Few places in America exude such solemnity as Gettysburg National Military Park. No matter where you are — at Devil’s Den, Little Round Top, or the Bloody Angle — you realize that you’re standing at the very spots where men died for their country. The feeling of being on hallowed ground is overwhelming. It’s inescapable.

I first went to Gettysburg on a family vacation when I was a teenager. I returned years later with my own family. Our eldest daughter, then 13, suggested the trip. She wrote a report on Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in school, and wanted to see where his 20th Maine made a heroic stand on Little Round Top. So on a warm day in June, 1996, we made our way through the woods of Little Round Top and found the monument to the 20th Maine. It’s actually quite a humble spot. Chamberlain himself declined to have a monument built for him. I think that says a lot about the man’s character.

Thousands of visitors come to Gettysburg each year. Some wish to drink in the history, or, like our daughter, connect with a particular hero. Others might discover the places where their ancestors fought. And of course there are always the reenactors.

This year, however, politics may be raising its ugly head during this weekend’s 154th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Now people want to protest Gettysburg reenactments. Seriously!?! Wasn't our first Civil War bad enough? https://t.co/JWlNYxvyd9

— Jarrett Stepman (@JarrettStepman) June 29, 2017