Do we know the stories?

If you don’t know your American history (well, shame on you…) it’s important to understand that history comes alive when we learn the stories, and when we remember that everything we read about happened to regular folk – people very much like us.

Fort Barrancas on NAS Pensacola is a great example. Built by the Spanish, then added on to throughout the 1800’s and even during WW2, it is a uniquely intact example of an American fort.

It was erected – along with Fort Pickens and Fort McRee – as part of a three point defense designed to work together. During the Civil War, Union forces held Pickens and the Confederates occupied both Barrancas and McRee. McRee was eventually abandoned after extensive Federal bombardment, while Barrancas was barely damaged.

Barrancas must have been a miserable place to wear those thick woolen uniforms, parade, and man massive guns in the heat and humidity of Florida’s Gulf Coast. But Sunday afternoon, showing two very enthusiastic children a huge slice of history, it was a great place for exploration and imagination.

Once again, David and Beks made us proud by asking great questions, patiently listening to the stories, and taking in every square inch of this remarkable place.

I have this hunch that if more of us took the trouble to learn these stories from history, then maybe we would gain a greater appreciation for what America is, what freedom really means, and how we should respond when fellow citizens consign themselves even to figurative Barrancases and Pickenses and begin to lob cannonballs at one another in the name things we barely understand.

Peace – and I mean that in every way, we both do – DEREK