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An all-too-brief visit to the battlefields of Gettysburg today left me feeling wistful for a number of reasons. The year I spent at Gettysburg College in 1969 was significant for a number of reasons, and interestingly enough I found myself passing through Chambersburg, PA 40 years to the day from my official entrance into my chosen faith in that town.

This was the first time I had taken the opportunity to explore the surrounding countryside - as a young student, I had no transportation and not much brain in my head at the time. This visit was different.

So many people died in the most brutal of ways... each group fighting for causes they felt were just and noble. As I contemplated Lincoln's address with my son, we wondered if the 16th president would be pleased or saddened by what our country has become in the intervening 140-odd years, and we decided it would probably be a mixture of both.

The Gettysburg Diorama was an interesting presentation - sound and light, with some illumination effects in the diorama itself, such as cannonfire and glowing campfires at night. It was moving and impressive. In my heart I honored the dead of both sides who had hallowed those rolling fields with their blood, knowing that with every footstep I probably was walking where a corpse had lain.

As twilight fell, we moved on and found a comfortable place to stay in Harrisburg, before visiting Philadelphia in the morning tomorrow.

I need to get back to Gettysburg again and stay longer this time... but I was glad to have had the chance for even a quick visit.


Monument


Battlefields


Diorama
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theoldwolf

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