Meh. The problem with making families the fundamental social unit is that it tends to result in tribal or Confucianist social arrangements-- see pre-Restoration Japan.

It would be better to say that the individual is the basic building block, and to say that the individual exists for the benefit of himself and those whom he loves, and NOT for the benefit of society, let alone the State.

I agree that the trick is to get the individual to "get past" his natural selfishness and serve those he should come to love, but that's the Church's job, right?

The problem for believers is to fight the Left's presumption that individuals should instead love and serve the State. Hence the leftists' militant atheism (at least, for a lot of them)-- the Church is in their way. (Yes, I know, I'm stating the obvious.)

Let the Church get on with its job of civilizing people, and the whole business of social organization will take care of itself-- sort of a religious version of Adam Smith's invisible hand.

Off the top of my head, I'd tend to say that there is no "fundamental building block." There is a ladder of proper loyalties that are analogous to each other.

Society is built of individuals, families, communities, associations, governments...and the Church. (Which is to say, the Ecclesia, the assembly of the people of God.) The Church is the original from which all the analogs take their form. And they support each other.

People foolishly fail to realize that when Leftist termites are chewing on one rung of the ladder, they are weakening all of them. If the Boy Scouts, or marriage, or our love of this great country are being attacked, it's really an assault on the Church. And when the Church is attacked, the root from which all the others draw their strength is being cut. You can see this much more clearly if you look at Europe.

"Let the Church get on with its job of civilizing people, and the whole business of social organization will take care of itself." True. But it's a voluntary group. People have to join. And the kicker is that you join by loving God more than yourself. (And those who do discover that they are much happier, more free, and generally that their life now makes sense.)

BUT, most of us think we should---obviously--love ourselves most of all. And that ceasing to do so would be a sort of death and misery. In a world filled with more delights than ever before in history, it's easier than ever to make the wrong choice.

I am looking for information about the frequency with which mustard gas was used in the Meuse Argonne campaign. I am trying to obtain a Purple Heart for my father and need the documentation that mustard gas was used continually during the months of September and October 1918. Any help will be very much appreciated.

Beryl,
Sorry, but I don't have that kind of information.

You might try the Army Historical Foundation, or the US Army Center for Military History.

Good luck on your project!