Joshua Chamberlain looked down from Little Round Top. He could see the butternut clad forces of Lee’s Army drawing together for a charge. Their tattered battle standards whipped in the wind as the Rebs checked the loads in their rifles and readied their battered foot gear for the fight ahead.
Kilrain spit out a gob from his chaw. “I doubt old Meade has a plan. He dithers like an old woman. I think he left us out here on the sharp end of the stick Colonel darling.”
Chamberlain looked over the battlefield. “We are here to do our duty Tom. It is a noble cause we are engaged in. A fight to set men free.”
"Do you think people will remember this. A hundred years from now?”
Kilrain spit. “Not hardly. Man is quick to forget a good turn. The only thing they will husband is a grudge. This is a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.”
“No I don’t think that’s right Buster. I think people will long remember what we do here. Our comrades have laid down their lives to set men free. That will never be forgotten.”
“It is a fine man you are Colonel darling but you couldn't be more wrong. It is all dust. We will be forgotten. Just like the lads who fought at Rome. While the rich will get richer.If we are lucky we will get a grave to rest in.”
9 comments:
Kilrain was right. On one side, Union troop deaths and casualties were insufficient reparation; on the other side today there is only shame and derision for those men and their symbols. That is the Civil War in 2017 popular culture. I blame Kens Burns and his maudlin fiddles.
I was going to take someone to task over this post, but I realize I would be wasting my time. If you don't get why Chamberlain, the 20th Maine and all the Union veterans and their accomplishments matter, I can't help you.
And FYI, my Great Grandfather was one of those veterans, and the family honors him still.
Someone needs to rein it in a little bit. You are starting to sound like ANSWER.
I find it a useful exercise in impulse control when I resist the urge to go all Belushi when I encounter a busker in the park playing Ashokan Farewell. They are lucky I am such an easy-going fellow, otherwise the world would contain fewer fiddles.
More of this, please.
@red 3215: I had a GGG who fought as well. He lost 3 young children while away. They are all buried together. I visit his grave whenever I'm back. None of that changes what the public thinks today.
Red do you think that Black Lives Matters, the media and the Deep State honor the sacrifice of the Union dead? That anybody in Hollywood or the Media or even the GOPe really give a shit.
Ever gave a shit.
Normal patriotic Americans do. The ones who are sent out to die for the dreams of the John McCains and the Lyndsey Grahams. The working class who is supposed to be who Trump is representing. They don't want to go to war to save Syrians. Or gooks in North Korea. They just want jobs.
That is why I supported Trump so vociferously. Not to listen to warrior monks like McMaster and their Lawrence of Arabia bullshit.
Colon Kaepernick kneed the ghost of a Civil War vet in the groin every time he disrespected the flag. The NFL never gave shit.
TY,
I don't doubt the left has written off the sacrifices of that war. Just wish sane people would not.
This is not going to be a quick and easy few years. Don't give up hope based on the needs of one issue, this is a marathon, not a sprint. It took a long time to screw up the country and the rest of the world. It will take a long time to unscrew things. Give the man a chance.
And please, what are Dimaggio and Marilyn up to?
G
I'm waiting for someone to resurrect that old Red anthem a bayonet is a weapon with a worker at both ends.
Funny how those men in blue and gray stayed and fought to the bitter end when they all supposedly knew they were being exploited.
Maybe they figured something else was at stake.
Well, we all die, and the soldiers are more remembered than most us, and win or lose, they certainly tried harder. Although I have accomplished some things and helped some people, I can never reach that level of dignity.
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