Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, each Memorial Day, a newspaper in my State, the Arizona Republic, publishes one particular letter to remind its readers of the sacrifice our soldiers made in defense of their country. The letter is written by Sullivan Ballou to his wife on July 14, 1861. Sullivan was a major in the Union Army, 32 years old, and about to enter the first battle of Bull Run. A little more than a week later, almost 3,000 Union soldiers had perished, including Sullivan. Major Sullivan's letter reads as follows: ``My very dear Sarah: The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days--perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more. . . . ``I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American civilization now leans on the triumph of the government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and sufferings of the Revolution. And I am willing-- perfectly willing--to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government and to pay that debt. . . . ``Sarah, my love for you is deathless. It seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence could break; and yet my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me unresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.…”