A Note and an Explanation: I really had nothing to write on the next several weeks of challenge topics. So I'll be going off topic. This post was originally written to protest the proposed desecration of Civil War battlefields. It was revised and put out into the world as part of the 52-week challenge. However adding the #mfrwauthor tag couldn't be added without breaking the existing links, so it will be coming back in future posts. I could, however, add the linky lists without messing anything up so I did.
A prayer and the press of the return button and my latest novel, Windmaster Golem, flew into the publisher's hands. Normally I don't look for a new project for at least a few weeks to allow the brain to reset. Especially if it is the last book in a series because I need a little time to start separating from the characters and to grieve their loss. However I read a news article that literally stopped me dead in my tracks.
Those of you who know me, know that I am not political. I keep my views to myself. However, the historian part of my background can't remain silent on the latest attack on historical monuments. HR 7608 includes the provision to remove all Confederate "commemorative works," such as statues, monuments, sculptures, memorials, and plaques from Federal lands within 180 days of passage. Now it is up to the U.S. Senate to stop the immeasurable loss.
Why do I call it a loss? After all it is just a statue or two somewhere? The bill applies to any and all places under the control of the National Park Service. The order does not distinguish between generic plaques that state "X happened here" and emotive works of art. The instruction to the National Park Service also does not differentiate between cemeteries or battlefields. This includes sites like Gettysburg National Military Park (Pennsylvania), Shiloh(Tennessee), Antietam (Maryland) Manassas, Fredericksburg, Appomattox
and Petersburg (Virginia) and Chickamauga (Georgia) among others. One report has the removal of over 300 monuments, almost 1/4 of the statues, monuments, and memorials at Gettysburg alone.
How will this work into a storyline? I'm not sure yet. It could be a time travel where the trigger is the removal of a monument. I would probably base it on one of the statues or memorials at Gettysburg National Military Park. It has been a while since I walked the hallowed ground however the feeling remains with you. And a walk through an old cemetery will renew it. Or maybe a time travel romance utilizing Gettysburg National Cemetery as the locale.
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| Image by Dan Urban from Pixabay |
Or the setting could be a distant future where the monuments were removed, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was forgotten, and a handful of activists control what you see, read, or are allowed to buy.
The storyline that resonates the most considering the current state of the world would be a dark fantasy. One of the pictures for inspiration would be the five-figure sculpture group at Gettysburg’s North Carolina Memorial, a masterpiece that depicts the emotions of men facing a desperate attack. With each memorial moved, those who fought and died return to take their vengeance on those who disturbed their eternal rest.
I want to end this post with a thought from decorated combat veteran Elliott Ackerman. His words speaks to me amidst the increasing cry not to interpret, but to remove and destroy all historical monuments because the people or their time weren't perfect or for some other reason.
“An area of our complex past that should be left untouched are battlefields... Blood consecrates a battlefield, and it is never the blood of only one side.”~till next time. Helen
For my take on honor, duty, loyalty, click on the covers below for a free read of the short story Echoes From The Valley. Or check out the anthology, Stories From The Front Lines and the Homefront (available at Amazon and elsewhere.)
Echoes From The Valley -- When the valley echoes with the sound of a popular Civil War tune, two reenactors encounter a soldier from the past and learn the true meaning of duty--in this life and the one beyond.
Hearth and Sand -- Twelve tales of those who served on the battle front, and the stories of the loved ones left behind who preserved the homefront.
