Veterans Day, 2018

While conducting research for my historical novel, "Seeing the Elephant: One Man's Return to the Horrors of the Civil War," I came across some thoughts of that eminent American historian, James McPherson, in his book, "For Comrades and Causes." One of his conclusions concerned the cause of the conflict: preservation of the Union, preservation of slavery, states' rights, or emancipation which led to a question about the men in uniform who would sacrifice everything, even life itself, for that in which he believed. While we in the 21st century have our own opinions about them, life was different in the 1860s, so why do we question the willingness of these men to fight and die for their cause?

That led to another thought. We do not speak or write about the causes they fought and died for any more. Most people have not done so for 100 years, the end of World War I on this November 11, 1918. That has made such words as glory, honor, courage. sacrifice, valor, and sacred somehow embarrassing, and we don't realize what they meant to the soldiers of the Union and Confederate armies. But, to those men, at least at some level, those words were at the center of their existence and the willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for their cause and their country.

I wrote "Seeing the Elephant" with that in mind, seeking to refocus us, to some degree, on the context of patriotism, love of country, and the willingness to make that sacrifice for that in which we believe. Many generations of Americans have done just that, and we should, as a nation, be ever grateful that they did. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your service!