Unknown Soldier 577

Many years ago, I reenacting friend of mine was walking through Gettysburg National Cemetery contemplating the meaning of the sacrifice of the men interred there. He found himself standing in the section where the Unknown dead were buried and realized he was standing in front of grave marker 577.

He made it his routine to visit this marker whenever he visits the cemetery as his way to honor the sacrifice of the unknown Union soldier. Years later, before I began a trip to Gettysburg, he asked me to stop by as well and pay my respects as a favor to him.

For anyone who has not been to that hallowed ground, it is strangely peaceful. Tall, mature trees surround the grassy opening that is dominated by the Soldiers' National Monument. The graves are laid out in a semi-circle with sections for each of the states, and sections of unknown graves interspersed.

Standing in front of that marker, I found myself wondering about who that man was. Where was he from? Did his family ever find out his fate? Did he leave behind a wife and children? Was his end quick?

Of course, I have no answers to those questions. Whomever he was in life is lost and replaced with a number. To me, he represents the tens of thousands of men who shared the same fate, to be buried far from home and family, to have his identity taken from him forever.

Today, it is hard to imagine that a husband, son, brother, or father could go off to war and simply vanish. With no identification tags, unless someone who knew him fall, his family would never know the fate of their loved one. How heart-breaking, how painful it must have been for those families to fill that hole in their lives.

To this day, every time I visit the cemetery, I go visit the grave of Unknown Soldier 577 to pay my respects. Not to that one man himself, but as a symbol of all those men who answered their country's call and went to war, only suffer that fate.

If you are in the area and passing through the cemetery, stop by and pay your respects and remember all the unknowns of all our wars.

*Special thank you to my friend, Phil Spaugy for taking the photo of the marker.