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afc0e89
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The looting was profitable, fun, low-risk, and completely in accord with the practice of every conquering army since Alexander the Great's time.
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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3114b24
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Nor did the Americans find it necessary to wage a ruthless campaign. As has been mentioned previously, both sides respected
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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2adb456
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No matter how bad things got, no matter how anxious the staff became, the commander had to "preserve optimism in himself and in his command. Without confidence, enthusiasm and optimism in the command, victory is scarcely obtainable." Eisenhower realized that "optimism and pessimism are infectious and they spread more rapidly from the head downward than in any other direction." He learned that a commander's optimism "has a most extraordinary..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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98d4c2e
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failure at one point could throw the momentum out of balance and result in chaos. All in that room were aware
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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304dfd2
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When you talk about combat leadership under fire on the beach at Normandy," Ellery concluded, "I don't see how the credit can go to anyone other than the company-grade officers and senior NCOs who led the way. It is good to be reminded that there are such men, that there always have been and always will be. We sometimes forget, I think, that you can manufacture weapons, and you can purchase ammunition, but you can't buy valor and you can't ..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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3ae01bc
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In the morning, fog. As it slowly lifted, the expedition set off.
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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ff3886b
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In addition, it seemed unlikely that one nation could govern an entire continent. The distances were just too great. A critical fact in the world of 1801 was that nothing moved faster than the speed of a horse. No human being, no manufactured item, no bushel of wheat, no side of beef (or any beef on the hoof, for that matter), no letter, no information, no idea, order, or instruction of any kind moved faster. Nothing ever had moved any fast..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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6e262b5
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What the Shoshones valued above all else, and depended on absolutely, was the bravery of their young men. Their childrearing system was designed to produce brave warriors. "They seldom correct their children," Lewis wrote, "particularly the boys who soon became masters of their own acts. They give as a reason that it cows and breaks the Sperit of the boy to whip him, and that he never recovers his independence of mind after he is grown." In..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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9b6deb2
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But it was all a pipe dream. As well try to stop an avalanche as to stop the moving frontier. American immigrants and emigrants wanted their share of land--free land--a farm in the family--the dream of European peasants for hundreds of years--the New World's great gift to the old. Moving west with the tide were the hucksters, the lawyers, merchants, and other men on the make looking for the main chance, men who could manufacture a land warr..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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b5581c1
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free." On the edge of town, Fitzgerald saw a sight "that has never left my memory. It was a picture story of the death of one 82nd Airborne trooper. He had occupied a German foxhole and made it his personal Alamo. In a half circle around the hole lay the bodies of nine German soldiers. The body closest to the hole was only three feet away, a potato masher [grenade] in its fist.II The other distorted forms lay where they had fallen, testimon..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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0d4e654
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without
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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ef3ac7c
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as Lewis saw it. The White Cliffs can be seen only from small boat or canoe. Put in at Fort Benton and take out three or four days later at Judith Landing. Missouri River Outfitters at Fort Benton, Montana, rents canoes or provides a guided tour by pontoon boat. Of all the historic and/or scenic sights we have visited in the world, this is number one. We have made the trip ten times.
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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3d4b5c6
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Discipline is what makes an army--and civilization.
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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77102b8
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Both Custer and Crazy Horse, in short, still had much to learn about each other.
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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6f89ca0
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Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey, who was present at the meeting and who later became the authority on the battle of the Little Bighorn, recorded the aftermath. "This 'talk' of his [Custer's] was considered at the time as something extraordinary for General Custer, for it was not his habit to unbosom himself to his officers. In it he showed concessions and a reliance on others; there was an indefinable something that was not Custer. His manner ..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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b5c1f3a
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IV. It is today as Lewis saw it. The White Cliffs can be seen only from small boat or canoe. Put in at Fort Benton and take out three or four days later at Judith Landing. Missouri River Outfitters at Fort Benton, Montana, rents canoes or provides a guided tour by pontoon boat. Of all the historic and/or scenic sights we have visited in the world, this is number one. We have made the trip ten times.
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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819d102
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The myths emphasized the relatedness of life, for in them plants and animals talked and exhibited other human characteristics. The myths taught young Curly that everything had its place and function and that all things and animals were important The stories also gave him a feeling of balance; one, for example, told how the animals got together one day and decided to get back at mankind for killing and eating them. Each animal decided on a d..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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ec35f71
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It is perhaps the consummate irony," Arthur Moore writes, "that at each step up from savagery the human race has regarded the fruits of progress with a degree of misgiving and often longed against reason for a return to a simpler condition."
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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b18d0d7
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Third, the Sioux did not delegate real power to an individual, be he a head of an akicita society, tribal chief, or simply a brave individual. As Lowie puts it, "in normal times the chief was not a supreme executive, but a peacemaker and an orator." Chiefs--all chiefs--were titular, "and any power exercised within the tribe was exercised by the total body of responsible men who had qualified for social eminence by their war record and their..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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fc9d187
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Ethnic Germans also surrendered. Even veterans of the Eastern Front. Corp. Friedrich Bertenrath of the 2nd Panzer Division explained, "In Russia, I could imagine nothing but fighting to the last man. We knew that going into a prison camp in Russia meant you were dead. In Normandy, one always had in the back of his mind, 'Well, if everything goes to hell, the Americans are human enough that the prospect of becoming their prisoner was attract..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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56b8cbd
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At the supreme moment of his career, Crazy Horse took in the situation with a glance, then acted with great decisiveness. He fought with his usual reckless bravery on Custer Hill, providing as always an example for the other warriors to admire, draw courage from, and emulate, but his real contribution to this greatest of all Indian victories was mental, not physical. For the first time in his life, Crazy Horse's presence was decisive on the..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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21e6299
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In thinking back on the days of Easy Company, I'm treasuring my remark to a grandson who asked, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' " 'No,' I answered, 'but I served in a company of heroes.' "
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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7b48c92
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Daddy, were you a hero?" And he answered, "No, but I served with heroes."
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Stephen E Ambrose |
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6777bb4
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Winters and Welsh simply walked toward the man, who took off. The Americans split the silverware between them. Forty-five years later, both men were still using the Berchtesgaden Hof's silverware in their homes. After getting what he most wanted out of the place, Winters then
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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6521744
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Of the tens of thousands of men who died in combat in the war, possibly as many as half lost their lives in vain. Lee's charges at Malvern Hill and Gettysburg, Burnside's at Fredericksburg, Grant's at Vicksburg, and many others left the dead strewn everywhere for no discernible military gain. The Sioux would never have followed men who led such bloody, futile assaults, but the Americans made heroes out of these generals--and the higher a ge..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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81513f8
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Arthur Moore describes the results: "Whole forests of oak, beech, poplar, maple, and walnut, standing since Columbus, collapsed ... from girdling and deadening with fire. There was in the heart of the new race no more consideration for the trees than for the game until the best of both were gone; steel conquered the West but chilled the soul of the conqueror. This assault on nature, than which few more frightful spectacles could be imagined..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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686e334
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As I have always held it a crime to anticipate evils I will believe it a good comfortable road untill I am conpelled to beleive differently.
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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3659d84
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Like so many of his fellow Americans, Cooper was drawn to the ideas of a primitive, free access to the bounty of nature, the rough equality of all men in a society, and of a natural, intuitive theology. These themes enjoyed something of a vogue in the America of Custer's youth, especially among intellectuals and reformers, who were disappointed at (or resentful of) America's failure to become a "new society" in a New World. In their eyes, t..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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931a2fd
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Crazy Horse called to his men, "Ho-ka hey! It is a good day to fight! It is a good day to die! Strong hearts, brave hearts, to the front! Weak hearts and cowards to the rear."
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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c506db1
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The answer was simple and direct, as it had been throughout the period of white contact with the red men. First, make them dependent. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark saw this in a flash after their initial encounter with the Sioux, of whom they said, "These are the vilest miscreants of the savage race, and must ever remain the pirates of the Missouri, until such measures are pursued, by our government, as will make them feel a dependence..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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71e4956
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the German today is like the June Bride. He knows he is going to get it, but he doesn't know how big it is gong to be.
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stephen e. ambrose |
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89331f5
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I instinctively dislike ever to uphold the conservative as opposed to the bold
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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733168e
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Vice-President Aaron Burr was full of plots and schemes and conspiracies to break the west loose from the United States and form a new nation. Jefferson
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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ff43751
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By the beginning of March, K Company, 333rd Regiment, had reached the Rhine. The men settled down in the village of Krefeld to await Montgomery's Operation Plunder, the crossing of the river; Monty was planning the operation with as much care as he had put into Operation Overlord, so the pause was a long one. By some miracle, the men found an undamaged high-rise apartment building in which everything worked--electricity, hot water, flush to..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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1e655b9
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In the excitement of a charge, or in the enthusiasm of approaching victory, there is a sense of pleasure which no one should attempt to underrate." General Horace Porter, aide-decamp to General Grant Custer" --
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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fcc42d1
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buckshot;
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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6e62598
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Hitler insisted on the superiority of the Aryan race, but his closest allies were the Italians, and he accorded the Japanese the dubious accolade of
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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11a2e56
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They were learning about others. A common experience: the guy who talked toughest, bragged most, excelled in maneuvers, everyone's pick to be the top soldier in the company, was the first to break, while the soft-talking kid who was hardly noticed in camp was the standout in combat. These are the cliches of war novels precisely because they are true. They
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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782c8ad
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Over the next two months Eisenhower labored
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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573b969
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Addis Ababa;
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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60ac1de
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So it had always been and apparently would be. The terms "peace" and "war" as understood by the Americans had no meaning to the Indians. Hostilities could break out at any time, for no apparent cause other than the restlessness of the young warriors, spurred by their desire for honor and glory, which could only be won on raids, which always brought on revenge raids, in a regular cycle. The captains were hopelessly naive on this point. Lewis..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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644eee3
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The Natchez Trace seemed much safer to him than risking a sailboat from New Orleans to Washington,
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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2b7e6ea
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On the edge of town, Fitzgerald saw a sight "that has never left my memory. It was a picture story of the death of one 82nd Airborne trooper. He had occupied a German foxhole and made it his personal Alamo. In a half circle around the hole lay the bodies of nine German soldiers. The body closest to the hole was only three feet away, a potato masher [grenade] in its fist.II The other distorted forms lay where they had fallen, testimony to th..
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Stephen E. Ambrose |
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6008a64
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If you want to be a hero, the Germans will make one out of you real quick--dead!
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Stephen E. Ambrose |