Pennsylvania # 1
(07-28-2004)

The small hamlet of SHANKSVILLE could easily have been named In-the-Middle-of- Nowhere-Ville. If you didnt know it was there, you'd never find it. Yet, someday, you may very well make it your destination. Here, to stand beside a wide, flat, pastoral field and to imagine what it was like when the huge jet turned on its back and plunged violently into the earth; a crash so enormous it was heard and felt miles away. On that day of September 11, 2001, body parts were found in the trees beyond.

I stayed for a while myself, watching the field and the sky, listening to the mementos flapping in the ever-present wind, and imagining what it must have been like for those passengers on board Flight 93, knowing full well what their fate would be, yet knowing clearly what they had to do.

In consultation with the family members, a permanent monument will be built.

GETTYSBURG is eighth grade history, I know. But I had a private guide (an elderly Civil War buff since the age of twelve) take me through the fields and describe the three-day battle which changed the course of the war (the bloodiest battle ever on North American soil).

I wont bore you with the details, as captivating as they may be but, for me, one factor in the conflict stands significantly above all the others: J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart is considered the greatest cavalry general in American history. The cavalry was extremely important in performing two key functions: reconnaissance of the enemy, and communicating that information to the various commands (infantry, artillery, etc).

The Confederate Stuart, commanding his cavalry, arrived on the scene very late, and was visibly upbraided by General Robert E. Lee, to the point that Stuart offered his resignation on the spot. Lee retained him, but the damage had been done. Experts widely agree that, in a conflict where mere minutes made the difference in the positioning of forces, had Stuarts cavalry been there when ordered, the South would have prevailed in the battle of Gettysburg and gone on to win the war.

So then, as now, the key factor was lack of intelligence...

...speaking of George Bush, I finally saw Fahrenheit 911. Although MICHAEL MOORE has written and directed an entertaining film, it was presented in a sensational manner and geared to the lowest common denominator. (Of course, the Right Wing-ers address the electorate on the same level). And that's the real problem.

Political discourse in America has sunk to a new low. Americans have had their brains numbed by a thousand TV channels of junk, and news stations are forced to compete with Survivor and Wheel of Fortune, so what else should we expect? Nowadays, only in a dream, could you possibly imagine a substantive presidential discourse even mildly approaching that of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. We will never see anything like that again. Forever, we are doomed to mediocrity.

Oh well. Gas up the car and continue east.

The Temporary Memorial	The Field
	Between tree and mausoleum, exact spot where Lincoln gave his address
Only monument in the world dedicated to a speech	Unknown soldiers
...curiosity..