"He instinctively can find the shining greatness of our American culture and does a good job of highlighting it (although he also does have those rare lapses when he writes about hockey, but that is something caused by impurities in the Eastern waters or something)." Erik Keilholtz
Under the patronage of St. Tammany
Mark C. N. Sullivan is an editor at a Massachusetts university. He is married and the father of three children. Email
From Shanksville, Pa., the new Gettysburg, comes this dispatch from E. L. Core on the inspiring valedictory given by Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker at the 9.11 memorial ceremonies:
Today, we stand on a battlefield.
It is unlike other battlefields in our nation's history because that day America's first defenders weren't battle tested.
They weren't even armed.
They were ordinary Americans who were off to work or to visit family.
And in an instant, they became one of the most heralded military units in our nation's rich history.
Some say that America's war against terror really began when our armed forces landed in Afghanistan last October.
But we know better. Those of us here today know better.
It was here that freedom took its first stand....
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