Gettysburg monuments vandalized - can any THR members help?

This kind of ???? pisses me off to no end. People do not realize how disrespectful this is to the Warriors who fought at these battles for the freedom we have today. This is disgraceful and shameful.

I hope the judge charges them to the fullest extent of the law and they are forced to serve the maximum sentence.

Preacherman Your link isnt working.

I wanna post it into my away message. I may also ask a few history majors and anthropology majors (My teacher has been going crazy with civil war archaeology in class).

I'll never understand what possible satisfaction anyone could get from vandalizing monuments. It's beyond me.
And disgusting.

Try it this way-

http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/PR0216GBVandals.htm

I too hope they catch the people responsible, not that it seems to matter to the barbarian scum among us whether there is any punishment for this sort of thing. Burning churches, desecrating cemeteries and monuments- what a sorry pass we have reached when this kind of activity goes on.

lpl/nc

I wish I hadn't seen this before I had to go to work.
This pisses me off so bad I can't see straight.
I would take these little bastards and torture them to within an inch of their lives and then do the same thing to their parents.

I can't believe that the vandals are adults. Must be teenagers, who by definition, do not understand the consequences of their actions, or even the actions themselves.

This does not make it less of a crime, of course--or mean that they shouldn't be caught and punished.

I just can't see any possible reason for an adult to do this.

The Usual Suspects...

No doubt the morons who did this are among that class of mental giants that you hear about vandalizing cars every so often for no other reason than the cars happened to be there at the time. (Read: Brain-dead teenagers ) Slashing tires, breaking glass, scratching paint jobs, just because they're bored or brainless or (probably) both. I've had it happen to me and so have a lot of you out there i'm sure. I've never understood it. Let's face it, they could be having a lot more fun by staying at home and spanking-the-monkey, 'yaknow? Anyway, i have always hoped that the same exact thing will happen to them some day. What comes around goes around.
While the chances of these morons actually getting caught is probably slim at best, let's hope that these brain-dead SOB's are eventually made to pay some hefty fines and maybe do some jail time ( with Bubba as a cellmate )over it.

Spirits

Standing on the worn stone courtyard outside the Gettysburg museum, the spot where Lincoln made his eloquent address, tears came to my eyes and the silent shouts of hundreds of brave departed soldiers leaped into my head. I could not stand there long, I felt a voyeur, someone stealing the breath of history.

How something so sacred could be destroyed by anyone amazes me. I cannot even think of a punishment worthy of such actions. I hope they find the people responsible, and shame them for their actions.

depicts said:

Standing on the worn stone courtyard outside the Gettysburg museum, the spot where Lincoln made his eloquent address, tears came to my eyes and the silent shouts of hundreds of brave departed soldiers leaped into my head. I could not stand there long, I felt a voyeur, someone stealing the breath of history.

How something so sacred could be destroyed by anyone amazes me. I cannot even think of a punishment worthy of such actions. I hope they find the people responsible, and shame them for their actions.

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Go stand on the battlefield itself at dusk in the summer, when the mists drift across the fields and all you can hear is the whispering of the grass. There's something still there, alright. And it's peaceful..as if the fighting is finished.

And whoever did this...I'm just sorry that those heavy pieces didn't fall ON them.

And Devil's Den...a place where there was such a massacre that blood literally flowed on the ground, I don't know how ANYONE could desecrate that place.

Not for the first time

What Preacherman didn't say nor did the article, was this is only the most recent damage to monuments within the park. There have been at least two other recent (less than 10 years) incidents. One involved breaking off pieces of monuments (swords and bayonets) and the other happened when a vandal (scum) (sorry for the un-THR moment there) poured oil on the marble base of several monuments. The last one took mega-bucks to fix. The only good news, if I remember correctly, they caught the scum. He had also damaged other Civil War memorials at Shiloh. http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/gettysburg.html for more info.

As mentioned in the above link, there has also been vandalism at other Civil War parks besides Gettysburg and Shiloh.

For more info check out www.gdg.org (Gettysburg Discussion Group, one of the longest running Civil War mailing lists)

paul

The Gettysburg Battlefield is Hallowed Ground.

As a descendent of a Civil War soldier, I am deeply hurt by this travesty. It offends the Memory and Honor of thousands of Americans, blue and gray.

If the oxygen wasters are ever caught I would propose that as part of the punishment they be left overnight on some of the hardest fought battlefields.
Maybe by morning they would have a bit of understanding about their irreverence.

I'm with Preacherman on this... I hope we find these " 'ers soon... "

This is very sad!

Maybe it is the fault of our schools, not teaching children respect... Maybe it is the fault of our parents not showing respect. Whoever's fault it is that yielded vandals we need to address it... our Military Parks, especially GNMP, are indeed "hallowed ground" made so by so many dying to give freedom to their decendants. That some of these decendants would desecrate this ground makes me sad.

I'm getting real tired of this type of thing happening- It seems to be all over, from a battlefield, to a cemetary, to general property- I agree with most that it is probably the work of teenagers- But why should we be surprised since these little darlings are constantly reinforced to express themselves in order to enhance their "self esteem"- I know I'd like the chance to give them some enhancement of a different sort and it wouldn't be pretty- Wanna bet that if they catch these village idiots that the parents will go to bat for them instead of taking part in their discipline?- My Father dealt with me in the old fashioned way when I screwed up- I was taught at an early age that there were consequences for breaking rules- Are those that are responsible for the upbringing of these self centered dolts doing them any favors?- How do they cope with the harsh reality of life when they finally get out into the real world and misbehavior is treated entirely different than what they have previously experienced?- It must come as a big shock when they find out they are not the center of the world- The good part is that they either wise up real fast or the big house with a cell mate named Bubba awaits-

Wanna bet that if they catch these village idiots that the parents will go to bat for them instead of taking part in their discipline?

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Maybe it is the fault of our schools, not teaching children respect

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(Read: Brain-dead teenagers )

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I would take these little bastards and torture them to within an inch of their lives and then do the same thing to their parents.

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I'm 25 years old. That puts me well ahead of being a teen, but I still get looked at as if I'm in that age bracket by many people. My friends age in the range of 17 on up. None of us will claim to be angels, but some people sure do love to blame things on younger people. Yeah, teens do a whole load of stupid things. Not all of us are like that though, and it gets overlooked way too much. If someone pulled down a statue of someone who fought for gun control for example, when the press wrote about it and said it was probably some gun nut, everyone here would be up in arms. But anything that is stupid and irresponsible has to be done by kids.

There's the thread going on now about that stupid toilet paper bludgeoning. Is that any less senseless? Busting up a statue is disrespectful, but that jerk took a life over some toilet paper. How old was he? Certainly a little past his teen years. Any thread on here bashing people because of race or religeon would get locked just like that, but it's ok to rip on someone for being half as old as you I guess.

But as for this thread's topic, it is disgusting what some people will do when they get bored. Who do you know today who would take part in a war the way war was fought back then? People of ALL ages need more reminders about what our ancesters have gone through. People today commit suicide or kill each other if they cant afford the new iPOD or buy a pair of Mercedes roadsters. If we'd think a bit more about where we came from, we'd all be a little better people.

Tecumseh said:

This kind of ???? pisses me off to no end. People do not realize how disrespectful this is to the Warriors who fought at these battles for the freedom we have today. This is disgraceful and shameful.

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No doubt and I agree with you that this is shameful, but playing the freedom card here is just ludicrous. The South lost their freedom because of the Civil War.

No help for the tyranny

Preacher,

As I recall this is NPS ground. NPS makes it a crime to possess, carry or employ a weapon in self defense. While I personally feel that this was a shameful act, I think it is a more shameful act that the government agency entrusted with the maintenance and management of this property on our behalf acts in the manner it does.

I have slain quite a few electrons to try and get the NPS ban on self defense overturned, and it has been incredibly frustrating. Frankly, ANY kind of assistance to the NPS in ANY way undercuts our efforts to get them to recognize the rights to self defense, and to bear arms.

We should not condone NPS' behavior towards us by offering them any kind of assistance unless or until they agree to strike their regulations criminalizing self defense.

Revisionist drivel

"The South lost their [sic] freedom because of the Civil War."

The "freedom" to enslave others? My, what a tragic loss.........

Such misinformed self-pity is an affront to the combatants on BOTH sides.

Of all the monuments to deface, why would someone do that to something that represents the worst(best?) battle of the civil war? It's really pretty sad to see this.

shaldag said:

I can't believe that the vandals are adults. Must be teenagers, who by definition, do not understand the consequences of their actions, or even the actions themselves.

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*Cough*

Generalizations aside-

Whoever did this should be punished severly. They effectivly spat in the face of everyone who sacrificed during the civil war.

I hate it when people disrespect like this, thats one of few things that really pisses me off.

The South lost their [sic] freedom because of the Civil War."

The "freedom" to enslave others? My, what a tragic loss.........

Such misinformed self-pity is an affront to the combatants on BOTH sides.

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Great here we go again.

the topic of the thread is defaced monuments not what you believe the cause of the war was.

A discussion on that topic usually lasts about half a page.

Gettysburg is a sacred place for both sides, the blood lines mingled on the ground many many years ago.

Don't further disrespect the memories of the fallen with "we were right you were slave owners" comments

if the shoe fits...

QUOTE: My friends age in the range of 17 on up. None of us will claim to be angels, but some people sure do love to blame things on younger people. Yeah, teens do a whole load of stupid things. UNQUOTE

It had to be teens. Responsible adults know better AND have better things to do with their time and energy. This is exactly why teems are suffering the majority of the suspicion in these posts. They do a lot of stupid things, before thinking, without thinking, and that's the reason why they're not entitled to "grown up" responsibilities like the unsupervised use of or the actual owning of, firearms. Thank God for that. Can you imagine what these brain-dead morons might have thought up had they had unsupervised access to guns? We might want to rethink the minimum age for allowing them to get drivers licenses too...like 21 maybe. Hopefully by that age most of them will have grown up, but if they want to do things like this, then keep them all on a 'Mommys Mall Harness' till they're 21.

But the shoe doesnt fit everyone. No one charteristic fits every group of people. That type of behavior is called sterotyping.

More examples from this now well off topic thread:

Young people cant drive. A few years ago I replaced my friend's dad's transmission pan after he decided when he left the bar next to the train tracks that it would be faster to come home via the rails... He was about 50 yrs old. Not only could he not safely handle driving, but obviously couldnt drink responsibly, another thing that kids cant do safely according to those no longer so young.

Southerners are all upset they cant slaves. There were many more reasons for the Civil War than slaves. Book and even tv can tell you that. Saying that the South is upset that they cant enslave other people and ignoring all the other reasons why the South chose to leave the Union is very close minded and also an uninformed opinion.

Young people cant be trusted alone with firearms. I have a certain family member that likes to have a few before going out to hunt. He's in his 40's and can buy any gun he pleases. Almost every year I see him take shots he cant handle and have seen wounded deer run away, and a few were put down later in the day since it's hard to run missing a leg. He tries to shoot out of the car and at game out of season. My brother and I were taught to be responsible and respectful hunters, and we've hunted since we were 12 years old. Who is more dangerous and disrespectful here?

If you hate teens so much, I'd be interested in your opinions of other groups of people. People of any age, race, background can be worthless scumbags, but you should never blame an entire group for the actions of a few.

Randy