I didn't know that about the marine sword. Fascinating bit of history trivia. It makes sense. We were such a young nation and we had a moment of glory. That moment of glory was commemorated in the form of the Marine officers' sword. Wow.

History was my undergraduate major. History teaches me that you can't unwind the clock. It also teaches me that war is a monster--unpredictable, erratic, willful. No matter why someone starts a war it never goes according to plan.

Thanks for this most interesting response.