Recently I was able to be with some fellow soldiers for a tour of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania’s grounds. It is the site of three days of devastating battle from 1-3 July 1863 that still boggles the mind. For the military strategy, the heroism, the carnage, the soul-splitting, nation-sundering impacts, Gettysburg is incomparable.
It is one thing for me to read books about it, but when you walk the grounds, it changes you. Period. My deep gratitude to the soldiers from Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA and our excellent historian and guide, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Shick, for the day.
This view above is from Little Round Top overlooking Devil’s Den.
Looking out over the field of Pickett’s Charge, a battle that altered the trajectory of the war.
The Wheatfield. Over 15,000 soldiers were killed here in one day.
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Shick.
MIND & MATTERS 
An horrific sacrifice by all
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Indeed, sir.
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One naturally shudders at the magnitude of loss when standing in such a place. I’ve experienced the same…Vicksburg, Kennesaw Mountain, Battle of Franklin (TN)/Winstead Hill, Chickamauga. It does, or rather, must change you when you consider the blood shed on that now-hallowed ground. Much like standing at the foot of the cross and considering that blood shed in the ultimate battle.
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