The Heck With Vampires! (Or, MY New Obsession!)

While the distaff side of the family is obsessed with Edward and what's-her-name from the

Breaking Dawn series, I've started reading the Micheal and Jeff Shaara books about the Civil War. Just before we left Kentucky Jared gave me his copy of The Killer Angels, about the Battle of Gettysburg. Rather than try and be a comprehensive account of the battle. the book tells the story from the viewpoint of some of the participants, notably Lee, Longstreet, Hancock, and Chamberlain. Although it is a novel, it sticks with the known facts and brings the times and men alive in a way not found in histories. Kind of like the Gerald Lund books and other historical novels.

It is interesting to read about notions of honor and responsibility of that era. How would we respond today to a similar call? Is my greater responsibility to the nation as a whole, or to the state of Utah? What if the West split from the East over political differences and land-use issues? Suppose the fight was in a faraway state and did not seem to affect me directly? Joshua Chamberlain, shown above, left his home state of Maine (along with thousands of other men) and fought in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Of course we all have the opportunity to "fight" for our interests in elections and other public events close to home and nationally, but to physically pick up a gun and go to war against fellow Americans is almost inconceivable.