Some Moments in American History

For Christmas, my husband purchased a book for us entitled "The American Patriot's Almanac" by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb. I obtained the following stories from this book. Direct quotes are noted.

Ten weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President FDR signed an executive order to place Japanese-Americans in internment camps. Many were in the camps for two and a half years. This is an example of people responding out of fear. God has not given us a spirit of fear and we shouldn't make decisions, especially ones of this magnitude, while we are fearful.

The good news is that in 1988, President Reagan offered a national apology to Japanese-Americans and 20,ooo dollars to each person who had been interned in the camps. This heightened my respect for this president.

President George Washington was born on February 22, 1732. Bennett states, "In three crucial ways he shaped our nation. First, he led American forces during the fight for independence. Second, he presided over the writing of our Constitution. Third, he served as our first president."

"...During one battle of the Revolution, at Monmouth in New Jersey, the American troops were in confused flight and on the verge of destruction when General Washington appeared on the field. Soldiers stopped in their tracks and stared as the tall, blue-coated figure spurred his horse up and down the line, halting the retreat. The young Marquis de Lafayette remembered the sight for the rest of his life, how Washington rode 'all along the lines amid the shouts of the soldiers, cheering them by his voice and example and restoring to standard the fortunes of the fight...' Washington's very presence had stopped a rout and turned the tide of battle."

"REMEMBER THE ALAMO!"

February 23, 1836 is when the seige of the Alamo began.

Years ago, I was able to visit the Alamo. I heard other people saying that they were disappointed, that there "wasn't much to it." I enjoyed the visit. I love to visit historical places. I would love to visit the sites of Washington's battles, and other places where the early course of our nation was set.

I would like to visit Europe. I would like to go to places where I've tracked my ancestors to, in England; and those of my husband in Spain and Ireland.

I would like to visit birth places of poets and writers; musicians, artists, and statesmen; old pubs and churchyards; places I've read about in books.

But, when you get down to it, every place has a history and it's fun to me to explore the history of a place, whereever I am.

kdr