Man, oh Mannie!

I cite the comment posted by Mr. Gentile earlier this day for two purposes.

One is the substance of the comment itself. Two hundred sixty-eight words of text--that takes a lot of time and thought. Sharing of personal experience--that takes openness. Deciding to comment on an undervalued aspect of Michigan in the Civil War--that takes a giving spirit. Thanks, Mannie.

The other reason is, without trying not to be mushy, to use it as an exemplar. A year ago, I was sitting at my laptop regularly reading with such great fascination the writings and insights of this Civil War blog community, comprised of so many earnest men and woman (is there another besides Jenny?). Within that year, I have been privileged to see comments posted at this humble site by a number of those same bloggers, all of whom surely had better things to do with their time than to pitch in and improve the quality of the information provided here. That they would invest brainpower and calories to aid achievement of this blog's goal is more gratifying than words can really convey. Thanks, all.