Veterans Visit National Parks for Free (and some Antietam pictures)

We visited the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland and learned that veterans get access to National Parks and other Federal Public Lands for free. Forever.

Last week (September 17^th) was the 161^st anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. We have visited many times. Antietam, located next to the small town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, is my favorite Civil War battlefield. Antietam has historical significance in that the battle has a combined casualty count of 22,727 killed, wounded, and missing. That makes Antietam (or Sharpsburg to the Confederates) the highest one-day casualty count in American military history. It was the impetus for Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which changed the Federal cause for fighting the war from preserving the Union to ending slavery. Moreover, it is an easy battlefield to view the terrain and understand the flow of the battle. Climb the observation tower. It’s worth it. And finally, the battlefield park is more than a park or a tourist attraction. It’s hallowed ground where thousands of Americans fought and died. That being said, Antietam is also a beautiful place to go for a walk and enjoy the fall weather.

I was going to talk about the battle and the remodel of the Visitor Center. Also, I wanted to point out how cool it is to visit a battlefield as near to its anniversary as possible. That way you have good odds of similar weather and you get an idea of what the foliage looked like at the time of the battle. Instead, I wanted to make sure that you are aware of the new program that allows free access to active military, veterans, and Gold Star family members.

It was time to renew my annual National Park Pass. I was thinking that I’d score on that senior discount this year (one of the few advantages of getting old). When we walked up to the counter and told the Ranger on duty what we wanted, he asked if I was a veteran. I am, I said, and so is my wife. He then went on to explain that since last November, the National Park Service has been providing free lifetime access to NPS and other Federal lands to active military, veterans, and Gold Star families. Would I like an “America the Beautiful” lifetime pass for free? Yes, please.

Here are the official rules. To get your pass you need a Veteran ID. You can obtain a digital Veteran ID from the VA’s website. (When they started producing those, I had no idea. I’ve obviously been asleep at the wheel on these things over the years.) The NPS is not supposed to accept your DD214 as proof of your veteran status. They need to see your Veteran ID. To obtain the Veteran ID you can use a copy of your DD214. Sound bureaucratic? Hey, it’s the government, and if you are a veteran then this Catch-22 logic should make you feel right at home. But it’s worth the trouble. If you have your Veteran ID, then not only can you use it to get a lifetime pass to National Parks, but there are a bunch of other perks and discounts out there for veterans (like the ten percent discount at Cabela’s). So get your Veteran ID from the VA website (links below), then go in person to any NPS site and pick up your lifetime pass.

Enjoy some pictures of the battlefield from our trip last Wednesday. If you are looking for background on the Battle of Antietam, I have “Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam” by Stephen Sears on my shelf. Get out and enjoy a historic site while the weather is nice. Maybe I’ll see you at Valley Forge next week. 😉

Link: Information on National Park Passes

Link: VA website to obtain a Veteran ID

Spring has sprung in Maryland!

I knew it would get here if we just waited long enough. Spring is finally here. I’m sure you’ve noticed a reduction in the number of posts over the winter. That is because I turned up the burner on the book and haven’t really been out to any new sites for several months. Nevertheless, my way of checking in with you will be to provide a weather report from Antietam and bring you up-to-date on the writing project.

Antietam by Bicycle

The last post I told you about going for a winter hike at Antietam Battlefield and showed you some pictures of the trails covered in snow. Well, how things change in just a few weeks. Yesterday was our first day over 70 degrees (Thursday it was in the middle 60s). I feel like a groundhog coming out of hibernation. Thursday I took a short bike ride on the C&O Canal. Yesterday, my lovely wife Sheila and I went for a bicycle ride around Antietam.

We parked by the Poffenberger Farm (Auto tour stop number 2) and rode down to Burnside’s Bridge and back. There are a couple of decent hills on the battlefield, but nothing that the average recreational bicycle rider can’t handle. The only thing that made it hard was the fact that we haven’t been working out all winter. Bicycling is a great way to tour the battlefield. It is quiet, you can take in the terrain, and enjoy the warm weather. This is a great time of year for it too, before the summer crowds arrive. We know how lucky we are to live so close to sites like Antietam, Gettysburg, and the C&O Canal. But when you are heading out on vacation, plan a stopover and bring your bicycles. ;-)

When we left the battlefield, we drove out the east side of the park on Mansfield Ave. This country road winds through farmland and intersects with Keedysville Road at the upper bridge over Antietam Creek. This area is outside of the park boundaries. It is the bridge that some of the Union forces, under Hooker and Mansfield, used to cross the Antietam the night before the battle. We saw a man working with a metal detector in a farmer’s field. It all reminded me that the Civil War was not just limited to the area claimed by the National Park Service.

Book Project Update

The book project on the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion continues. We now hope to get the book “on the street” sometime in May or June. Again, as it is my first book project, it is hard to estimate how long it will take to accomplish our intermediate goals. I’m currently working on the sixth of nine chapters. This one concerns fighting in Italy prior to Anzio. As I’ve said before, I wish someone would write a book on how to write a history book. I have started to keep a spreadsheet with daily average writing goals. This seems to be the perfect cure for procrastination, sometimes misidentified as “writer’s block.” Unfortunately, life does get in the way and that makes it hard to estimate completion. The whole family had a bout of the flu the week before last, which kept me from writing for almost a week. And then there was the weekend festival that was my 50th birthday. I’m sure that right now, anyone reading this is probably thinking “quit messing around and finish the book!” Well, I’m right there with you. But even though we want to get to the destination, I’m really enjoying the journey. I only wish I had started sooner.

In December, I sent out a survey letter to a list of surviving WWII veterans who served in the 509th. I’m happy to say that I’ve been in contact with about a half dozen of them. With a couple, I have had lengthy written correspondence or telephone conversations. I’m sure I will have more. I cannot begin to describe what a privilege it is to have these veterans share their stories and pictures with me. I only hope that the book will do them the honor and convey the gratitude that I hope for.

The last bit of news is that Sheila is starting to work on a companion website for the book. We will post some of the primary source documents, additional pictures, some video clips, and appendix articles that compliment the book. Stay tuned, more to follow.

New Years Roundup

I know I have been remiss in keeping up my blog. An error that I will endeavor to rectify. I hope your New Year is off to a great start. Mine is. I’ve been diligently working on my book project. However, I thought I might take an afternoon off to write about that a few miscellaneous items.

Who says you can’t walk a battlefield in the wintertime?
Okay, I know I did in an earlier post. Nevertheless, this past Saturday morning we walked the Snavely Ford Trail at Antietam Battlefield. This easy hiking trail is under 2 miles. It begins and ends at the parking lot above the Burnside bridge and most of the trail is beside Antietam creek. It was beautiful. We had a good ten inches of snow in that area two days prior. Only a few people had walked it before us. We did not need them, but we actually could have used our snowshoes. The point here is that although the area is historic, hallowed ground…our National Parks like Antietam, Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, and the C&O Canal are wonderful recreation opportunities. Get off the sofa, get out of the house, and take a hike! It’s a great cure for the winter blues. (or winter grouchiness, whichever the case may be.) If you are not here in Maryland to enjoy the trail yourself, here’s some pictures for you.

Learning how to be a writer…
One of the best things my dad ever did was to teach me how to read. When I was a little kid, still in elementary school, he’d take me to the public library to get books. He told me that whatever you wanted to know, someone had written a book about it. I used to think that was true, but unfortunately I have never found a book that tells you how to be a popular history writer. I wish Steven Ambrose had written about his methods of research, organization, writing habits, etc.

This is my first book. Therefore, there is a learning curve. I have never written anything this long before, and the majority of my other writing was done in a more academic style. I hope that I will do the veterans of the 509th Parachute Infantry justice. While I will not disclose any of the work until it is finished, I can talk about the process, which is exciting. Well, if you are a history geek like me, it is exciting. I’ve gathered my research through several trips to the AHEC and NARA. I’ve corresponded and conducted telephone interviews with several veterans of the 509th, which is an honor. They have been very open, forthright, and have even shared photographs that I have not seen in archives or other sources.

I’m enjoying this process so much that Sheila and I are already talking about the subject of the next project. It might be something during the Vietnam period, or Army Aviation, of which I am intimately familiar having served as an instructor pilot. A veteran of the unit suggested the 509th project to me and I am forever grateful for him steering me toward this compelling story. I know there are others out there.

I’ve completed the first draft of about a third of this book. I have a sense of urgency to finish the project by the time of the next 509th reunion this summer. I’ll share with my fellow would-be writers the perfect cure for writer’s block (procrastination). Just make up a spreadsheet with a column for the day and one for the number of words you wrote. Pick an average number of words a day you want to write like 500 or 1,000 (harder than it sounds). If you fall behind your goal average, you don’t get a day off. Treat it like a job or that long-term project will never get finished. So if you don’t hear from me, I’m in the office working, where I’m supposed to be. ;-)