Remember the Alamo?

     There should, of course, be an exclamation point rather
than a question mark after the phrase "Remember the Alamo."
      It's been 179 years since a small band of Texans were 
wiped out trying to defend an old mission against some 5,000
Mexican soldiers. I did not actually cover that story. 
      Earlier this week people in Lewistown in Central
Pennsylvania gathered around a monument to pay tribute to
three Mifflin County men who traveled to Texas to join the fight
for Independence and died at the Alamo! In fact there were 15
Pennsylvanians at the Alamo. And one other who was sent out
of the mission before the final battle to search for supplies.
      Even if you never heard of any of those brave men you
should have seen at least one of about a dozen movies about the
battle featuring big stars like John Wayne and Billy Bob Thornton
taking turns playing Davy Crockett who died there along side Col
William Barret Travis and Jim Bowie.
       Recently I mentioned the Alamo to a young lady at the
Check out counter of a local pharmacy. She is, I suspect, about
25-years-old. The stunned look on her face reminded me of the
time I gave another clerk a five dollar bill and a quarter to cover
a four dollar and twenty five cent bill. She would have been OK
with just the five because the computer would have told her to
give me seventy five cents in change. I guess history, like math,
isn't what it used to be.
        Good thing I didn't mention anything about the Agnes Flood
or the Knox Mine Disaster. I suspect, even through they were in this
young lady's back yard, she wouldn't know much about them. 
       That's too bad! They say if we don't learn from history we're
doomed to repeat it! And I'm not so sure I'd want either of these
young ladies by my side if we were surrounded by a lot of angry
customers or preparing our taxes! I'll bet both were "good students"
too! 
        Hope you Remember The Alamo, give the right change, and
that all your NEWS is good!