Add Dr. Thomas Lowry’s name to the pantheon of historian shame that includes plagiarist Stephen Ambrose and Vietnam combat-phony Joseph Ellis. Lowry is accused by the National Archives of admitting that he used a fountain pen to vandalize a document written by President Lincoln.
Lowry, whose forgery went undiscovered for fourteen years and even inspired Washington tour guides to repeat it to unknowing tourists, signed a confession to his vandalism, according to the National Archives which has banned his person from their halls henceforth. He is now denying all in the pages of the WaPo. How convenient.
I bring this up partly because Vietnam combat-phonies like Ellis really anger me. They damaged all of us genuine combat veterans for most of our post-war adult lives by “confessing” to dishonorable things. Tarring us with their liar’s brush. Fortunately for the “profession,” Lowry, is only an independent Civil War historian. His doctorate is medical. He’s a psychiatrist. Go figure that out if you can.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 