Today is the 70th birthday of my brother Steve. Between Steve and me is our brother Bill. After Steve comes Mark, followed by Mary-Jo. Steve's formative years coincided with the Centennial of the American Civil War. Steve has a natural bent towards history and he imprinted on the War durning the four years of its commemoration. At age twelve or so Steve convinced our parents to take him on a tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield. We never went anywhere in those days, so this trip from Boston to Pennsylvania said a lot about Steve's passion.
Our parents took Mark along on the trip while Bill and I stayed home with our grandmother. Steve picked up a few artifacts at souvenir shops near the battlefield, but regretted he could not afford a musket. A hundred dollars was beyond his or our parent's means. The story my mother told about the tour occurred at a ma and pa restaurant in Pennsylvania. After taking their breakfast order, ma called out to pa, "These boys talk like President Kennedy,"
Steve was aware that the battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American history, occurred on his birthday back in 1862. This was a battle that should have ended the war, but due to the arrogance and timidity of the Union general, Lee and the Confederate Army escaped to fight on another three years.
Our cousin Tom down in Virginia teaches at a war college in Washington, D.C. and takes his students on tours of the nearby battlefields giving them insights into war. Tom's wife convinced him to invite family members on these tours. Members of the tour, if they wanted, could take on the roles of different generals. On the tour of Antietam, Steve drew General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker.
During the tour, Tom would hold up big maps of the battleground and pepper the generals with questions about why they had behaved in often disastrous ways. General Hooker was a brave man. He led his corps into the thick of the battle. He was shot in the foot and withdrew from the scene. A different man might have returned to the battle after some first aid. Hooker chose to stay back and lick his wound. When Steve was asked what it felt like to be shot in the foot, his apt reply was, "Ai, Chihuahua!"
Happy birthday Steve!!
Civil War musket, current value: let the buyer beware.
"These boys talk like President Kennedy," Ma said? Pa would've said, around the time Steve was wearing his Maritime Academy uniform,
ReplyDelete"That one looks 'zactly like 'im! Quick Ma, take 'is picture!"