God and the Soldier -- a JFK speech

President John F. Kennedy quoted a poem in remarks to members of the First Armored Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia, November 26, 1962. They had been deployed during the Cuban crisis. JFK read the following poem and then added his own words. Here are his words:

Many years ago, according to the story, there was found in a sentry box in Gibraltar a poem which said:

God and the soldier, 

all men adore

In time of danger 

and not before

When the danger is passed 

and all things righted,

God is forgotten 

and the soldier slighted.

This country does not forget God or the soldier. Upon both we now depend. (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962, p. 840.)  


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