We have been

watching a special on the history channel about the Civil War.  It is hard to really wrap my head around how horrific it must have been.   5000 dead in one battle, with no way to let the families know their fate, or ability to bury them properly.

The point was made that, in that period of time, it was almost as important that one "die well" (surrounded by family and loved ones) as it was that they lived well.   Yet these men were often put in shallow mass graves, with the families not knowing their fate.  Perhaps even worse than a quick death, were those who languished away with illness, amputations, and infections.

I do know that when we visited Gettysburg, I felt like I was on hallowed ground. I was surprised by that feeling, as I wasn't expecting to have it touch me so personally.  

I couldn't quote the whole Gettysburg address anymore, but this part says it well:

  "We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract."