Old Soldiers Never Die
Delivered to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on April 19, 1951, after General MacArthur was relieved of command in Korea by President Truman.
Full Transcript
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, and Distinguished Members of the Congress: I stand on this rostrum with a sense of deep humility and great pride—humility in the contemplation of those great American statesmen who have preceded me, pride in the reflection that this forum of human liberty represents the hope and aspirations of mankind.
I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading twilight of life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country.
The world has turned over many times since I took the oath at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished. But I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that ‘old soldiers never die; they just fade away.’
And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.
Defining Key Excerpts
"Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."
"In war there is no substitute for victory."
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