It came out
in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had merely sneezed, I would
have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation,
after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move
around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the
mail that came in, and from all over the states and the world, kind letters
came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one
from the President and the Vice-President. I’ve forgotten what those telegrams
said. I’d received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I’ve
forgotten what that letter said. But there was another letter that came from a
little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School.
And I looked at that letter, and I’ll never forget it. It said simply,
