HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY

by HENRY CABOT LODGE AND THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Hence it is that the fathers of these men and ours also, and they
themselves likewise, being nurtured in all freedom and well born,
have shown before all men many and glorious deeds in public and
private, deeming it their duty to fight for the cause of liberty
and the Greeks, even against Greeks, and against Barbarians for
all the Greeks."
--PLATO: "Menexenus."


TO E. Y. R.

To you we owe the suggestion of writing this book. Its purpose,
as you know better than any one else, is to tell in simple
fashion the story of some Americans who showed that they knew how
to live and how to die; who proved their truth by their endeavor;
and who joined to the stern and manly qualities which are
essential to the well-being of a masterful race the virtues of
gentleness, of patriotism, and of lofty adherence to an ideal.

It is a good thing for all Americans, and it is an especially
good thing for young Americans, to remember the men who have
given their lives in war and peace to the service of their
fellow-countrymen, and to keep in mind the feats of daring and
personal prowess done in time past by some of the many champions
of the nation in the various crises of her history. Thrift,
industry, obedience to law, and intellectual culvation are