A Trip to Ft. Sumter – 150 Years After Start of Civil War

Last month I has the opportunity to take off for a week. My best friend, who I have known since we were 15, and I both needed a break. A get-outta-here-and-see-the-world trip.

The planning started with looking up plane tickets to Los Angeles. I've never been to Cali, so we thought it would be a good chance to see the city. But then we wanted hot and Hollywood wasn't going to be that sweltering inferno we wanted.

So after checking out trips to Hawaii, India, Japan, Florida, Mexico and the Carolinas, I found myself boarding a plane to Charleston. I knew nothing about the city just that there was a beach and hiking and, most importantly, it was going to be warm.

But, while I was there I had the opportunity to get on a ferry boat and go to Ft. Sumter, where a battle that started 150 years ago today signaled the start of the Civil War.

I love seeing history and seeing places that are so significant to how our nation is shaped. Besides Ft. Sumter, I have had the opportunity to find the Revolutionary War-era buildings – houses and churches – in Boston and the Declaration of Independence in Washington, D.C. 

Things were different when I visited Ft. Sumter, I was sad. Sad because so many young lives were lost in the Civil War. Sad that families were torn apart because the country was so split.

Despite all the disagreements and fighting that are happening in Wisconsin and across the nation, sometimes I think we need to take a step back and remember how we got here. We need to remember that our lives and our actions and our freedoms were not just given to us.

I just think we should remember the men and women before us who sacrificed so much to shape the country into what it is today.

How are we – as individuals and not political parties – going to honor that memory?