THOUGHTS FROM GIRLS AND BOYS TOWN The Original Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home A Wartime President Father Val J. Peter, JCD, STD (NAPSA)—Ofall the wartime Presidents, Abraham Lincoln is my very favorite and February is the month he wasborn. He and his sister, Sarah, learned how to read in a Kentucky log cabin, using the only book in their house, the Bible. Somehow or other he learned as a child that America was about peace and freedom. Val J. Peter ——— He had_ the courage to realize that peace without freedom is no peaceatall. It is tyranny. He believed that the mystic cords that tied the Union together could not be cut by simply drawing a line between the North and the South. He believed that people in the South in their heart of hearts were just like people everywhere—black and white andall colors—and deepest in their heart wasthe desire for all to be free. He knew the bitterness of politics. He was frequently denounced, ridiculed and damned by countless critics even in the North. He died on Good Friday, April 14, 1865. Two of his major goals were achieved: preserving the Union and freeing the slaves. He signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Gen- eral Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. If Lincoln would have lived, the terrible task of “binding up the nation’s wounds” would have been much more successful early on. Ashis body was taken by train in the long circuitous route from Washington to his beloved Illinois resting place, people stood for hours waiting for the train to go by to pay their last respects. And as they did, so many, even his enemies, were aware of this good man’s enduring greatness. I love to go to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. I often stand there, saying a prayer for our beloved country. And then I say from my heart: “Thank you, Mr. Lincoln.” Girls and Boys Town,the original Father Flanagan's Boys’ Home, is a leader in the direct treatment and core of abused, abandoned and neglected girls and boys. Through 19 sites across the country, the organization directly cares for more than 37,000 girls and boys annually. Girls and Boys Town also assists 1.5 million children and parents through its National Hotline (1-800-448-3000), outreach and training programs and community partnerships. @
