Hello

Technically, Alabama was a sovereign nation for a about a month in 1861. My signature on the other Ottosite has the reverse view of the flag of this short-lived Republic (the sides differed, with the obverse having Lady Liberty and the words 'Independent Now and Forever' instead of a blooming cotton plant and the Latin phrase 'Noli Me Tangere' found on the reverse side. Or did the obverse have the cotton plant and the reverse....?).

Yeah, everything is bigger in Texas, including the egos.

I can drop names, too. Hank Williams, Hank Aaron, Bart Starr, Johnny Mack Brown, Helen Keller, Condi Rice, Truman Capote, Nat King Cole, Kate Jackson, Willie Mays, Jesse Owens were all born in the Great State of Alabama. And we have a couple of Miss Americas wafting about. While not born here, he made his name here. I am speaking of the greatest coach to ever draw a breath, Paul W. Bryant. Some people call him The Bear.

Please, though, in all sincerity, acknowledge a great Alabamian RAdm Jeremiah Denton, USN, a PoW in Vietnam from 1965 until 1973, who understated the ordeal he and his compadres were subjected to while "guests" of the North Vietnamese.
Upon stepping off of the plane into freedom, he said, "We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances. We are profoundly grateful to our Commander-in-Chief and to our nation for this day. God bless America." Difficult circumstances? I'll say!
He continuosly blinked the word 'torture' in morse code during a broadcast from Vietnam while a PoW in 1966.
He was awarded the Navy Cross.
He is the only retired admiral to have been elected a Senator.
He authored the book When Hell Was in Session, about his ordeal. I've read it, it will break your heart.