SHALL WE HIRE A MONUMENT ENGRAVER TO GO TO ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY AND ADD THE MISSING WORDS?

This is from an email I received last night. I cannot verify that the story is true. However, I did verify that the facts in the story are true, and have posted sources for the facts... I smell an ACLU RAT!

A MESSAGE FROM AN APPALLED OBSERVER:

Today I went to visit the new World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. I got an unexpected history lesson. Because I'm a baby boomer, I was one of the youngest in the crowd. Most were the age of my parents; veterans of "the greatest war," with their families.

It was a beautiful day, and people were smiling and happy to be there. Hundreds of us milled around the memorial, reading the inspiring words of Eisenhower and Truman that are engraved there.

On the Pacific side of the memorial, a group of us gathered to read the words President Roosevelt used to announce the attack on Pearl Harbor: Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy--the UnitedStates of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked. One elderly woman read the words aloud: With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph.

But as she read, she was suddenly turned angry. "Wait a minute," she said, "they left out the end of the quote. They left out the most important part. Roosevelt ended the message with "so help us God.'

"Her husband said, "You are probably right. We're not supposed to say things like that now." "I know I'm right," she insisted. "I remember the speech."

The two looked dismayed, shook their heads sadly and walked away. Listening to their conversation, I thought to myself, "Well, it has been over 50 years. She's probably forgotten."

But she had not forgotten. She was right. I went home and pulled out the book my book club is reading --- "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley. It's all about the battle at Iwo Jima. I haven't gotten too far in the book. It's tough to read because it's a graphic description of the WWII battles in the Pacific.

But right there it was on page 58. Roosevelt's speech to the nation ends in "so help us God." The people who edited out that part of the speech when they engraved it on the memorial could have fooled me. I was born after the war. But they couldn't fool the people who were there. Roosevelt's words are engraved on their hearts.

Now I ask: "WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE WORDS OF HISTORY?"

This is what I found:

WWII Memorial-
Eastern Corners

PEARL HARBOR DECEMBER 7, 1941, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY…NO MATTER HOW LONG IT MAY TAKE US TO OVERCOME THIS PREMEDITATED INVASION, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, IN THEIR RIGHTEOUS MIGHT, WILL WIN THROUGH TO ABSOLUTE VICTORY.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt. See Inscriptions Here

FDR's Speech-
PEARL HARBOR
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT'S Speech to the U.S. Congress on December 8th, 1941 (as delivered)

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, of the House of Representatives: Yesterday, December 7, 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...

...With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our People - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God. Source: Speech

Once again, I smell an ACLU RAT!