I am writing this wearing my naive optimist hat, one I hope never to lose:

After a Civil War battle, Robert E. Lee said "it is well that was should be
so terrible, or we would grow too fond of it." As a military museum person,
I've always held this as a central tenant of my vocation.

The Unites States is so hawkish right now, people are not stopping to think
what war will mean, what war is like and the suffering that war brings.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee of CA voted against giving Bush unlimited war
powers, on the argument that we are rushing too quickly to war without
thought, and is now escorted by a bodyguard because of death threats. People
are itching for a war and for revenge without thinking of what it all means.

Thankfully, few of us alive today know the real horrors of war. I think it
is among the responsibilities of museums (especially military) to show what
war is really like. War isn't pretty and flag waving and clean missile
strikes with no friendly casualties. It's horrible, but that is forgotten so
easily. And if an exhibit or reenactment can make just a few people stop and
think for a few moments about what war is like and to work to find ways to
avoid another one, then it is all worth it.

I understand canceling reenactments right now, if only to keep from alarming
unknowing citizens in the area. But they do serve their purpose in showing
what war was like and the more accurate they are, the more likely they are
to jar and awaken a person. And as much as I'm sorry that Jim's wife was
shaken by the gunfight, in many ways that is the reaction we should be
striving for, so people walk away thinking twice about the reality and not
thinking battle is glorious. When the horribleness and pain of war is
forgotten, we are left with heroes and glory, things we love and would not
stop running towards.

At reenactments there will always be kids cheering, but hopefully as they
grow up they will change, and change because of fake, not real war. It is
the adults who are the target audience for lessons in the case of
reenactments.



Pamela Feltus
Curator
National Museum of American Jewish Military History
1811 R Street NW, Washington DC 20009
202-265-6280 x201

www.nmajmh.org







> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Lyons [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 4:19 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Reenactments and battles
>
>
> Which reminds me: several years ago, my wife wanted to see a
> reenactment of an Old West gunfight.  We stood perhaps 30 feet away,
> and rather than being thrilled she was terribly shaken by it.  It's
> one thing to see it on TV or the movie screen, but to actually be
> exposed to the loud blast and smell of the gun powder was something
> much more personal.
>
> -Jim
> --
> -Jim Lyons
>
>

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