVERY STATE

05:26 - IN AMERICA. THE CIVIL WAR DID

05:28 - NOT SOLVE THIS TRAGIC ISSUE.

05:30 - IT MERELY REESTABLISH THE

05:32 - PROPOSITION AND LEFT TO US.

05:35 - THE TASKS OF MAKING THE PROMISE

05:36 - OF OUR CONSTITUTION COME TRUE

05:39 - FOR ALL AMERICANS. HAS SPURRED

05:41 - WENT ON TO KNOW. WE ARE NOT

05:43 - ASKED TO DIE, BUT TO LIVE IN

05:46 - THE SPIRIT OF THIS PLACE.

05:48 - ONE OF THOSE IN ATTENDANCE FOR

05:50 - HESBURGH SPEECH THAT DAY

05:52 - WAS NONE OTHER THAN THE MAN WHO

05:54 - CALLED THESE FIELDS BEHIND ME

05:55 - HOME, THE WHITE THE EISENHOWER

05:58 - WHO AT THAT POINT.

05:59 - THE FORMER SUPREME ALLIED

06:00 - COMMANDER IN EUROPE DURING

06:02 - WORLD WAR 2 AND A FORMER

06:03 - 2 TERM PRESIDENT OF THE

06:05 - UNITED STATES. WHILE LINCOLN

06:07 - ONLY SPENT ONE NIGHT HERE IN

06:09 - GETTYSBURG EISENHOWER CAME TO

06:11 - CALL THIS PLACE HOME AND

06:13 - THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE GETTYSBURG

06:14 - HELD A SPECIAL SPOT AND

06:16 - EISENHOWER'S HEART. HE CAME

06:18 - HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 1915

06:20 - AS A WEST POINT CADET.

06:21 - HE WAS HERE IN 1918 AS A YOUNG

06:23 - ARMY OFFICER COMMANDING CAMP

06:25 - CALLED ON THE BATTLEFIELD

06:26 - AND EVENTUALLY CAME TO CALL

06:28 - THIS PROPERTY BEHIND ME HOME,

06:30 - THE ONLY HOME THAT HE AND HIS

06:32 - WIFE MAMIE EVER

06:33 - TRULY OWNS. EISENHOWER ALSO

06:35 - SPENT MUCH OF HIS LIFE THINKING

06:37 - ABOUT THIS PLACE AND PONDERING

06:38 - THE MEANING OF

06:40 - THIS BATTLE. ON THE ONE 100TH

06:41 - ANNIVERSARY OF LINCOLN'S SPEECH

06:44 - EISENHOWER WAS ASKED TO SPEAK

06:45 - IN THE NATIONAL CEMETERY AND

06:47 - THIS IS PART OF WHAT HE SAID.

06:49 - WE READ LINCOLN SENTIMENTS WE

06:51 - PONDER HIS WORDS THE BEAUTY

06:53 - OF THE SENTIMENTS, HE EXPRESSED

06:55 - AND PROCESS THE MAJESTY

06:56 - OF HIS WORDS HOLD A SPELLBOUND

06:59 - BUT WE HAVE NOT PAID TO HIS

07:00 - MESSAGE. IT'S JUST TRIBUTE

07:02 - UNTIL WE OURSELVES LIVE IT.

07:04 - FOR WELL HE KNEW THAT TO LIVE

07:05 - FOR A COUNTRY.

07:06 - IT'S A DUTY AS DEMANDING AS IS

07:08 - THE READINESS TO DIE FOR IT.

07:10 - SO LONG AS THIS TRUTH REMAINS

07:12 - ARE GUIDING LIGHT.

07:13 - SELF-GOVERNMENT IN THIS NATION

07:15 - WILL NEVER DIE.

07:16 - TRUE TO DEMOCRACIES BASIC

07:18 - PRINCIPLE THAT ALL ARE CREATED

07:19 - EQUAL AND ENDOWED BY THE

07:21 - CREATOR WITH PRICELESS HUMAN

07:22 - RIGHTS, THE GOOD CITIZEN NOW AS

07:24 - ALWAYS BEFORE IT'S CALLED UPON

07:26 - TO DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS.

07:29 - AS HE DOES

07:30 - HIS OWN TO SUBORDINATE SELF TO

07:32 - THE COUNTRY'S GOOD.

07:34 - TO REFUSE TO TAKE THE EASY

07:36 - WAY TODAY THAT MAY INVITE

07:38 - NATIONAL DISASTER TOMORROW TO

07:40 - ACCEPT THE TRUTH THAT THE WORK

07:42 - STILL TO BE DONE. AWAIT

07:44 - HIS DOING AS WE STAND HERE ON

07:46 - WARFIELD RIDGE WITH THE FIELDS

07:47 - OF PRESIDENT EISENHOWER'S FARM

07:49 - BEHIND US. IT IS TIME FOR US TO

07:51 - ASK ONCE AGAIN. WHAT DOES THIS

07:53 - BATTLE MEAN TO US TODAY

07:55 - GETTYSBURG IS AND ALWAYS HAS

07:57 - BEEN A PLACE WHERE AMERICANS

07:58 - HAVE COME TO SHAPE THE FUTURE

08:00 - OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN

08:01 - AMERICA, TAKING INSPIRATION

08:03 - FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST TO

08:05 - INFORM OUR ACTIONS OF THE

08:06 - PRESIDENT AND

08:07 - THE FUTURE. WHEN PRESIDENT

08:09 - LINCOLN TRAVELED HERE HE SPOKE

08:10 - OF THE GREAT TASK REMAINING

08:12 - BEFORE US. THE 157 YEARS AFTER

08:15 - THE BATTLE. WHAT IS OUR GREAT

08:16 - TASK BEFORE US TODAY.

08:18 - THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR

08:19 - THE 100 57TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE

08:22 - BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.