Gettysburg Pennsylvania

One of the pluses for me in being in the East is that history seems to be more real -- something that reaches out and touches you and makes history more alive. Now maybe that is just for me and no doubt people who were born and live in the East take history more for granted. It is just really strange to know that you are walking in the same footsteps that perhaps Abraham Lincoln had walked or in the case of Gettysburg, where so many Americans, upwards of 57,000, died defending their beliefs, no matter if they were from the North or the South.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg

Gettysburg is a quaint little town with some buildings dating back to the late 1700s. It is surrounded by beautiful woods, hills and fields as well as charming old farmhouses. The tour of the battlefield itself is very well laid out with signs showing which direction to go in as well as the placements and maneuvers of both sides during the bloody battle of July 1-3, 1863. 

There are statues and plaques dedicated to the various regiments from the various states both along the battlefield tour and in the National Cemetary.


http://www.gettysburg.travel/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address


It is a very somber and sobering place, or at least it was for us. Even Bill had an agenda to see the spot where Abraham Lincoln had delivered the Gettysburg Address. I'd like to end this post by quoting the opening words from this immortal 10 sentence speech, "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

And I'd like to finish with the ending words in the hope that they remain to be the truth in the future with all the strife and infighting that is rampant in today's world, "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom… and that government of the people… by the people… for the people… shall not perish from the earth."
God Bless America.