I just returned from a family trip to Gettysburg, PA. and on this Independence Day I feel more blessed than ever to live in a country that is willing to fight for what it stands for, even if it means fighting on our own soil.
I'm not saying we should fight one another, brother against sister. After visiting Gettysburg, where people were killing one another for their belief of what our country should be, my perspective changed. The Union troops were fighting to preserve the Union. To keep the stars and stripes flying above our whole country.
We saw monument after monument, until I thought I would scream, but in retrospect, each monument was placed proudly in memory of a group of men, some as young as 13 years old, who fought at this battle that was the turning point of the Civil War.
These men hid in caves, behind bullet scared trees and near rock walls that were built during the night. From July 1 to July 3, bullets, cannons, horse cavalry and foot soldiers engaged in mortal combat.
I'm the wife of a US Marine veteran. I was around when my husband went to the first Gulf War. I know war means death, danger and hardships, but until I was standing on a battlefield where people died, the blood long washed away, I didn't comprehend the magnitude of what soldiers go through.
We create military heroes as fiction writers. They are hunky, desirable and never flinch in the face of adversity. We rarely write about the traumas, sleepless nights and the horror of battle, mostly because that would make depressing reading. However, sometimes we have to step back and think about the men and women who have shaped our country, who have given us the ability to celebrate the fourth of July. From the men of the Twentieth Maine to Martin Luther King, Jr., to Angus King (former Governor of Maine), they all have contributed to our National history.
So although I grumbled about driving to Gettysburg, I'm so glad that my family wanted to go.
God bless America, our fighting soldiers and our citizens who work to make our country a better place for all.
Captions: 1. Little Round Top from the Devil's Den.
2. The Twentieth Maine monument.
3. My military hero, who braved 8 flights of stairs for this picture.
