Thoughts From Gettysburg

Humbling was my first thought as we drove along Confederate Road.

It was a primary Confederate artillery position during the battle, and the launching point for Pickett’s Charge. To look across that field and picture 14,000 men stepping off, shoulder to shoulder, facing over a hundred cannon and thousands of Union rifles just chills me.

I never faced combat during my military service. The threat was sort of there in the background; we were aware of it, but I don’t know how many in my unit really took it too seriously. But we still played war games and pretended a lot under the guise of training.

That training for HAWK units and supporting personnel was strenuous work, but usually not all that different from garrison duty. It didn’t seem all that difficult. We had our weapons, uniforms and gear. I carried an M-16 and was also responsible for an M-60 and M-2 machine gun. We drove everywhere we needed to go. We had hot food brought to us; a field kitchen always went along. We had water trailers, medics, tents for 30, and cots. We got mail, too.

The men who fought at Gettysburg had none of that. They had tents for one, or maybe two, with blankets to wrap up in. No sleeping pads or bags. One canteen, and no guarantee when it would get filled again. If they took a mini-ball to the arm, they’d likely lose that arm, if they didn’t die of infection, gangrene, or dysentery.

For three days, a town of 2,400 tried to support an extra 160,000 men. If the soldiers wanted a hot meal, they might have to steal it. One unit marched 60 consecutive hours and went straight into combat—much as Patton’s 3d Army did at the Battle of the Bulge.

I was defending a foreign country. Some of the men who fought at Gettysburg were literally defending their very homes.

Some of those men fought for or against slavery. Others fought for state’s rights, or to preserve the union. Most probably fought because their brother or father or best friend was fighting. Few would seriously question the slavery fight. The state’s rights question though is far from settled. Witness the current situation in Arizona, where the Federal government is telling a state that even though the Federal government won’t secure the Federal border, the state isn’t allowed to do it either.

Look too at the way medical marijuana is being handled. Allowing it at the state level is in direct conflict with federal drug laws. But are any states being sued for allowing medical marijuana?

It seems to me that a state law that conflicts with federal law (California’s medical marijuana statutes) should be dealt with much more severely than one that mirrors a poorly-enforced federal law. But making lots of noise about one makes for better sound bites. Better to go after those mean Arizona legislators who want to profile people than to try and take away drugs from sick people.

I fear the state’s rights question is far from settled. I don’t think we’re where the country was in 1860 yet, but I think it’s coming. Then again, I don’t know that this country could find leaders such as were around then.