In one of his last newsletters, Mike Ranney wrote: "In thinking back on the days of Easy Company, I'm treasuring my remark to a grandson who asked, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' No,'" I answered, 'but I served in a company of heroes.

Nothing is inevitable in life. People make choices, and those choices have results, and we all live with the results.

Washington and Jefferson were both rich Virginia planters, but they were never friends.

Friendships are different from all other relationships. Unlike acquaintanceship, friendship is based on love. Unlike lovers and married couples, it is free of jealousy. Unlike children and parents, it knows neither criticism nor resentment. Friendship has no status in law. Business partnerships are based on a contract. So is marriage. Parents are bound by law. But friendships are freely entered into, freely given, and freely exercised.

The more sophisticated we get, the more advanced our buildings and vehicles become, the more vulnerable we are.

There are many rules of good writing, but the best way to find them is to be a good reader.

Who today is willing to say that Texas and California and the remainder of the Southwest would be better off if they were governed by Mexico?