Where It Began - When Will It End?

'Tis the official Memorial Day. Prez Obama has already done his presidential duty at Arlington - saluting the "fallen heroes." Families and tourists flock to Arlington to honor the memory of those who died in our many battles. The commenoration has been going on since 1868 but did not become an official Federal Holiday until 1971. Most have forgotten that Memorial Day began after the  Civil War (just ask a random person on the street and you'll discover how little most Americans know of today's history).


I'll share a story that is simple, yet poignant, regarding the Civil War. When young-ish, my parents and one Grandmother took a day trip to Gettysburg, PA to see the infamous battlefield and small monuments of the worst massacre of the Civil War. I remember the sprawling grounds and the many blood-stained rocks on the field which remained despite rain and snow after years and years. I'm not surprised the ground still cries tears of blood as 51,112 soldiers - Union and Confederate - lost their lives there.


As a child, I looked upon the vast grounds with its well-preserved cannons and wondered why anyone would visit what felt like a ghost town. And why brothers were forced to kill brothers in bloody battles. But my parents told me the battle was necessary to save the States, and blood had to be shed to do so.


And remember, those were the days when battles were fought face-to-face, gun-to-gun, knife-to-knife. Now, those were brave soldiers of the highest order. Standing in rows, each side faced one another and off they went - straight into the line of fire. Just as their ancestors from other shores had been doing for centuries. Sure, hiding behind trees, large rocks and deep valleys to protect ones' self as well as to "surprise" the enemy made for temporary shelter. But the primary battles of those days were direct and extremely bloody. The large cannons didn't help, either. As with today's wars, soldiers lost legs, arms....


Gettysburg wasn't the worst of the worst battles of the Civil War -  Antietam is considered to be such, but the assessment was based on the one-day battle that claimed the most lives. However, The Battle Of Gettysburg (which lasted for 3 days) took the most lives of all the battles and therefore remains in history as the ultimate example of the war, which is why Abraham Lincoln chose Gettysburg to make his "Gettysburg Address".


Although we now have WW1, WW11, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan - and others - from which many soldiers did not return alive, the sad part of the Civil War is that it is still in the blood of many in the South. Old habits and grudges die hard, and what is now happening - once again - in several of the Southern States is a mindset, atmosphere, that fueled the Civil War.


The Top 5 reasons for the American Civil War:
1. Economic and social differences between the North and the South.
2. States versus federal rights.
3. The fight between Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents.
4. Growth of the Abolition Movement.
5. The election of Abraham Lincoln.


In #5 you can insert "Barack Obama" considering the current GOP/Tea Party hysterics of the present, as the South doesn't appear to like the fact that an African-American is living in The White House. After all, it must have been named as such for a reason - depending on your POV.


As you can see, the U.S. still has a way to go before straightening-out issues such as #2. 


It's too bad that the U.S. has pockets of hatred stemming back well over a hundred years from the war, when Japan has forgiven us for dropping a huge bomb in their land. When Germany can turn the other cheek and move on. While the Vietnamese who remain from that war either welcome, or at least, pose no bodily threat to Americans who visit.


Every war is different, of course. But this post deals with the Civil War and the reminder of why we have a Memorial Day at all. Let's hope the South grows up - at last - and joins 2012. Holding-on to prejudice to justify the demoralization of Blacks and now Homosexuals makes the U.S. look petty, shallow and ignorant. It's almost as bad at the inability for Israel and the Palestinians to get along with too much history of war and endless resentments and grudges toward each other for the deaths of their loved ones - beyond the territorial elements. No one will ever heal that wound until someone wakes up one day and realizes that it isn't worth it to continue the string of more bitterness. No one wins. Everybody loses.


That's how I view it, slightly naive at best, but the truth nonetheless - in a simplistic overview.
Image via: http://yourradiance.blogspot.com