LETTERS
To the Editor:

Unlike many people who, like my wife, can trace their American heritage back to the Revolutionary War, or beyond, I was born in the US of Italian immigrant parents who were part of the flood of adventurous Europeans who arrived at Ellis Island during the early 1900s; so my American heritage begins with me. One hundred years ago next month, my father's father made his first reconnaissance trip from Italy to the US, and after more trips to arrange for work and housing, he immigrated (legally) with his wife and children (including my father) to the US. Perhaps it is because I am a first generation American, that I especially appreciate the sacrifices made by early Americans, and why I think it is so important, particularly for young people, to understand that others had to struggle, suffer, and sometimes, to die, for the freedoms that today, too many of us seem to just take for granted. And for those who agree with me that history is important, we are in good company. A couple of thousand years ago, in the land of my ancestors, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote that the principal objective of history was to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and to insure that evil words and deeds should be remembered. As I commemorate the 100th anniversary of my grandfather's first trip to the US, I'll also be remembering the Founding Fathers whose virtuous actions secured the blessings of liberty which today are being eroded by the evil words and deeds of politicians who fail to do their sworn duty to support the Constitution. I pray we can correct the course the country is on, lest my grandchildren, or theirs, decide, as my grandfather did, that it is better to emigrate than to capitulate. God bless America.

Cordially, Chuck Esposito

Suches, Ga.