I hope most readers will disregard Darryl Levings’ guest column on Confederate monuments. (May 21, 15A, “Spare us the Confederate monuments”)
You must consider America warts and all. No nation is perfect, but we must strive for it.
I have read history for a half-century. My first reading of deeper history was William L. Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” in seventh grade. I love going to historic sites. The Civil War fascinates me.
You can read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” but then you must read about Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, George Armstrong Custer, J.E.B. Stuart, John S. Mosby, William T. Sherman and Stonewall Jackson. Individual battles also are compelling, especially Gettysburg.
You should not Talabinize history. In my work as TV journalist, I always thought news should be the beginning of history. This isn’t happening today.
We must understand that a lack of historical knowledge will hurt us in the long run.
David W. Anderson
Olathe
Note from KBJ: Right on, brother. Why can't people accept that the Civil War is over? Are we doomed to keep fighting it in perpetuity?
