Thank you for visiting our website.  The Life Principles Trust website had been down for some time, and upon re-activating it, we wanted first to thank those who are so faithfully praying for us here in what has come to be called, "The Battle of Rachel's Field."  From the beginning, Forest Grauel has said that prayer is most important if this effort is to succeed.  He has also said that if Rachel's Field is ever built, he will be the first to say that he had little to do with it's success except to have said, "yes, I will try."

We also want to sincerely thank those who have faithfully come to our aid when things were really tough.  Those who know of our struggle, know how deeply Forest and Aileen have suffered for simply trying to do something truly good.  Each of you who have helped us, "know who you are," and we thank God for each of you.  The level to which some have risen to help us has been more of an encouragement than you will know.  Aileen has been keeping notes as best she could during those difficult times of chaos, and if a book is ever written about how we succeeded, it will have a title such as,

"A Chapter from the Cultural War;
      The Battle of Rachel's Field"

It would be our delight if among those pages, much as is written in the book, "Mother Angelica," by EWTN Radio personality, Raymond Arroyo, there would be stories and anecdotes about how each of you came to us during the dark hours of our suffering.

A Brief Background;
For anyone who would like some background of the battle, we would refer you to a letter from May of 2006 which details our position at that point in time, and which was the basis of the lawsuit brought by Life Principles Trust and Mr. Grauel, against the bank trustee, the "Trust Department" of Sandy Spring Bank.  Here is an Internet Link to an "Open Letter to Hunter Hollar;" 
http://lifeprinciplestrust.org/page11.html

Hunter Hollar was then President and CEO of Sandy Spring Bank, located in Olney, Maryland.  Sandy Spring Bank both "was," and remains administrator of the estate Evelyn E. Grauel and the Real Estate Trusts of George H. Grauel and Evelyn E. Grauel.  Mr. Grauel's Brother's are Robert H. Grauel of Woodbine, Maryland and Gerald W. Grauel of Silver Spring, Maryland and the late Geroge W. Grauel of Washington, DC.  Terry Grauel of New York, NY was POA for her father, George Warren Grauel.  A Tribute to Mr. Grauel's Brother, the late George Warren Grauel is found at the Internet link of;
http://www.lifeprinciplestrust.org/tribute_to_warren.pdf

The Sufferings of Forest and Aileen Grauel;
Please continue to pray for Forest and Aileen Grauel as they endure the crucible of their own private sufferings which have been inflicted upon them during this protracted struggle.  They are good and decent folks who remain resolute that Rachel’s Field, a full cemetery size memorial park for the unborn with literally tens of thousands of grave size memorial plots should be built somewhere in the Washington, DC metropolitan area for both this and future generations.

The Vision and Goals of Forest and Aileen Grauel Remain Unchanged;
It is our goal to establish a place of healing where parents who have lost a child to an ill advised decision which resulted in the death of their child by the modern day horror of abortion can find reconciliation and healing.  In the spring of 2006 Jack Ames wonderful "Defend Life" newspaper wrote about the vision of Rachel's Field which will outline what our goals were at the time.  That article can be read at the Internet Link of;
http://defendlife.org/newsletters/June2006/plan.shtml

Help Us Build “Rachel’s Field” Here in the Nation’s Capital Area;
The Arlington National Cemetery website reveals that since the first military casualties of the Revolutionary War in 1775 to the present, the number of American military deaths has risen to just under 3 million. 

By comparison, and however tragic each of those deaths have been, the American lives lost as a result of the 1973 American holocaust and genocidal war of abortion has now reached over 50 million and continues to escalate.  Does not the blood of the innocents, most of whom were callously shredded alive, poisoned, or chemically burned to death, cry out for a fitting place—a national memorial to their memory here in the Nation's Capital, center of world attention. 

Clearly the vision and focus of Rachel’s Field as first phase of the Life Principles Campus marks the beginning of a new chapter for the proposed Life Principles Campus in what has come to be called, "The Battle of Rachel's Field."  That battle has raged since the death of the Mother of Grantor Forest Grauel in January of 2004.  In the earlier phase of the struggle, Mr. Grauel irrevocably assigned the entirety of his eventual 1/4th share of the estate distribution along with his right to purchase to Life Principles Trust(October 2005) with the intent that Life Principles, as assignee could exercise his exclusive Right to Purchase under his parent’s estate. 

Though that assignment of the entirety of his estate distribution to Life Principles Trust remains in place, both Mr. Grauel and Life Principles lost the effort against the powerful and well connected bank trust department lawyers to purchase the ancestral farm from the bank administrator of his parent’s estate.  It had been his goal to use the entirety of the ancestral farm where he was raised for use as Rachel’s Field, immediately adjoining a historic Cemetery of near equal size.
 
Presently, as of this writing, the estate of Mr. Grauel’s mother who passed away in January of 2004 still remains unresolved, by the bank trustee who has fought so cruely against us.  Therefore, Life Principles Trust remains unfunded from the estate distribution irrevocably assigned to LPT back in 2005.  This has left Forest and Aileen in need of any financial help you could send to them.  An address and phone contact information is found below.
 
The Present and Future Significance of this Historic Undertaking;
On a Sunday afternoon back in April 2006, Fr. Peter West, associate of Father Pavone at Priests for Life participated in a "Rosary walk" of prayer around the property which Life Principles Trust had sought to purchase for dedication as the magnificent Rachel’s Field.  Upon visiting the site and seeing the value of a cemetery like memorial park to be located somewhere within the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, Fr. West returned home to write us;

"I believe that this project could have enormous beneficial effects for the Church, the pro-life movement, and for men and women who struggle with the guilt and grief which follows an abortion.  It has the potential to become a place of pilgrimage that will attract national, even international attention."

Recognized by many as;

"the single most significant and strategically located piece of real estate which has ever been sought after for the advancement of the Culture of Life,"

clearly, the location and procurement of a suitable location for Rachel’s Filed will mean that Rachel’s Field will at last have, "

“...the potential to become a place of pilgrimage that will attract national, even international attention." 

With the prayer that Father West's words could prove to have been prophetic, it is our hope that once Life Principles Trust is finally funded by the estate distribution of his parents, that LPT can once again return to the task of locating a fitting location for Rachel’s Field. 

It is hoped that this brief synopsis of “where we are at present” has brought a clarity of understanding regarding this struggle and specifically what are our goals.
 
Mr. Grauel has no idea where the continuance of the Battle of Rachel's Field will lead, or what will be the outcome, success or defeat.  He and his dear and sweet wife Aileen only know that for the moment, the correct thing is to continue with all of the strength afforded them. 

If after having read this you would feel your heart strangely warmed to help us, the Grauels are in desperate need of financial assistance.  Your help at this crucial time would be helping to establish a memorial park for both this and future generations, and it is our prayer that your strengths will be further amplified with help from the invisible world which is all around us, so that you can come to our aid.  Any amount large or small will be an encouragement to us and will be deeply appreciated.  We will mail you a receipt and note of thanks for the donation, though at present it would not be tax deductible, so feel free to diminish what you feel would be the "net" contribution minus any tax savings the "deduction" could have yielded.  Help us work toward building Rachel's Field!!!

You may reach Forest Grauel or his wife Aileen at
301-793-5463.

You may visit Forest on Facebook by Clicking on this Text which is Also a Link to Forest's Facebook Page

Forest’s e-mail address is;
flgrauel@smart.net

Our mailing address is
Life Principles Trust
Box 53
Burtonsville, Maryland 20866-0003