(Pennies placed, Lincoln heads up, at the cemetery where the Gettysburg Address was delivered on November 19, 1863)
Day 242:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. 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 can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. 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 can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Day 241: Lauren and Amanda and I wanted to do something patriotic for 9/11, so we hit the road for Gettysburg yesterday. I've been before, but on this beautiful day, we really took our time to stop and see what we wanted while driving around the battlefield. Thanks to the bookstore, we bought a great driving tour on CD and learned a lot as we drove the loop. I highly recommend purchasing (or borrowing) one when you go, or you'll miss out on a lot of the history that can be learned about the three day battle that killed thousands of Americans. (Memorial to the soldiers from Pennsylvania)
Day 240: While 9/11 obviously comes up pretty regularly in our country these days, I rarely think about the fact that I live a mere mile from where one of the planes flew into the Pentagon. Today, I was reminded by the flags that hung from every overhang and all of the tall buildings in Rosslyn (http://http//www.flickr.com/photos/26092895@N02/4983900825/). I took my own picture down my block, where there were also flags flying, and this firetruck literally drove through as I snapped the picture.
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