Paula and John visit DC, Gettysburg

Here's John Olesky’s report on a trip with Paula to Gettysburg and Washington, D.C. Click on the headline to see more photos. And click on the photo here to see the beauty of the cherry blossoms.

By John Olesky
Paula and I encountered Civil War history and today’s monuments-flavored democracy during our 4-day trip to Gettysburg and Washington, D.C.

I continue to be astounded, as I was during my previous Gettysburg Battlefield visit, that Generals Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet and George Pickett would send 12,500 infantrymen from the woods and across three-fourths of a mile of open land and up Cemetery Ridge with Union cannons and rifles blazing down on them from Little Round Top. Only 150 made it past the rocks line near the top, and 40 yards beyond the peak. More than half the Southern soldiers died that day, and there were 43,000 to 51,000 dead on both sides for the three-day battle. It was the South’s farthest advance on Northern soil, and the Union army shoved Lee’s men back within two hours. Lee’s attempt to penetrate Northern soil to convince England and France to aid the South failed.

We bought a CD which, with a map, provided driving instructions to key battle sites. Once you were at a site, you listened to a dramatization with cannon fire and actors portraying the combatants. It worked chillingly well. Gettysburg was an ugly family fight.

We had dinner at Dobbin House Tavern, built in 1776 on 300 acres of land four score and seven years before Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address within sight of the tavern. Few words; powerful statement. It’s a pity today’s politicians don’t follow Lincoln’s example.

In Washington we got passes to the subway and the hop-on, hop-off trolley. That avoided the parking hassle and got us everywhere we decided to go.

Since 9/11, Pennsylvania Avenue has been denied to vehicle traffic for blocks, so you can use the street to walk around the White House area, must like you do on Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls. A bunch of guys with online skates and a rubber ball played street hockey in front of the White House. Across the street in Lafayette Park, I found a statue of one of my Revolutionary War heroes, Thaddeus Kosciusko, who came from Poland and directed fortifications at Saratoga and West Point. Oh, there also was a statue of that French guy who gave the park its name.

At Arlington Cemetery we saw way too many graves (250,000) from too many wars. Also John F. Kennedy’s eternal flame, heavyweight boxing champ Joe Louis’ headstone labeled “The Brown Bomber” and West Virginians’ markers. At the Vietnam Memorial wall, a guide with a hand-held electronic device located the name of Paula’s former neighbor in Cuyahoga Falls.

We listened to a rock concert while sitting on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial, as we looked out over the Tidal Basin and to the Washington Monument.

And enjoyed the white cherry blossoms that were everywhere.