Monday, December 8, 2008

Antietam Battle Field


The Faculty at my school is really good about keeping me informed on all of the fun local events. I try to experience as many of them as possible! They recommended going to Antietam Battle fields for the 20th annual lighting. I was sure it would be GREAT! So Brian and I headed out for our battle field escapade...

We had been told that there may be a wait... The wait was 2 HOURS!!! Luckily we had eaten a head of time and had plenty of Christmas music. We finally got to the entrance and headed in.. I had no idea it was going to be so amazing. It was worth the 2 hour wait and i would wait that long again. They only do it one night a year because it takes so many candles, and so many volunteers!

If you don't know your history here are a few things you should know. Antietam was the bloodiest battle of the civil war 23,110 solders were killed, injured, or never found after the 9 hours of fighting ( They light a luminary for each of these solders). I thought 23,000 was a lot until I saw 23,110 luminaries burning in the dark all of hill sides were covered. As we were driving a silence fell over us. The feeling of reverence for our country's history and for the lives of all of the civil war solders who lost their lives fighting for their beliefs was really baffling. Even more mind blowing was the thought that that day in September so long ago, each of these luminaries would have been a fallen solders body. You wouldn't have been able to see the ground for miles and miles. We drove threw the battle fields for 1 hour (it took 1 hour to see all of the luminaries). Each turn we took I thought "there cant possibly be another luminaries" and then there would be thousands as far as I could see. If you are ever able to see it Brian and I highly recommend it!!!


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