posted on September 25, 2000 10:11:52 PM new
Evening all- A recent thread (and the sighting of a "Frozen Chosin" bumpersticker) has reminded me very clearly about the effects of our history and the fact that we are a shortsighted people by nature. We pay little attention to the past - history means little to many of us - and even less to our children. We worry about today, our 401K's, the price of gas, and if the kid will need braces. Our big worry might be that the Explorer has ATX's on it.
We owe a debt to many - - Because these are the fears and tribulations of today - - Trivial gunk - - A huge debt, because of people who risked everything for the promise of what we are now, and what we can become. I speak of the debt we owe to the veterans.
I don't often do this on AW - But many of you know I am a student of the Civil War - and I wished to share an item. It is a small item never seen for 138 years about the Battle of Antietam - and a reminder.
If you have somthing else from another time - I would urge you to add it.
Sept 19th, 1862 "Dear Mother - I received your welcome letter yesterday - I was very glad to hear that you were all well and comparitively safe from indians. I had the honor to be in the last great battle which General McClelan says was the bloodest battle ever fought on the American Continent. Genl Hookers Corp led the dance the Sharpshooters in advance - The rebs shelled us afully before we got to close quarters with them - Killed one Leut+ 1 private with shells - we advanced through a corn field - our captain was wounded in the the corn - shot in the leg not dangerous - as soon as we got through the corn we saw the rebs advancing in battle array - there was two brigades of them. - - They came boldly and tell you the bullets flew like hail - men were falling on all sides of me - I could not see the rebs from where I was - I went to our brave little Col. who was right in amongst the boys cheering them on and asked him if some of us could go down to the road where we could see the rebs plainer - yes say he give it to them - as he said the words a ball struck him in the arm - he left the field - From that time on until we were ordered off the field - I did nothing but load and shoot rebs. - Our regiment cleaned out a whole brigade of Rebs - my cup that was hanging at my side was riddled with holes - one ball struck me in the center of the forehead, but providencially on my part it passed through a fence rail and thus broke the force of the ball and saved my life. Dear Brother Sam was wounded in both hands - but they are slight - he has gone back to the hospital and is alright.
Your Son - Thos. M Rees"
The "cornfield" was cut, almost every stalk, off close to the ground by rifle and cannonfire by the end of the battle. The "road" was the very end of what was known as "bloody lane". At the end of the day over 26,000 - Twenty six THOUSAND - men lay dead, wounded, or missing. On the 22nd, with the retreat of Lee's army - the Emancipation Proclamation was announced.
Years after the war - veterans held reunions and in time commemorated the events together in a spirit of national reconciliation. As their numbers dwindled - many stories and events were lost - Forever
We exist as a nation because ordinary people - Americans - Laid their lives on the line to preserve our country - - or defend us from those who despised, and tried to snuff out the hope for freedom in this world.
Mine is the first generation that has not faced warfare in 100 years, I do not claim to know what it is like to have to face the horror of war - and for that, I want to say that I will remember and honor those who paved this way for me.
The greatest stain on their memories would be to dismiss them as unimportant and to have our children never remember that freedom has never been free. When you can, talk to a veteran - their numbers are fading fast again.
Thank you - Nutspec
[ edited by nutspec on Sep 25, 2000 10:14 PM ]
posted on September 25, 2000 10:57:37 PM new
Thank you Nutspec.
You words were beautiful and the letter exemplifies the horror of war. No matter what generation, age or era the effects of war on the people who actually fought cannot be diminished.
How lucky that young man was to have lived through Antietam. Yet I have to wonder how it affected him mentally.
I join with you to thank our veterans and to honor them. To paraphrase "The Gettysburg Address"; Whether they lived through battle or were killed in battle "They gave their full measure of devotion."
Our flag flies brightly over our heads because of every veteran's devotion to America and Americans.
My only wish is that every person who has seen war find peace within themselves.
posted on September 25, 2000 11:09:20 PM new
Calamity, Thank You - Just so that you know. Thomas was one of 3 Rees brothers in Co. A of the 2nd United States Sharpshooters.
All 3 survived the war - Thomas was unhurt in his service. Sam was disabled for life in both hands from his Antietam wounds - (I think he was being easy in the letter to mom) and Charlie had the worst luck of all - he suffered a rupture in training camp, was discharged, and lived in near poverty for the rest of his life.
Thomas was one of the last veterans to pass on in the Los Angeles area as I remember.
posted on September 26, 2000 04:03:38 AM new
Thank you Netspec
I too am interested in the Civil War and consider myself fortunate to live within 1 hours drive of many critical battlefields.
Whenever I visit Antietam, Gettysburg, Manassas or Cold Harbor, I am overwhelmed.
The drive though Maryland and Virginia, with the farms and hills looking like they did so long ago, it's easy to envision soldiers marching across Pleasant Valley, South Moutain on their way to the Corn Field, the Sunken Road.
To think what the soldiers went though, their level of commitment to a "cause", and their willingness to literally walk to their deaths.
posted on September 26, 2000 05:34:04 AM new
There is a great book called "Firestorm at Gettysburg" that is filled with letters and diarys from the War Between the States. My dad spent the last couple years of his life not being able to do much, and he read a great deal about that time. That was a book we bought him last Christmas.
posted on September 26, 2000 07:37:18 AM new
Last year, on Veterans Day, my husband received a message from a young man he works with. It simply said ( I have to paraphrase, unfortunately), "I have never been in the military and cannot imagine what you must have gone through in Vietnam, but I just wanted to thank you for your service to this country and to all of us. Because of men like you, we enjoy the rights and freedoms of a great country, and I wanted you to know that I will not forget what has been done for us."
It meant so much to my husband. Those men didn't get the parades and honors other veterans have (instead, they got the message to be ashamed, be very ashamed--but that is a topic for another thread...or maybe not!) so to be thanked in such a personal way, was very touching.
This year, as Veterans Day approaches, I would ask that you think of the veterans you know and approach them on a personal level with a simple acknowledgement of what most of us say we feel for them. It really does mean a lot.
No, I'm not new to AW -- just took all of your advice and changed from my eBay id!!
posted on September 26, 2000 06:32:05 PM new
This was a story a coworker of the tom's told us when we were stationed in the Netherlands...
On the road we used to get from where we lived to the nearest base was a huge old windmill. One day as the tom's coworker("D" for future reference) and his family were on that road, they saw that the windmill was turning. They stopped to get some pictures.
While they were snapping pics, an elderly Dutch man came out of the house. He spoke some English and so D and the man got to talking. When the man discovered that D was an American serviceman, the Dutch man grabbed his hand and tears tracked down his cheeks. D said the man kept saying "Thank you, thank you" over and over.
When the man calmed down, he explained that during the German occupation of the Netherlands, he had dug a hole in his family's field, covered it with an old door, and then shoveled dirt over it to hide the door. He then moved into that hole in the ground to avoid being conscripted into the German army. He would come out during the day, work the field on the sly, and then dart back into the hole. Sometimes he was almost discovered but somehow managed to elude capture.
He spent 3 years living in that hole and dodging the German soldiers.
One day as he worked the field, he heard the sound of heavy vehicles and dashed back to his hole. As he watched, tanks and trucks rumbled down the road. The Americans had battled the Germans and won. The man emerged from his hole in the ground, no longer having to fear the Germans.
D said the man vowed to thank American soldiers for his freedom whenever he could. If it weren't for the dedication and sacrifices of the people who fought, that man would probably have spent the rest of his life-however long that would be-living in that hole, afraid and alone. Instead, he was free.
There's a WWII museum outside the town of Overloon. It was built there amidst the abandoned tanks and vehicles of the Germans after fierce fighting caused them to retreat. There are also American vehicles there, too. The tanks and vehicles are still there, silent among the trees. The sight of all that equipment that was built to destroy now being used to signify the museum's purpose of reminding people what happened so it will never happen again.
Our tour guide said it best: "Never forget-never again".
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