21 years ago today

My third child was born on Oct. 31. I was a principal staff officer at Headquarters, US Army Criminal Investigation Command. The day after, CID's Secretary of the General Staff sent this message out:

Subject: Birth of Major Sensing's Daughter (fwd)
To: ciioza (Chief Public Affairs)
Sender: cicgsgs@fallschurch-acirs

According to cicgsgs@fallschurch-acirs:
From cicgsgs Mon Nov  1 07:17:50 1993
Subject: Birth of Major Sensing's Daughter
To: cicgza, cicgzb, cicgcs, cicgzd, cicgzs, cicgflo, cicggs, cicgpg,
        cicgsgs, cicgdcs, cicghcz, mailcicg
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 93 7:17:44 EST
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
From: cicgsgs@fallschurch-acirs
Sender: cicgsgs@fallschurch-acirs
Message-ID:  9311010717-fallschurch-acirs.army.mil>

Cathy Sensing delivered her baby on 31 Oct 93 (0129 hours).
The  baby is 7 pounds 12 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long.  Her
name is Elizabeth Lee (the name "Lee" probably comes from
Major Sensing's fondness for the Southern General with the
same name).  Cathy Sensing is expected to come home on 1 or 2
Nov 93.  Mom and baby are doing fine.

                                SGS

From the heart of my soul, Elizabeth, thank you for 21 wonderful years.

"Lee" as her middle name, by the way, did not come from Marse Robert. Lee was the middle name of my mother's mother, Eleanor Lee Burkitt, nee McMurry. She was given the name in honor of her uncle, Lee McMurry, who was born in 1865 just as the Civil War was ending. His father named him after Confederate Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee, the youngest lieutenant general in the CS Army, known as the Stonewall Jackson of the western theater. The dad  served during the war on Lee's staff.

It was Lee who in April, 1861, delivered South Carolina's ultimatum to Fort Sumter's commander, Maj. Robert Anderson, to surrender the fort to the state. Lee was an artillery officer who commanded batteries in key battles during the war, notably at Antietam. Lee commanded a corps during the forlorn campaign of the Confederate Army of Tennessee in late 1864 that resulted in its collapse and rout in the Battle of Nashville in mid-December. Lee had been severely wounded two weeks before at the Battle of Spring Hill but refused to relinquish command. It was fortunate for the Confederate troops he did not, for as the Army of Tennessee fell apart under heavy attack at Nashville, only Lee's and Nathan Bedford Forrest's formations maintained discipline. Lee's troops fought difficult rear-guard actions for three days.

A closing thought for Elizabeth: