-Mrs. CW

The correct answer to this is (remembering, of course, that I have publicly admitted to kissing the Blarney Stone): "It would indeed be accurate to say, sir, that she is the inspiration for all my writing."

:-)

-CW

PS. OK, that snarky bit about the English renaming everything was, indeed, just for her.

Michale.....

Amusing footnote, to get over the objections on some of handing out condoms to the troops, many were stamped "for prevention of disease only" -- since they weren't (wink wink nudge nudge) to be used for contraception, but only for disease prevention (as if there were a difference).

Michale -

thanks.

I've been to the Cobh cemetary. It is a sobering place. Just a tiny little country cemetary, down a winding country lane, but in one corner has individual graves (a Vanderbilt died on the Lusitania, but I'm not sure if he was buried there), and three mounds marking the mass graves. Cobh did the search-and-rescue when it happened, and has a statue as a monument to the Lusitania in the center of their town. I highly recommend visiting it (it is near Cork, in the south) to anyone traveling to Ireland.

-CW

There are many public health lessons to take from the American military experience. My own personal favorite is that the US Army tried an abstinence "education" approach on its troops in WWI, which of course failed miserably. I've seen statistics that more Americans were put out of action by gonorrhea than gas.

By WWII, the Army had decided to issue free condoms, which were still illegal in some US states. Of course, the rate of STD infection was drastically reduced this time.

These are very humbling words and are a reminder to us all that making the ultimate sacrifice for our country comes in many many forms.

As a veteran of two branches of the armed forces and many 'battles', both overt and covert, I salute you.

Michale.....