Anniversaries

This is the 150th anniversary of the onset of the War Between the North and the South, or the Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression.  Today, I am watching a show on the History Channel, Gettysburg.  http://www.history.com/. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to visit Gettysburg.  I have been to Niagara Falls, the Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Guadalupe Mountains, the Big Bend, Cape Hatteras, Cape Cod, the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the Smokey Mountains of Appalachia, the harbor tour of New York City, the Empire States Building, the Prudential Building in Boston, the San Diego Zoo, the Queen Mary, the Vicksburg battleground, the Biltmore Estate, the Arch in St. Louis.

Those are just some of the places I have been, but some of the more notable places I have been. Not one has impacted me, impressed me, or somehow affected me like Gettysburg. I am not sure why, but I know that Gettysburg was one of the deadliest, bloodiest battles of the Civil War. It was horrific.

There are other anniversaries this year: the 10th anniversary of 9/11/2001; the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. As they approach, I suspect we will commemorate them in some form or fashion.

Today is Memorial Day.  It is fitting to start commemorations of these events. We have not learned from history, but keeping history alive may help us to learn from our past mistakes.