The Bloodest Battle

[kyfanatic]

Grumpy,were you in the 82nd Airborne by any chance? One of my brothers who served in Vietnam pretty close to your first tour I'd say 68',69',70' don't remember exactly,anyway when he came back he was stationed at Ft. Benning,Ga.

[RoadToad]

There is just so much about the Civil War that is fascinating... it's hard to know where to start. Have you guys ever watched a show called Civil War Journal? Danny Glover narrated the first few episodes, but there are a lot of others out there. I think I've seen all of them, but I still record them all in case I find one I missed, or one I want to watch again. But a show that I saw recently that really wow'ed me was called "Eighty Acres of Hell," about Camp Douglas, a Union POW camp located in what is now the south side of Chicago. Until I saw this show, I had never heard of it, yet the conditions there were horrific, way worse than at Andersonville (believe it or not). At Andersonville, there was at least an ATTEMPT to treat prisoners somewhat humanely, the biggest problem was lack of resources. In fact, many of the guards there starved to death, not just the prisoners. At Camp Douglas, there was no lack of resources, there was just unspeakable cruelty. Yet it has been documented very little in any history books. The commander of Andersonville was hanged; the commanders at Camp Douglas all got promoted. As one historian said, "To the victor belongs the silence." If you do a Google search you'll find a few web sites about it, but to this day, it's not something you hear much about. Apparently there was one good book written about it, called "To Die in Chicago," which I plan on reading. If you ever get a chance, watch "Eighty Acres of Hell." It's very informative.

[Grumpy]

kyfanatic: I was with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in 1967 and 1968. The 82nd came to Nam during that time but I think they went up North. I later was stationed at Fort Bragg for a couple of years, which is the home of the 82nd. Nothing could ever convince me to jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane.

Roadtoad, I agree about the prison camps--they were terrible on both sides. Obviously, I too find the Civil War history to be fasanating.

Grumpy