F O R E W O R D

We proffer no eloquent words or apt phrases of war to set before you, because we who have had the realization of such, find there are none.

Can one describe death? For life and death are one, even as the tree and the leaf are one.

What of fear? - - - We fear the evil yet evil is of mankind.

Speak of the brave! Ah, the glory of the brave - - - yet glory fades even as the evening sun.

So herein are the lives of a group of like people - - - banded together by a like cause - - their thoughts, their sufferings, their happiness, and above all, their work.

They are all here, yes all - - - What, you find it strange we speak of the fallen as the living? Should we? Should we forsake our brothers? We sprang from the same land - - - We are of the same heritage.

No - - - We feel no absence among us. No - - - We are all here.

Judge them not harshly if at times the surface belies the depth, for therein lies their strength - - - and their strength bore fruit.