March 6, 1836

To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world--

Fellow citizens & compatriots--I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna--I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man--The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken--I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls--I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch--The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country--Victory or Death.

Say what you want, revise what you want, reinterpret what you want. There is no way getting around the singular fact that the 175 or so men who died that day in defense of that abandoned mission did so knowing full well that their fates were sealed going into the early morning hours of Santa Anna's final assault. That put 'em up there with the guys at Thermopylae for all time bragging rights in heaven's stud wing.

When you visit the Alamo today, what's left is essentially the chapel so it can be difficult to visualize what the compound really encompassed. Next time you're there, look north to the steps of the big post office and that is roughly where the north wall stood (Travis was one of the first casualties there). The line of storefronts across the street to the west is likewise where the west wall stood. The eastern wall was really at the rear of the chapel area. And, the south wall can actually be seen by the two "long barracks" whose outlines are still visible. Another curious thing is that the "palisades" where Crockett's men were stationed are marked by a couple of parallel tracks running across the street that runs in front of the chapel--look for them the next time you're there. Maybe that will help when imagining the men on both sides who struggled on that final fateful morning when deguello sounded.

A final note: roughly 25 years ago on an August evening, I asked a certain young lady to marry me on that patch of grass that is directly in front of the Alamo. I figured that a lot of places would come and go but there would always be the Alamo. The rest is history.