Gettysburg

Last week I was on a business trip in Westminster Maryland… and on the last day I had a few hours to burn before heading to the airport. I knew Gettysburg Pennsylvania was only about 40 minutes away, so I wasn’t about to pass it up.

• For the purposes of clarity… Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) is the site of a major Union victory in the Civil War which stopped Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North. This is also where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous (and appropriately named) Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863.
  
• Also for the purposes of clarity… I did not do the above history lesson to patronize you. I did it because I find more and more people whom apparently did not benefit from the same 5th Grade curriculum I did. I’m sorry if this offends you in any way, but tune in to Jay Leno’s “Jay Walking” sometime and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

When I arrived in Gettysburg, the battlefield was greatly obscured due to dense fog and slightly overcast skies. It was interesting to find out that this is probably what it looked like on the morning of July 1st 1863 as the first shots were fired.

The battlefield grounds are well kept yet the overall imagery is quite unassuming. For the most part, it looks like any other open field in the countryside. Don’t get me wrong, there is no need for anything grandiose or flashy… as it would probably just distract you from the reality of what happened here. The site is perfect just the way it is… with well crafted and sparsely placed monuments. All in all, I was quite humbled by the experience, yet “humble“ doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling you get when standing on the battlefield.

Personally, I think its impossible to come to a place like this and not learn something… nor could you come here and not feel something. Anyone can pick up a book or search the web, but that will never connect you to what happened in the same way that actually standing here does.

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Standing in the grass on the battlefield at Gettysburg… amazing!
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The experience generated all kinds of feelings and emotions. It was sorrowful yet inspiring… depressing yet motivating,.. surreal yet celebratory… awesome yet awful. I know these words seem contradictory, but I simply can’t describe it any other way. I’ve never felt anything quite like it. You suddenly realize you are standing in the very place where hundreds of people fought, suffered and died for an idea. You are standing in a place where some of the bravest men in history stood… where our great Forefathers stood… where great Americans stood.

Only a few of the names of those who fought here.

All in all… I am grateful to have come here… and I’m humbled by the service of each and every one of our Nations Soldiers... past and present.

Thank You!