Dear Doves,

       I'm thankful that some of the older Doves remember my posts about this proud
warship with so much detail. It's truely frightful to witness US sailors, marines and pilots
dying by the thousands, as this mighty floating city of 6,000 souls rolls over on her
starboard side. God, please have mercy upon this ship, named for a great man whose
own life embodied a blood sacrifice for the ultimate salvation of a sacred and special nation.
Lincoln was without a doubt a devout and holy man. His life and atoning death on Good
Friday 1865, bears an uncanny resemblance to that of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
He was a solid symbol of American and universal justice.
       The newly invented photographic camera gave us stalk images from early 1860 and from
April 1865. Here on Lincoln's face it's possible to map the horrors of a civil war. He was a man
familiar with both personal suffering and overwhelming national sorrow. He alone bore the
responsibility for the unprecedented battlefield slaughter, death and disease that was the
hallmark of war in the 19th Century before the advent of modern medicine. Even with a total
population of only 16 million, the death toll from the Civil War still surpasses any war the
United States has ever fought!
        A close as any picture ever taken, we can clearly see a man emptied of all pretense,
utterly exhausted from the terrible consequences of a war he's followed for every waking moment
through the miracle of the telegraph. Lincoln was the first casualty of what we now know as the
24/7/365 news cycle. As a direct recipient of battlefield news, he lingers for days at the National
Telegraph Office. When his armies are on campaign, it was Lincoln who first heard of disease, death
and defeat. He's no stranger to sorrow and strife. He looks resigned, completely unafraid of the
specter of his coming martyrdom. Death holds no power over President Lincoln, he almost welcomes
it's release. Most of his beloved little children now rest in the arms of his Savior.
       He knows that his sacrificial death might be required to form the unbreakable bond that will
show his deeply divided people how to live. Only blood can seal such a profound change. Real peace
can only come with real forgiveness. He gazes off toward a future secure in the knowledge that he's
paid the enormous price.

       Just imagine the prophetic implications attached to the 16th US President Abraham
Lincoln? Alone, with the possible exception of George Washington; Lincoln knew tenacity
during war time. He endured a bungling parade of foolish Generals he assigned to win
this war, which was the first real industrial bloodbath of modern history. Fierce in battle, yet
magnanimous in victory; Abraham Lincoln most remarkable character was his forgiveness.
He knew his days were numbered from the visions he reported to his cabinet and his family.
His assassination was the glue needed to re-unite the American people.
       US Grant, the leading General of the Union Army of the Potomac was Lincoln's confidant.
Grant was almost hanged by Congress after he accepted Robert E. Lee's surrender that April. True to
Lincoln's instructions, he immediately fed and paroled home every Confederate soldier. Soldiers
were allowed to keep their swords, small arms and horses, so they could return home as soon as
possible. Grant even ordered his troops to avert their gaze away from their vanquished foe while they
signed their parole. Almost immediately, the leading politicians wanted to hold a military court martials
to punish those responsible for the war. Many others wanted to install military dictatorships across the
South. President Lincoln and his military leaders would have no recriminations. He would welcome home
with open arms those who had lost their way.
       So, it was during this amazing dialogue that Good Friday came and the Lincoln's went to Ford's
Theater to relax and enjoy a comedy 'Our American Cousin' It was only after he was slain that Good Friday
that a majority in Congress give up the idea of military trials, executions and second class citizenship.  
Lincoln's final message to the remaining War Democrats and Abolitionists was written in his own blood.
Only then did enough of their number give up their lynch mob mentality. Now, he belongs to the ages!

                                                               Agape,

                                                                       Mike Curtiss

Abraham Lincoln Strike Group
CVN-72 Abraham Lincoln
"Abe" / "Shall Not Perish"