Memorial Day: Both Sides of the Gun
"Maybe God can be on both sides of the gun" -Say When by THE FRAY I couldn't sleep last night. I started thinking about Memorial Day, which is now today. I thought it was odd how little we Memorialize the Civil War, which was fought on our own soil and with the highest US casualty count. 620,000 lives lost is so many, but it's even more staggering when you consider this: This represented roughly 2% of the US population. Taken as a percentage of today's population, the toll would have risen as high as 6 million souls! I'm sure part of the lack of memorial to the Civil War is the shameful reminder of slavery in our our country's history. But there is so much to be honored in that war...on "both sides of the gun." In fact, Memorial Day was even born out of grave site "decoration days", begun shortly after the end of the Civil War: "The first memorial days were group events organized in 1865 in b...