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WITandWISDOM(tm) - May 26, 2003 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Love is a better master than duty." - Albert Einstein Source: The Funnies, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/andychaps_the-funnies ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: "Abraham Lincoln consoles Mrs. Lydia Bixby on the loss of her five sons in the Civil War." Mrs. Bixby's tremendous losses came to the attention of President Lincoln when he was informed by the State Adjutant General, William Schouler, that she had sent five sons into the Union army and that all five had been killed in action. Lincoln waited until after the upcoming elections and then composed the following letter to her. Executive Mansion Washington, Nov. 21, 1864 To Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Mass. Dear Madam, I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, A. Lincoln Source: Faith-N-Humor, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/faith-n-humor ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: The old lady had been married for many years when suddenly her husband died. This is what she put on his tombstone: The Light of My Life Has Gone Out. Not long afterward she met, fell in love with and married another man. After thinking at some length about it, she went to the gravestone cutter and had him add a little postscript. The tombstone now reads: The Light of My Life Has Gone out P.S. I Found A Match Source: Colorado Comments, http://coloradocomments.com/ ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: As a volunteer who conducts educational tours of the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska I occasionally receive thank-you notes from members of school groups. One of my favorites said: "Dear Molly, I am a third-grader. I loved all the animals in the zoo. You were the best of all. Love, Theresa." Contributed by Molly Strong Source: Reader's Digest, Copyright (c) March 2000, http://www.readersdigest.com/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Is there more than one solider in the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in Arlington National Cemetery? An unknown American soldier from World War I was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in November 11, 1921. In 1958, on Memorial Day, two more unknown American soldiers, one from World War II and one from the Korean War, were buried alongside the first soldier. An unknown soldier from the Vietnam War wasn't buried in the tomb until 1984 (eleven years after a law was passed enabling a Vietnam soldier to be buried there). It took that long to find a soldier that couldn't be identified. Improved technology had made it easier to identify remains. In fact, the Vietnam soldier WAS later identified. In 1998, DNA testing proved he was a 24-year-old Air Force pilot named Michael Blassie who was shot down in 1972. His family disinterred the body and had it reburied in St. Louis, Missouri. Source: DailyInBox: Trivia, http://your.dailyinbox.com/trivia/ |