A Gettysburg visit brings history to life

ThANKS for the great article by Mary McNamara on Gettysburg, Pa. [“Listen, Children, to the Far-Off Thunder,” July 3]. My husband, Hall, and I just returned from there. We were amazed at the 400-plus monuments and rich history of the park. And don’t forget to visit the new World War II monument in Washington, D.C. It is beautiful.

Sue Wilson

Arcadia

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HAVING visited Gettysburg National Military Park in early May, I recommend it to every American old enough to appreciate it. However, taking very young children, as the author of the article did, seems inappropriate to me. Gettysburg is not a playground.

I may be old-fashioned, but it does not seem right to take very young children for a frolic in the grass where brave Union troops -- 23,000 of whom were killed or maimed there -- turned back the tide of slavery forever.

Leif Johnson

Irvine