FRIENDSHIP ENDURES ALL

In 1913, America celebrated the 50th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg. In the photo below, a veteran of the Union Army (right) shakes hands with a Confederate veteran (left) at that historic celebration.

LIFE MAGAZINE, AUG. 20, 1956 responded to a later anniversary celebration with the following comment:

“The greatest parade in American history has finally come to an end. The Grand Army of the Republic has marched off to join the shadows and no matter how long the nation exists there will never be anything quite like it again.”

Viewing the above photo, I felt compiled to write the following poem….

Enjoy!

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The mid 1800’s were troubled times in the USA

North and South each went their own way

Emotions on both sides were extremely high

Peace talks to solve the riff failed to unify

The practice of slavery became the root of a war

The South was for it, the North said “no more”

The southern plantations used slaves for labor

The North’s decree was not met with favor

Jonny Reb, the South; Billy Yank, the North

On opposite sides as a civil war moved forth

Fighting was fierce with guts, guns and knives

Defending beliefs with the loss of many lives

In 1865 the bitter fighting came to an end

It took many years for relationships to mend

Slowly the painful process of healing began

A unified nation had survived as per plan

The fifty-year re-union was quite an affair

Many surviving civil war veterans were there

Tales were related by the foes that had been

The good news is . . . . . .                         

                                                         . . . . . . Reb and Yank were friends again

STUFF:

Большое спасибо моим русским друзьям и читателям. , ... Ваши визиты в мой блог оценили. 

(Many thanks to my many Russian friends and readers. . . . . Your visits to my blog are appreciated.)