For those that are interested I found a way to get public domain books into word. It is a two step process.
I download
http://code.google.com/p/sigil/downloads/list it is a free ebook editor. Still kinda in test stages.. I was then able to copy the text and paste it in Microsoft word for good editing. You can edit it in the sigil itself but you are only able to save it as epub.
Hope this helps...
