Press Releases, vol. XIII, p. 375 Address Delivered by President
Roosevelt at Arlington Cemetery, November 1l, 1935 The living
memory of the World War is close to each of us today. Our
thoughts return to great objectives of the past, even as the
minds of older men go back to their boyhood's ideals. We
Americans were so placed that we gained a perspective of the
great world conflict that was perhaps clearer than that of our
fellow men who were closer to the scene of battle. For most of
the first 3 years of the war we were not participants; but
during the final phase we ourselves engaged on many fronts. For
that reason perhaps we understood, as well as any, the cries
that went up--that the world conflict should be made a war to
end wars. We were not invaded nor were we threatened with
invasion, then or later; but the very distance of our view led
us to perceive the dire results of war through days of following
peace. The primary purpose of this Nation is to avoid being
drawn into war. It seeks also in every pra