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Preservation opportunity: Bentonville, 173 acres

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Continued...Letter from President James Lighthizer

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
A full 87 percent of the $772,500 purchase price ($672,500) is already being matched by two sources: the federal Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program – which CWPT was instrumental in securing from Congress – and a series of special grants CWPT has been awarded from the State of North Carolina, leaving us to come up with only the final $100,000!

Every $1 you donate today to save this land at Bentonville is immediately turned into $7.72!

Again, in this economy, can you name any other organization that is able to realize a 772 percent return on investment? I sure as heck can’t, and while I know many folks are having to pull back on charitable giving a little right now, it seems a shame not to make a small sacrifice to take advantage of this great matching grant opportunity . . . especially considering how much the soldiers sacrificed.

Just to remind you, according to the 1993 Congressional study on threatened Civil War battlefields, Bentonville is rated “Priority I.1, Class A,” meaning that the U.S. Congress has declared it to be one of the eleven most important pieces of hallowed ground in America that needs to be preserved.
Today, you and I can preserve forever, as a gift to our nation and every future generation of Americans, these 173 acres of the most important hallowed ground at one of the most important Civil War battlefields in our country . . .

. . . with a 772 percent return on your battlefield preservation donation dollar! That, in my book, is called “making a difference” in this world.

You and I can never lose sight of the fact that CWPT is not just focusing on individual military campaigns . . . we’re not simply cataloging Northern victories versus Southern victories . . . and not just big, famous battles versus small obscure conflicts . . .

. . . with every acre you and I preserve, we are saving America’s heritage. We are ensuring that the story – the ENTIRE story – of the American Civil War is available to all future Americans.

With every dollar you donate, you are helping CWPT ensure that this crucial, defining period of our nation’s history – which still resonates in our society and affects every one of us to this day – will never be forgotten.
Think about that a moment . . . the nation we enjoy today was forged in the crucible of the Civil War. If some people have achieved a measure of economic success, it is because our nation survived that whirlwind of war so that you and I could enjoy the blessings of freedom and prosperity.

Isn’t it then, as Lincoln said, “altogether fitting and proper,” for you and me to give back a reasonable measure of whatever success we have achieved to memorialize those places where our freedoms were secured?
Obviously, I think so, and I believe you do, too.

Together, you and I are creating a legacy that all Americans – present and future – will be able to share . . . to stand in those places where every one of us began our own American journey.

Of course, I believe that every American should feel this way about saving our nation’s Civil War battlefields, but I am realistic enough to know that, sadly, the vast majority of people don’t share our passion.

It’s not fair, but as so often happens, the real work falls to a handful of committed people, those who grasp the importance of their calling, and who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get the job done. I gratefully count you as one of those I can depend on.

If America’s Civil War battlefields are going to be saved, the extent to which they are preserved will be determined by the adults who are alive today . . . you and me and people like us.

By the time the generation coming up behind us is ready to take over this great task, it will be too late. The land will either be saved, or it will be developed and, therefore, destroyed.

You and I are part of “The Last Generation” that will have the chance to save the nation’s most significant Civil War battlefield land. This task has fallen to us, and how those hallowed, sanctified fields of valor will look to all future generations is now on our shoulders.

Two hundred years from now, what do you want your descendants to see when they go to a Civil War battlefield like Bentonville? Do you want them to walk the fields – perhaps where a shared ancestor marched and fought and died – and have that place look and feel as it did in 1865?

Or are you content to have your great-grandchildren just read a roadside sign, forcing them to imagine what happened on that storied ground, as they navigate through malls, over roads, around houses, across parking lots and other future forms of development that you and I can’t even imagine yet?

I hope you will decide to join in this tremendous $7.72-to-$1 campaign by making your most generous possible donation to the Civil War Preservation Trust, and help build on our unprecedented success at Bentonville.

I will never live long enough to thank you for all you have done for the cause. I am humbled by your dedication. Please let me hear back from you as soon as possible, and please accept my deepest gratitude for your continued generosity.

Your most obedient servant,

Jim Lighthizer
President

P.S. Recently, we began collecting some comments from CWPT members to use as testimonials on our website (you can check out our interim improvements at www.civilwar.org), and I have been rocked back on my heels by some of the encouraging messages we have received, like these:

“I admire the work that you do and feel that it is an honor to help out in some small way. In my case, I feel an obligation to honor the brave men who sacrificed everything for what they believed in.” - Joe Cardinale, Patterson, New York, Supporter since 1995

“CWPT has given me undreamed of power, through my modest contributions, to preserve in perpetuity, important, irreplaceable parts of our priceless American heritage. If I achieve nothing else in life, I know that I have done something of importance.” - Gary Wayne, Buffalo Grove, Illinois, Supporter since 2005

If you would like to submit a personal testimonial about why you enjoy being a part of the Civil War Preservation Trust, please drop me an e-mail at testimonials@civilwar.org. Many thanks!