Franklin D. Roosevelt

Greeting to the Veterans of the First Plattsburg Citizens' Training Regiment.

July 24, 1935

I am grateful for the opportunity to extend my greetings to the veterans of the First Plattsburg Training Regiment on the occasion of their reunion.

Twenty years ago several hundred citizens went to Plattsburg Barracks, New York, to participate voluntarily, and at their own expense, in training for military service. These men foresaw clearly the probability of our becoming involved in the great war then devastating Europe. They realized that the United States was woefully unprepared for war. With a spirit of patriotic self-sacrifice the Plattsburg volunteers offered themselves to their country and started the movement that provided the Nation with much of its trained leadership during the World War.

The Plattsburg movement spread throughout the land. Numerous camps were held the following year, and in 1917 and 1918, the experience gained at Plattsburg proved invaluable in the operation of the various officers' training camps. During the War, Plattsburg veterans served with marked distinction, many of them gallantly leading our citizen soldiers in some of the fiercest actions that marked the struggle. Some of them gave their lives to their country.

The spirit of Plattsburg did not die with the Armistice. The Reserve Officers' Training Corps of our schools and colleges and the Citizens' Military Training Camps are direct descendants of the old Plattsburg Training Regiment of 1915.

The veterans who are gathering at Plattsburg symbolize the finest in American patriotism. They furnish a shining example for American youth that time will not dim. The people of the United States will not forget their outstanding service.

I am sure your reunion will be a particularly pleasant one, with old friendships renewed and old battles refought. I hope that all of the veterans will attend many more reunions and will continue in peace to furnish that same splendid leadership that characterized their military service.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Greeting to the Veterans of the First Plattsburg Citizens' Training Regiment. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/208930

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