Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 233, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 October 1918 — “O. K.—U.S” [ARTICLE]

“O. K.—U.S”

BY GEORGE H. HEALEY.

Colonel ISlst Infantry. 1 A blue tag attached to a small cable in the passenger carriage of a DeHaviland aeroplane attracted my attention today as I was enfiight to Seagirt, N. J. I looked at it and saw in large Gothic letters: “O. K.——U. S.” I was some ten thousand feet in the air when the tag attracted my attention and I looked at it carefully and found that it was used by the inspector when he approved the quality and workmanship of part of the machine. It was my first long flight and while I was not in the least frightened, I thought What magic there was in the was to have the guarantee that everything was O. K. and I looked at the lightly constructed wings, the slender uprights, the thin strands of wire that held the parallel planes, the light panels of wood, the strong but small cables that made it possible for the pilot to guide the machine and I thought what magis there was in the letters: “O. K.—U. S." And I looked out over the city of New York and out into the harbor where I saw a convoy moving out to sea. I saw the winding streams,.the narrow roads, the cultivated fields, the skyscrapers of New York and the happy homes of millions of people in New York and New Jersey, and I thought of all that had been done to make human liberty possible, and I saw, as I closed my eyes for a moment, the cadaverous palm of Prussian ambition in the effort to destroy all that my eyes had beheld and I thought what a glorious thing it was that men have the courage to offer their lives that liberty may live and that those unable to fight have the moral courage to say: “Go to it boys, I’ll buy the bonds to back you up,” and I could see the whole thing guaranteed with those wonderful letters: “O. K.—U. S.” And I wondered if there was a single person in the United States who cared so little for human freedom that they would not sacrifice their life and all they had to make it permanent. And I thought of the millions of oppressed people who had come to America, lured by that magic promise that I realized there, ten thousand feet in the air, a greater meaning that I had ever known before to the guarantee of MY country. And on the very eve of my departure for the scene of the conflict twixt selfish amibition and world democracy I would make one plea to those who are remaining at home, and that would be to invest in Liberty bonds everydollarthey can, and thus stand shoulder to shoulder with those who are meeting the Hun -face to face, and with God's aid we will make the world appreciate, as all true Americans do, the security in those inspiring letters: “0., K.—U. S.”