On a recent visit to Gettysburg Battlefield, the licensed battlefield guide reminded our group of the Civil War novel, Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. My interest was caught immediately by the opening chapter, "The Spy," which focuses on a lone rider, a former actor and non-military man, who scouted the movement of Union troops for Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Robert E. Lee's second in command.

The thought of this "hired gun" being an important part of the Confederate war cabinet sent me on a mission to find out more about how the military observed the enemy and communicated their movements during the Civil War.

Shortly after Wilbur and Orville Wright's first successful flight in 1903, the brothers approached the "war department" for additional support; in return, the Wrights promised to share what they were learning. In 1908, the U.S. owned only one plane that was not in very good condition, and they did not warm to the Wrights' suggestion.

My most recent cemetery trip was to visit the former inhabitants of my hundred-and-twenty-year-old house. I never knew them but they lived here a very long time, and I knew that Henry Brevoort Towle (1864-1926) was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. One beautiful Sunday this past October, I journeyed to Woodlawn and found Henry's grave. Of course, with Henry I found several other people who had lived in my house. My "family" expanded with this discovery.

Then last week I received an e-mail about "green burials" from Elizabeth Fournier, a mortician and funeral director in Oregon, and her information gave me pause. While I love walking through a cemetery's park-like lanes, seeing the statuary, and reading the headstones, I never gave much thought to what lies beneath. Nor had I considered the idea that as more Americans die, community planners might have better uses for our land than more cemeteries.

In many cases, our towns and cities were originally planned for people who traveled by horse or carriage. In more "modern" communities, the streets were designed for many fewer cars or perhaps electrified streetcars. Our bridges are old; our highways need to be re-built; and we are a country in great need of more walkable towns or better infrastructure for public transportation.

If you go back to examine government involvement in some type of health care for the poor, the elderly, or the injured, we would need to first consider the workmen's compensation laws that were enacted starting in the beginning of the 20th century.

The White House Christmas dinner featured two turkeys that were killed by one of the President's secretaries, Lawrence Richey. Richey also gave the White House staff half of his other killings, three pheasants and two mallard ducks. "Mr. Richey is by no means a frail man, but when he entered the White House with all those birds hung over his shoulders, he had some difficulty walking." (The New York Times, 12-24-29)

While some of the measures are no different from safety measures today, some are unique to the time period. A 1929 article in The New York Times (12-6-29) quoted some of the suggestions made by the fire commissioner to prevent fire dangers:

• Post guards at entrances to stop persons from carrying lighted cigars and cigarettes into the building.
• Instruct all floor-walkers to stop all smoking by smokers.
• Do not place paper shades over electric lights.
• Organize and maintain a fire brigade.

Robbery then and now was a problem, but in 1939 a store executive at Woolworth five-and-ten-cent store located in Times Square went above and beyond the call of duty to foil a hold-up.

Though Lincoln certainly had his hands full, the press of the day did seem to give the Lincoln family some privacy when it came to their holiday celebration. A check of the New York Times of the era showed scant mention of Lincoln and Christmas, though there were certainly some stories that give us a flavor of the time.

In 1861, eight months after the Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter and the Civil War began in earnest, the news reports of December 25, 1861 were subdued. There is mention of the fact that there is little news because of Christmas, and that "extensive preparations have been made in all the camps for the celebration of Christmas...The President and Cabinet intend making a trip down the Potomac on board the new steam sloop-of-war Pensacola." (NYT 12-25-1861). There is no mention of Lincoln's family or specific activities at the White House.

One hundred years ago people had the same desire to see, to think about, to be entertained by stories, but of course, there were no films, not even silent movies. There were, however, cycloramas. These were panoramic paintings, usually of historical events, that were designed to be viewed by an audience that could move about on a central platform to examine the enormous painting that encircled them. During each viewing, a guide would tell the story of what was happening in the painting, often with musical accompaniment. The overall effect was to make audiences feel they were in the midst of the action.

I found the perfect gem to share, a quote from Will Rogers, as I flew back to New York from Colorado where I'd been visiting my mother.

Humorist Rogers (1879-1935) once said: "Why pay to go to the circus when you can watch Congress for free?"

Those of you who follow me regularly (on the Huffington Post or on my own site, America Comes Alive!) know that I think this country and our U.S. government are as good as it gets...I consider myself fortunate to be an American. But regardless of what side of the Congressional aisle you favor, there are moments when Will Rogers' quote rings true.
So I was going to share a light moment with readers and call it a day.

But then all my plans for the blog changed.

Jim Crow laws, enacted in southern states by the turn of the 20th century prohibited blacks and whites from "comingling" on trains, streetcars, and buses. Perhaps because the airline industry was new there no similar laws in place for air travel, but nonetheless, it was not easy for an African-American to buy a plane ticket. If a black person did manage to buy one, the airline personnel attempted to seat them separately so that white people were not sitting next to them. (Planes must not have been as crowded then!)

Being there on the Gettysburg Battlefield, I understood service and sacrifice to one's country in a way that I have never understood it before. I could tell you this clarity arose because of the impressive new visitors' center at Gettysburg, or I could say it was the beautifully restored cyclorama of the three-day battle that inspired my awe (more about that next week), or I could tell you it was the marvelous descriptions provided by the licensed battlefield guide who accompanied our group, but none of those explanations would be adequate.

What gave me chills and put a prayer of gratitude in my heart was overlooking the fields where the fighting took place and thinking of the Union soldiers defended our nation, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a line that stretched for more than a mile along Cemetery Ridge. Despite empty stomachs, inadequate footwear, and wearing scratchy wool uniforms in July--not to mention the fatigue of two years of fighting--those Union soldiers fought to maintain the integrity of the union. They were learning firsthand something that we all too often forget: that the future of freedom is never certain.

It has not.

"People have become complacent," says Margaret Lewin, M.D. F.A.C.P., and medical director of Cinergy Health, a health insurance company that stresses preventive health care. "Today's families are too young to remember the fatalities and disabilities that can result from influenza."

The first use of DNA found at a crime scene occurred in Britain in 1986. A professor by the name of Alec Jeffreys was assisting the British police in solving two separate rape-murders. In each case, a 15-year-old girl was raped and killed, one in 1983 and another in 1986. The two murders were similar in pattern leading investigators to believe that the cases were linked.