[A Jovial Cad]

Good morning, SAM.

My parent's are currently in Mississippi touring the Vicksburg battlefield, and when I talked to my Dad tonight he told me that he had the privilege of standing on the very spot where General Grant oversaw a portion of the siege from a Union field tent. He described how it moved him--it gave him those historical "goosebumps" all of us aficionado's of the past feel at such moments. The study of duty & devotion to a cause always seems to come back to those intangible moments of clarity in such hallowed places; I was reminded of the recent reports on the tours of the Antietam battlefield y'all posted here in the FReeper Foxhole.

For all you and snippy do in this regard--reminding us all of our national historical identity--allow me to again say: Thank-you.
-AJC

[SAMWolf]

You're welcome Jovial Cad.

I've had those historical "goosebumps" quite a few times. Sure is good to know there are others out there who get them too.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you AJC for sharing your family's story on planting a Victory Garden. Back then everyone chipped in with whatever they could to support the effort. Probably the most patriotic time in America.

My mother had to wait until she was 21 to enter the Navy so in the mean-time her and her girlfriends sewed buttons and embroidery on clothes for the troops.

I fear this country will never be that united again.

[snippy_about_it]

For all you and snippy do in this regard--reminding us all of our national historical identity--allow me to again say: Thank-you.

Thank you AJC for your kind words.

Mentioning Grant I was reminded of the picture of him that moved me the most. Although it is not at the height of his 'glory' and instead just a few weeks before his death, I think it reminds us of the 'humaness' of these great men of the Civil War on both sides and how real they were.


Howe, N.Y. "Gen. U.S. Grant writing his memoirs, Mount McGregor, June 27th, 1885." 1885 June 27. By Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present, Library of Congress.