On the basic skill of writing.

[Betticus]

Well, I've only seen "a bit" too, but it's weird for me since I didn't grow up with boys. It's an adjustment.

I never really got toy guns, I think once upon a time I may have had a little cowboy capgun. My father started me with real guns at the ripe old age of four.

 

[BeachGurl2]

But do they comprehend what they are reading?

That is the question. As an ex-high school teacher for at-risk youth, I can say that largely they are not. And this thread has focused on reading/writing because of the great letters, but the problem exists across the board. Unfortunately, between teaching to the middle and teaching to the test, then adding in the dysfunction that teachers have to deal with that constantly interrupts their teaching, it's no wonder that we're experiencing a dumbing-down of America. Every year we fall further and further behind other countries in academics. It's too bad, really, because we will find that more and more jobs will either travel overseas or go to foreign nationals because Americans just don't have the basic skills necessary to perform them. Ah well, such is life.

If you're interested in a really stupid but interesting movie about the whole thing, you should check out Idiocracy with Owen Wilson. Very stupid, but certainly could be onto something.

As to the letters, one thing you can say for people who came before us is that they wrote beautifully. It's not just about the actual writing, though, it's about the thoughts and ideas. Can you see men today saying the kinds of things these letters express? Or even women, for that matter. So many people today don't even take the time to think about many of the things expressed in these letters. It's too touchy-feely, too mushy. Most people can't go there. But many people are so self-involved that's it's not really surprising they don't see or experience the kinds of things these people did, either. Just my 2 cents.

Great thread!

 

[intothewoods]

I never really got toy guns, I think once upon a time I may have had a little cowboy capgun. My father started me with real guns at the ripe old age of four.

To hunt? That's cool with me.

ETA: Btw, as to your comment about an anonymous site for open letters? The entire internet is that. Unfortunately, just like the Dear X thread, that idea takes on a very negative life of its own.

 

[Betticus]

To hunt? That's cool with me.

ETA: Btw, as to your comment about an anonymous site for open letters? The entire internet is that. Unfortunately, just like the Dear X thread, that idea takes on a very negative life of its own.

I forgot about blogs.

I fear that I may have recently been reading way too much on the subject of communication.

 

[Breaker_Morant]

Those moved by soldiers' letters would appreciate the Armed Forces Memorial in Norfolk.

Twenty bronze replicas of actual letters, from service members who died in every American war from the Revolution to Gulf 1, are placed as if they had been scattered by the wind.

QUOTE]

Excellent place to visit. Thanks JM for sharing it!

 

[JMohegan]

Sadly, I've never been to see this, and I go past this area on a somewhat regular basis. Admittedly, it's a bitch to park casually around there, but I still should go.

The place is well worth visiting. Unlike most war memorials, comprised of grandiose monuments or imposing statues of generals, this one evokes a palpable sense of sacrifice - like The Wall in DC.

 

[jockdom]

The place is well worth visiting. Unlike most war memorials, comprised of grandiose monuments or imposing statues of generals, this one evokes a palpable sense of sacrifice - like The Wall in DC.

The cenetaph in london is just a tomb with the body of an unknown british soldier from the 1st world war. Every town though has it's own memorial, my great grandfather is on the wall in Inverness killed 3 months before the end of world war1. My grandmother was 5 at the time(She is still alive and living in australia!)That monument is also solem and tasteful. The whole of flanders and northern France is covered by these monuments and rows upon rows of crosses.

 

[JMohegan]

The cenetaph in london is just a tomb with the body of an unknown british soldier from the 1st world war. Every town though has it's own memorial, my great grandfather is on the wall in Inverness killed 3 months before the end of world war1. My grandmother was 5 at the time(She is still alive and living in australia!)That monument is also solem and tasteful. The whole of flanders and northern France is covered by these monuments and rows upon rows of crosses.

I have been fortunate enough to visit the Cenotaph in London, and some of those French towns. You're right, most of the monuments I saw are solemn and tasteful.

The American Cemetery in Normandy provides a good example of the distinction I see between that which is moving and that which seems overblown or odd.

Row after row of simple white crosses. Standing on that cliff, the overwhelming impression is one of extraordinary sacrifice and loss.

But the oversized bronze statue in an affected and bizarrely romanticized pose, "Spirit of American Youth" rising out of the water to save the world, to me seemed unnecessary and somewhat inappropriate. In that setting, I would say that the graves should be left to speak for themselves.

 

[Homburg]

I never really got toy guns, I think once upon a time I may have had a little cowboy capgun. My father started me with real guns at the ripe old age of four.

I was five years old when I shot my first firearm. I still played with toy guns, but it was more serious and organised. Army brats take playing Army seriously. We dug trenches, set up ambushes, fields of fire, etc.

-----

The place is well worth visiting. Unlike most war memorials, comprised of grandiose monuments or imposing statues of generals, this one evokes a palpable sense of sacrifice - like The Wall in DC.

The Wall is one of the most emotionally stunning things I have ever seen. I took a trip there many years ago, and was te only person in the group that was interested in going to The Wall. I was rather glad that I went alone, as I could not imagine that group having less than a festive attitude, and that would well and truly have been wrong.

My father served in the Viet Nam era, as did the father's of most of my friends growing up. Every adult male that I knew growing up knew someone whose name is on The Wall.

 

[JMohegan]

The Wall is one of the most emotionally stunning things I have ever seen. I took a trip there many years ago, and was te only person in the group that was interested in going to The Wall. I was rather glad that I went alone, as I could not imagine that group having less than a festive attitude, and that would well and truly have been wrong.

My father served in the Viet Nam era, as did the father's of most of my friends growing up. Every adult male that I knew growing up knew someone whose name is on The Wall.

Maya Lin is a genius.

I may take my niece and nephew on a trip to Alabama this summer and if I do, Lin's Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery will definitely be at the top of our list.

 

[jockdom]

What are the american civil war monuments like? Are there any confederate ones? In scotland we have one at culloden battle field were all the clans have their markers. Such a waste fighting for an effeminate pretender who ran away back to france!

 

[Breaker_Morant]

What are the american civil war monuments like? Are there any confederate ones? In scotland we have one at culloden battle field were all the clans have their markers. Such a waste fighting for an effeminate pretender who ran away back to france!

I use to live in Vicksburg, MS. The whole town had monuments to individual units that fought there (donw to the battalion level) placed approximately where the unit fought during the seige. Each state that had troops in the field also funded and placed a marker in the park using whatever design they wanted.

At Chickamagu there were monuments built by individual states that had troops there.. Kentucky, which had troops on both sides of the War had a four sided steeple.. on the southern side it listed units that fought for the Confederacy. On the northern side it listed units that fought for the Union.

 

[JMohegan]

What are the american civil war monuments like? Are there any confederate ones? In scotland we have one at culloden battle field were all the clans have their markers. Such a waste fighting for an effeminate pretender who ran away back to france!

Some of the most famous confederate monuments are in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (site of a decisive battle of the war) and on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia.

 

[jockdom]

Some of the most famous confederate monuments are in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (site of a decisive battle of the war) and on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia.

I've had along running interest in the civil war ever after reading the red badge of courage as a kid. Of course Gettysburg was the equivelant to the somme or stalingrad and I was quite impressed by the film they made about it a few years ago. It was the blueprint to Industrial war fare ie ww1.

 

[Breaker_Morant]

I've had along running interest in the civil war ever after reading the red badge of courage as a kid. Of course Gettysburg was the equivelant to the somme or stalingrad and I was quite impressed by the film they made about it a few years ago. It was the blueprint to Industrial war fare ie ww1.

Really? I thought the Seige at St. Petersburg was more like the trench warfare of WW1. The Civil War did herlad the change to all steel navies and turrets on naval vessels

 

[Homburg]

What are the american civil war monuments like? Are there any confederate ones? In scotland we have one at culloden battle field were all the clans have their markers. Such a waste fighting for an effeminate pretender who ran away back to france!

Plenty of Confederate monuments. They don't get the press that the Union monuments get. I can think of a few around here. I can find areas where you can still see the engineering put in place before the Peninsula campaign.

Given where I live, you can find some really neat stuff. The Casemate Museum in Fort Monroe is killer, and, well, you can see the turret from the Monitor. At least once a week I drive across the Monitor-Merrimack Bridge, which is within sight of the area those two ironclads fought.

 

[Netzach]

I've had along running interest in the civil war ever after reading the red badge of courage as a kid. Of course Gettysburg was the equivelant to the somme or stalingrad and I was quite impressed by the film they made about it a few years ago. It was the blueprint to Industrial war fare ie ww1.

well, you could argue that WWI was as horrific as it was because they were using outmoded strategies with more improved ways to mow people down across a trench. It's kind of where modern warfare starts because pre-modern warfare ends there.

 

[jockdom]

Apologies about last nights post which contained more than my usual typos and grammatical errors. Had a few beers!

 

[intothewoods]

Monument Avenue! I've been there. Richmond was a really weird experience for me. I went to the Civil War Museum there (I think that's what it was called), and it was the first time I'd met people that thought the Civil War was won by the wrong side!

 

[Breaker_Morant]

Monument Avenue! I've been there. Richmond was a really weird experience for me. I went to the Civil War Museum there (I think that's what it was called), and it was the first time I'd met people that thought the Civil War was won by the wrong side!

You must have missed WD's comment about "The War of Northern Aggression" even though the South fired the first shots. Southerns have really romanticized The War because of the ante bellum ways, etc.

When I was living in Vicksburg, MS I played host to friends and family who would come down and other than the battlefield there wasn't a whole lot to do but there was a boat tour that would start out in the Yazoo River and then take you several miles down into the Mississippi. During the tour the guide would talk about the fact that in Vicksburg there weren't many houses left that pre-dated the Civil War versus Natchez, MS which was 60 miles to the south. His reasoning was that in Natchez they surrendered; Vicksburg, however, did not.

Another "still holding a grudge" factoid about Vicksburg - Pemberton (a Yankee commanding a Southern reboubt) surrendered to Grant on July 4th 1863 (the same day as Lee was retreating the battlefield at Gettysburg) and since that day, although recognized as a holiday, the people of Vicksburg didn't actually celebrate the 4th from 1864 until 1947 - Ike came to Vicksburg for a visit.

 

[Betticus]

Hmmm, from writing skills to war monuments..

Professional thread hijacking going on here.

 

[midwestyankee]

Hmmm, from writing skills to war monuments..

Professional thread hijacking going on here.

Given the content of the original post, at least this is germane threadjacking.

 

[intothewoods]

You must have missed WD's comment about "The War of Northern Aggression" even though the South fired the first shots. Southerns have really romanticized The War because of the ante bellum ways, etc.

When I was living in Vicksburg, MS I played host to friends and family who would come down and other than the battlefield there wasn't a whole lot to do but there was a boat tour that would start out in the Yazoo River and then take you several miles down into the Mississippi. During the tour the guide would talk about the fact that in Vicksburg there weren't many houses left that pre-dated the Civil War versus Natchez, MS which was 60 miles to the south. His reasoning was that in Natchez they surrendered; Vicksburg, however, did not.

Another "still holding a grudge" factoid about Vicksburg - Pemberton (a Yankee commanding a Southern reboubt) surrendered to Grant on July 4th 1863 (the same day as Lee was retreating the battlefield at Gettysburg) and since that day, although recognized as a holiday, the people of Vicksburg didn't actually celebrate the 4th from 1864 until 1947 - Ike came to Vicksburg for a visit.

Interesting. I didn't miss his comment. When I went to Richmond, years ago, it was the first time I'd experienced this POV.

 

[jockdom]

Hmmm, from writing skills to war monuments..

Professional thread hijacking going on here.

I hold up my hands, I'm partly to blame just going along with the flow of the thread. Good discussion non the less.

 

[Breaker_Morant]

Hmmm, from writing skills to war monuments..

Professional thread hijacking going on here.

Ya' think!