Our paper carries a trivia column by L.M. Boyd, whose grace and economy of language I have long admired. Boyd can pack more into a short sentence than any other writer I know, even if some of his trivia facts are in the “interesting-if-true” category. But here’s one that is true:
“If 23,000 Americans fell in combat tomorrow in one place, we’d certainly find out about it, but how long would it be remembered? Forever, you’d think. That was the approximate casualty count on Sept. 17, 1862, in Sharpsburg, MD. It’s the American military’s catastrophic record, the greatest scream of all the screams in our history. But except for locals and Civil War students, nobody hears it anymore, not even its echo.”
Boyd is referring to “The Battle of Antietam,” in which 12,410 federal and 10,700 Confederate soldiers lost their lives. Such slaughter is nearly inconceivable; few of us have seen even one violent death, let alone a long day of unrelenting mass carnage. It seems to add insult that today, few people know anything about it. If you doubt this, go ask 20 college students or just 20 random people on the street. (Be sure to ask for the name of that TV show where Donald Trump fires young people, too.)
I once heard a young donut-shop clerk exclaim, one Pearl Harbor day; “We dropped a BOMB on JAPAN?!” It may take longer before clerks in Japanese shops can say anything analogous to that. But… it will happen.
It’s hard to find a silver lining in this cloud. Forgetfulness makes us vulnerable as a nation to repeating our mistakes. On the other hand, memory helps us nurse our hatreds. How can we ever move past what their grandparents did to ours, or what ours did to them?
The Civil War killed one and a half times as many American soldiers as World War II, and eleven times as many as Vietnam. But I don’t automatically distrust Southerners.
Is it true that “time heals all wounds?” Probably not, within a single human lifetime. But our mortality puts a statute of limitations on hatred. It’s a fact that our children don’t usually share our passions to the same degree; they will need to go find their own. This is what’s wrong with “traditional cultures,” where change happens at a snail’s pace and “respecting your elders” is even more important than building a better future.
In the end we simply must study history. And we should make it as interesting as possible for our kids. But it won’t be the end of the world if they find it just a little dry. In fact, it could be a hopeful sign.
Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. I found this entry quite fascinating. Will Sept. 11 be in the same non=remebered catagory in future years? One would think not, but apparently, that is all too possible.
I have a soldier friend in Iraq. He is able to call his wife on his cell phone, order her Christmas present Bulova watch over the internet, and flash his speaking image to her over the computer. Wouldn’t any soldier in history be amazed at such luxury? He says the British soldiers in Iraq get no support from home in the form of cookies, letters, etc. The British public doesn’t want them there, so there is no steady stream of comfort items. The Americans are apparently inundated with just about everything, so they share the surplus with the Iraquis and the British.
All this on this peaceful night. It is overwhelming.
Years ago, my brother wrote a very special essay called “The Fractal Gift”. Perhaps he will reprint it for those who didn’t get to read it, or better yet, write another similar one.
Merry Christmas world and please, peace.
I dimly remember the essay but I’m darned if I can remember where I posted it or where there might be a backup copy. That might be a couple computers ago and maybe even a few websites ago. Sorry.