Sunday, August 31, 2014

Gettysburg with Fresh Eyes

I wish I had watched the film "Gettysburg" before we went to Gettysburg. Actually, I'm not sure it was a film. At over 6 hours long it has to have been a TV mini-series right? In 1993 we were too busy watching X Files and dancing to "What is Love" to sit in a cinema for 6 hours.

When we went to Gettysburg a few weeks ago we got the CD and did the audio tour in our car, where it said things like "This is stop number 15. Pickett's charge took place here and 6,000 men of x x x x x battalions lost their lives".  I was completely lost by the whole thing - too much military talk and not enough human stories to keep me engaged.

Now I really want to go back to stop 15 and I want to get out of my car and walk the field of Pickett's Charge and I want to sit for a moment and touch the earth and have a little cry. I want to visit the Virginia memorial over by the trees and I want to climb the fence and the wall and sit down where General Armistead took his last breath.  I want to stand at Little Round Top and pay my respects to Captain Chamberlain.

I think another visit is in order.


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