great object, which was to
serve, to serve his country, even unto death.

Finally, do not place Guynemer apart from his comrades: even in his
grave, even in the region where there is no grave, he would resent it. I
hope you will learn by heart the names of the French aces, at any rate
those names which I am going to give you, whatever may become of those
who bear them:[32]

_sous-lieutenant_ Nungesser 30 airplanes brought down
Captain Heurtaux 21 " "
Lieutenant Deullin 17 " "
Lieutenant Pinsard 16 " "
_sous-lieutenant_ Madon 16 " "
_sous-lieutenant_ Chaput 12 " "
Adjutant Jailler 12 " "
_sous-lieutenant_ Ortoli 11 " "
_sous-lieutenant_ Tarascon 11 " "
Chief Adjutant Fonck 11 " "
_sous-lieutenant_ Lufbery 10 " "

[Footnote 32: List made September 11, 1917.]

These names will become more and more glorious--some have already done
so--and others will be added to the list which you will learn also. But
however tenacious your memory may be, you will never remember, nobody
will ever remember, the thousands of names we ought to save from
oblivion, the names of those whose patience, courage, and sufferings
have saved the soil of France. The fame of one man is nothing unless it
represent the obscure deeds of the anonymous multitude. The name of
Guynemer ought to sum up the sacrifice of all French youth--infantrymen,
gunners, pioneers, troopers, or flyers--who have given their lives for
us, as we hear the infinite murmur of the ocean in one beautiful shell.

The enthusiasm and patience, the efforts and sacrifices, of the
generations which came before you, little boy, were necessary to save
you, to save your country, to save the world, born of light and born
unto light, from the darkness of dread oppression. Germany has chosen to
rob war of all that, slowly and tentatively, the nations had given to it
of respect for treaties, pity for the weak and defenseless, and of honor
generally. She has poisoned it as she poisons her gases. This is what we
should never forget. Not only has Germany forced this war upon the
world, but she has made it systematically cruel and terrifying, and in
so doing she has sown the seeds of horrified rebellion against anything
that is Ge