Gettysburg

Epic Sunset at Gettysburg

Sunset report: Religious!

One hundred and forty-seven years ago Americans were facing off against each other in a four-year-long war.

625,000 people died.

Going to Gettysburg made me feel a lot like being in church.

The statements above are just what they are. My adding anything to them would just diminish them. Looking off Little Round Top into The Devil's Den, the Valley of Death, Big Round Top, and listening to the CD guide we bought at the Gettysburg National Military Park book store as Karen, Duppy and I took the driving tour was utterly moving. On our way home, Karen and I didn't say more than ten words as we listened to the incredible stories and background information on the guided tour disc, part two.

As someone who served as a soldier in the U.S. Army, I'm not certain I could convey my feelings with just words. That the war went on for four years is incomprehensible to me. Families on each side were split. Brothers fought brothers. For me, those facts are in opposition to the nexus that is me.

My Mom is a "Civil War" buff - no, more than that - "scholar" is much more appropriate, and when I spoke to her yesterday she reveled in the fact that being in Gettysburg was a lot like going to church. Yesterday's Gettysburg experience touched me in a primordial way that I'm not supposed to understand, I guess, and don't really even feel the need to. I just get it. As a soldier, I never had to go into combat but I was trained to be combat-ready, and led a platoon when I was a nineteen-year-old wearing buck sergeant's stripes in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. I know about soldiering, so yesterday's experience was especially touching. I could tell that Karen "gets it," too. The experience that Gettysburg was about honor, valor and sacrifice brings a transgender understanding to all that is the Gettysburg battlefield. The courage, and the selflessness it takes to be a soldier in combat are only something I can imagine. And I'm grateful for that. I had army orders sending me to Vietnam, which were rescinded while I was a seventeen-year-old waiting to be out-processed for two weeks in Seattle, WA. Good thing God watches over fools.

When Karen and I got home, my family really spoiled me with a great steak dinner scorched on the grill, summer squash, sweet potatoes with lottsa butter and brown sugar, and birthday ice cream cake!! And presents!! Eric and Renee gave me sustenance for my trip, and Karen and Mike gave me an incredibly comfortable Coleman camp chair (with drink holders!) that feels more comfortable than the Ethan Allen chair I had in my former living room! My ice cream cake had "Happy Birthday" candles so that each candle was a letter! I guess when you're fifty-eight, you have to get your jollies when ya can, but I thought that was pretty cool. The sentiments on Eric and Renee's card were very sweet! Thanks for fussing on, and spoiling me you guys!!

Emma was the first to call me for my birthday at just after midnight - I know she was waiting until the bewitching hour! I wish you were twelve again, and I was home schooling you as we traveled the country! I miss you muchly, Em! Let's talk soon!!!

Duppy's blog: This was one of the most boring days ever but, thank God, we only spent two hours in the car. I learned that museums or book stores are too boring for me, and cycloramas are too loud. The best place we went today was Little Round Top, the site where some of the most ferocious fighting in all of the War of Northern Aggression against the South took place. There's something about ground that has been soaked in American blood that even one-hundred-and-forty-seven years can't erase. Doug and I could both "smell" it somehow. 


We spent quite a bit of time there, and I could tell Karen and Doug were touched by the courageous gallantry of the soldiers that once fought at this battleground. I enjoyed peeing on all the rocks and pretending to be a mountain goat. Not many doggies get to come here, but then, I AM something special!


I peeked at some of what Doug was writing, but it didn't make sense to me. The list read:


Shiloh, TN
Cold Creek
Kansas War
CSA Unbeaten for two years
McClain
Currency
Taxes
Follow the money
Union/States Rights
Freedom for All
Human Freedom


Doug is really thinking about all this and trying to make sense of it, but I think he's going to need more time. He's not sure what questions to ask and is a little perplexed by that. 


All I know is after we got back to Karen's we had steak for dinner, and everybody sang to Doug. I've never seen anything like it! Tomorrow we're going to Harper's Ferry, but I'm not sure what that is. I'll tell ya later! Time for chili, and BLT sandwiches. I'm outta here! See you later!