With apologies to my wife... In 1964, my parents took the three of us to Gettysburg for the first time. It was quite an adventure. We (the kids) were allowed to stay in our own cabin. We got a guided tour of the entire battlefield. And home movies exist of me climbing on cannons wearing a kepi, the preferred hat of Civil War soldiers. I continued to wear that kepi for several years after we returned home, until it no longer fit my head. That trip was the beginning of my deep passion for studying the Civil War. After that trip, my mother bought a copy of the American Heritage New Illustrated History of the United States, Volume 8: The Civil War for my enjoyment. I devoured it then and have probably read it more than 75 times since. I continue to regard it as the most influential book of my youth. In the aforementioned book, there is a wonderful lithograph of the struggle at what is now known as Burnsides Bridge on the Antietam battlefield. That lithograph has been the prevalent image Ive had of that part of the battle until last week, when I finally got to see Burnsides Bridge. It only took 50 years. And so, here I am at Burnsides Bridge, wearing the kepi that my wonderful wife gave me for Christmas last year. Yes, I know I look a little goofy. But what I also see in these pictures is that 7-year-old kid, running around in his kepi, soaking up the scenery of a battlefield that he has been waiting a very long time to see. I suspect that my sisters would recognize him straightaway. As is the case with so many things in life, I owe Terri big time for this. She loves me so much that she surprised me with an honest-to-goodness kepi and said not a discouraging word when I made her drive all the way to Gettysburg with me so that I could get the proper insignia for the top. She has always had the grace to make sure that historical sites are a part of almost every vacation and, in fact, took me to Antietam twice because we could only see part of the battlefield last year (thanks to the Federal Government shut-down). And she only rolled her eyes a little when her 57-year-old kid put on his kepi so that he could wear it while crossing Burnsides Bridge. I am a lucky man.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 06:19:34 +0000
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