You're right, Pam. We honor them by studying their exploits and the suffering they sometimes endured. Uncle Frank was wounded at Spotsylvania in early May, 1864. He was hit in the left shoulder by a Minie ball, which then broke his left scapula and ranged downward, coming out near his spine. He was sent home to recuperate, and two months later was captured at Roswell July 11, being caught up in the opening moves of the attacks on Atlanta. He was sent to Marietta, then Nashville and Louisville, ending up at Camp Douglas several days later. We all know the conditions POWs there went through. He was paroled in late June, 1865. His pension application describes his wound, blaming the condiions and treatment at Camp Douglas for the rheumatism he ended up with. During the last twelve years of his life he was confined to his bed, being almost unable to walk, or to use his left arm. Each year after his death until 1924 when she died, his widow's applications for his pension got shorter, until finally she said, "He went to the war and it killed him." She got the pension that year. Uncle Alex was captured October 19, 1864, in the retreat from Cedar Creek. He was not wounded, but spent almost eight months at Point Lookout. Later on he became almost blind. I have read this was common among POWs. Perhaps it was some kind of infection, or prolonged exposure to bright sunlight. They lived outside, marching and fighting, for almost four years. It is hard to imagine what they went through. We study their stories to try and understand a part of it. Stan