Dennis, I'm sure you will agree that "sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander."

Do you ever recall occasions in which intense Southern Confederate partisan views were put forth on this board?

I do, but I have come to not have a problem with them. Folks are entitled to their opinion, as much as I may find it personally distasteful, such as the constant drum beat of what evil men Lincoln, Grant, Sherman were. (This subject comes around almost on schedule, like a city bus.)

Well, I personally don't believe they were evil men, but I now let opinions like that ride, even though I don't share them.

Lots of nasty things happened 140 years ago, and a lot of families, not just those from the South, lost as much or more than yours did. One Vermont family, for example, lost 5 sons and a cousin in the same volley. I'm sure this wasn't unique on either side.

But that was then and this is now. Comes a time, at some point, when historians just have to be able to discuss these matters dispassionately without wearing their "hearts on their sleeves." If one tends to flip out every time one reads something they viscerally disagree with, well, maybe there are some issues that need to be addressed, like, is this really good for my blood pressure?

I am not speaking of you specifically, but everyone in general, on both sides of the conflict.

Having said all that, will in the future try to be a little more appreciative of the sensitivities of those holding diametrically opposing viewpoints.

But getting back to your original question, I was just commenting on how fantastic it must've been to march in the Grand Review, considering all that those men had been through, and how satisfying a close it must've been to that particular chapter of their lives.

I knew that Chase, and a few others on this board, may have shared that sentiment, one which I didn't think needed to be relegated to a private email like it was some kind of off-color joke that needed to be told out behind the barn.