Part 12

The appeal which Wood's life makes to us is toward this responsibility of the individual _for_ his own work, his own affairs, his own family, and {273} to his own country, and that has been found throughout history to be the groundwork, the foundation upon which civilization rests. Translated into current phrase this means that we must follow such men as he, keep eternally at work to improve ourselves individually, to make a good and honest living, to hand on the torch of patriotism, of sanity and of ever-increasing knowledge by furnishing to the world the new generations that shall carry on, and to weld and stabilize the whole structure by building up Americanism within our borders. In the vocabulary of General Wood this is translated again into the words: "Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!"

Such has been the career of the New Englander from Cape Cod who has worked in his own land, in the tropics, in many spheres, at many problems until at the age of fifty-eight in sound mind and body he stands firmly still in the prime of life ready for many years yet to come of service and work for himself, his family and his fellow countrymen.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Career of Leonard Wood, by Joseph Hamblen Sears