Gettysburg

I think most of you should be familiar with Gettysburg but for those of you who are not, it's a place. Once upon a time way back in 1863, America was in the middle of a civil war. See, we had slaves. Well, I never had slaves because I didn't even exist back then...but several states in the Union had slaves. For some it was a way of life and they didn't want to give it up. For others, it was an abomination. They believed this country was founded on the principle of freedom and that ALL men and women, regardless of color, were created equal. So because people had such strong opinions about this, several states decided to secede from the Union and America went to war with itself.

During this war, both sides converged on a tiny little town in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg. Neither side knew the other was there at first and it was never intended that a battle would take place there, but it did. And it turned out to be one of the bloodiest battles this country has ever seen. Thousands upon thousands (over 50,000)were killed or wounded during those three days at Gettysburg.



I had the chance to go there while on my trip back east. You could easily spend an entire day there but all we had was about four hours. Aside from the bus loads of rowdy school kids who seemed to disturb the mood, it was still a very moving experience. You can look over the land that was once a battlefield covered in dead and dying men and can see hundreds of monuments erected in their honor. I think I read there are over 1400 monuments spread throughout.



Today it looks like just an open field with a few wooded areas. But to those who are familiar with what took place here, it is hallowed ground. It was the place where brother fought against brother and father fought against son. It's the place that many say was the turning point in the civil war. And it wasn't even supposed to have happened.