We stood silent, gazing across the wide, open field &045; rocky, woody areas here and there but mostly an expanse where it was easy to imagine the young boys running, shouting and panting inevitably to their deaths.

This was the Gettysburg National Military Park, a place of great natural beauty in southern Pennsylvania not far from the border with Maryland and named after the small town that is the seat of Adams County.

With all the reading about the place to prepare us for it, the view nevertheless stirred and startled my love and me in surprising ways.

He being the student of history could envision the scene better than I.

But who could stand there and not imagine the brothers fighting brothers on those three fateful days in July 1863.

The Battle of Gettysburg pitted troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee against Union troops under the command of Gen. George G. Meade.

The often-used element of surprise took an ironic twist in the case of this battle: Both sides were surprised to find the other there.

Engagement was swift, however.

The Confederates were buoyed by recent victories in other places.

The Union leaders felt confident they had maneuvered into the most desirable position for the battle at hand.

And so it began, ending with casualties totaling more than 20,000 for the South and 18,000 for the North.

Gettysburg was a turning point in a war that one struggles these 140 years later to justify. Brave, loyal Americans on both sides were led like lambs to the slaughter.

Why should the anniversary of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, call up images of Gettysburg as seen on a perfect June day about 10 years ago?

True, one of the four hijacked jets on Sept. 11 crashed in rural Pennsylvania. It is the twin towers in New York City, however, that rise in this image, tall shadows falling softly gray on places in the Gettysburg battlefield where the soldiers died &045; Cemetery Hill, Seminary Ridge and Round Top, among others.

One can hardly think of Gettysburg without recalling that President Abraham Lincoln went there four months after the battle. He memorialized those who had died but challenged those who lived.

Indeed, Lincoln’s words have inspired generations, including us today as America struggles at home and abroad to find its way peacefully into the new millennium.

Lincoln’s words spoke to an America in the midst of a devastating civil war. Now they speak to an America forever changed by terrorists attacks on their own soil.

On the anniversary of Sept. 11, that day of change, the task before us is, as Lincoln said, &8220;that these dead shall not have died in vain &045; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom &045; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.&8221;

Three thousand on Sept. 11 or 40,000 on the awesome three days in July 1863 &045; innocence and innocents were lost but cannot be forgotten.

Let flags fly and freedom ring.

Joan Gandy

is community editor of The Democrat. She can be reached at 455-3549 or at

joan.gandy@natchezdemocrat.com