A Memory of Clara Barton

If we could go back and talk to someone great from the past. I would choose Clara Barton. She was an amazing woman. I imagine that what she would tell me would sound something like this...

I remember it like it was yesterday... It was a cool morning in April of 1861 when I started to nurse, I had just resigned from my position in the U.S. Patent Office. I loved my work and I soon became known to the soldiers as the angel of mercy, for my kindness and compassion. In 1862 I was given permission to deliver supplies to the front line soldiers. I saw sights that no lady should ever see on that battlefield. There was death everywhere, you could smell it, you could taste it, it was so frightening. Whenever I could I tried to help the soldiers but for many it was too late. I continued my work for two long and tiresome years without failure on the battle field, I often wondered why we had to fight. Why do so many young men have to die, confederate and union soldiers many of them young boys with their whole lives ahead of them. Some would never make it home. In 1962 all my work had been paid off, I was given the position of superintendent of union nurses. After the war I spoke with Mr. Lincon and his Representatives and requested permission to start a letter writing campaign to find the lost soldiers. It gave families hope that their loved ones might be alive, but it didn't always turn out that way. I felt so bad for the mothers, the fathers, the sisters, and the brothers off all of the soldiers who never made it home. After working with the suffrage movement ant telling stories from the war for awhile I suffered a nervous breakdown. I went away to Europe to rest and recover and with time I did. In 1873 I came back and I established the American Red Cross. I loved my work and all the people we were able to help. But in 1904 it was time to retire so I resigned and lived a quiet but happy life.