Memorial Day Has Roots Back To The Civil War

When you stop to think about it, the term Civil War is an oxymoron? The presence of civility should negate the presence of war. The presence of war always negates the presence of civility.

My all-time favorite movie is “Shenandoah”. The film was released the year I graduated from high school. Can it be possible that the movie is fifty-nine years old? It obviously is a very old movie, but it chronicles a story that is pertinent and clearly portrays the unsettling and destructive nature of war.

“Shenandoah” is the story of Charlie Anderson, a patriarchal widower who owns a farm in Shenandoah, Virginia at the outbreak of the Civil War. He is adamant that none of his six sons join the war effort because from his perception it isn’t their fight. Unfortunately, war and civility cannot coexist in a culture. Anderson subsequently is forced to engage in the conflict after his youngest son “Boy” accidently stumbles into a Confederate ambush. Boy is wearing an old rebel soldier kepi cap that he found at the river. When a union patrol comes on, he and a friend who are hunting raccoon, Boy is taken prisoner of war.

The most emotional highlight of the film is near the end. The surviving members of Anderson’s family arrive late for church. As the congregation completes the first song, the pastor starts to announce the next hymn. Boy stumbles though the back door on a crutch. The entire congregation looks, and Charlie Anderson turns to see what is happening. His face lights up, and he helps his son to the pew. Everyone joyously sings in unison as the story ends.

Memorial Day has its roots all the way back to the Civil War. I have been privileged to tour the battlefield at Gettysburg several times. Reportedly, it is the site of the costliest of the battles. The location is very picturesque and today reflects such serenity. How did it ever become a battlefield reflecting so much sorrow?

What capacity we have to destroy that which we have been given. In three days, 160,000 soldiers engaged in battle. When it was over 51,000 were killed. Unbelievable! Total casualties from the Civil War totaled 620,000.

My grandmother’s maternal grandfather, William Henry King, served in Gray’s 28th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, during the Civil War. Interestingly, he maintained a journal of his experiences as an enlisted man. The University of Tennessee Press/Knoxville posthumously published the journal in 2006. According to information stated on the inside cover of the book, “King’s consistently detailed entries- notable for their literary style, Kings venomous wit, and his colorful descriptions- cover a wide array of matters pertaining to the Confederate experience in the West.”

I found the book thought provoking. Intertwined in the narrative of facts associated with the war, he chronicles his perception that decisions associated to the war effort were seldom as forthright as they were promoted. Many of the decisions which subordinates were subsequently ordered to carry out were done so under the auspices of “vested interest” for those in a position of prominence and power. Perhaps that is historically the “Achilles heel” from which many decisions associated to war come.  I recognize that I am delicately close to writing something that could alienate or offend. That is not my intent. Perhaps the DNA from my great, great grandfather is expressing itself.

Shortly before Craig retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, I rode his bicycle all over the base at Camp Lejeune and watched some of the Marines in training. I was shocked to notice that most of the troops looked like kids. I celebrate their youthful idealism, their sense of service to God and country and their commitment to making a difference in protecting the interests of our Nation.

Too often leaders in Washington plunder the war effort. It is often driven by motivations other than winning.  From a layman’s perspective, I’m not sure what we are getting as an outcome other than proliferating more flag draped coffins.

All My Best! Don