"I was that which others did not want to be. I went where others feared to go, and did what others failed to do. I asked nothing from those who gave nothing, and reluctantly excepted the fact of eternal rest
...should I fall. I have seen the face of terror and felt the stinging cold of fear. I have loved, cried, suffered, and hoped, but most of all, I have lived times others would say were “best forgotten”. At least some day I will be able to say that I was proud of what I was -