OMED: The story below came to the magazine in a forwarded email from a good and steady friend. You will never meet a more honest, more genuine human being -- but he is neither a journalist nor a scholar. The piece has no attached verification trail as a degree paper would. It also lacks the usual simple credits often included in a standard history-based newspaper story. There isn't even a byline with it. It's a heart-tugging tale, though. See if it rings true in the reading for you. We in the United States have all heard the haunting song, "Taps."...