03-08-2003, 06:38 PM
Yes, Henry,
Your view that we are mere custodians gets, I think, to the absolute core of what we are about -- or ought to be about. We are not mere collectors, storing away our "one-of-each" in our collection, and we are not mere investors who trade medals to make a profit the way some rich folk trade stocks. We are the keepers of tangible representations of people, of their lives, of their careers, of their heroism, and, often, of their deaths. All that we can do is try, as best we can, to flesh out these pieces of metal, to make the medals tell their stories.
Those who don't understand this won't ever get it, but I do wish they'd go collect bottle caps or baseball cards or something else.
Ed Haynes
Your view that we are mere custodians gets, I think, to the absolute core of what we are about -- or ought to be about. We are not mere collectors, storing away our "one-of-each" in our collection, and we are not mere investors who trade medals to make a profit the way some rich folk trade stocks. We are the keepers of tangible representations of people, of their lives, of their careers, of their heroism, and, often, of their deaths. All that we can do is try, as best we can, to flesh out these pieces of metal, to make the medals tell their stories.
Those who don't understand this won't ever get it, but I do wish they'd go collect bottle caps or baseball cards or something else.
Ed Haynes
