Columns

With Thanksgiving next week, it’s hard to think what to be thankful with the way 2020 has been. We’ve been dealing with COVID, elections, and who knows what else. 2020 hasn’t been the best year it seems.

The Civil War saw neighbor fighting against neighbor, family against family, and brother against brother. In Arkansas, like so many other states that disintegrated into battlefields, Americans bled and died fighting other Americans. Like other southern states, most Arkansas troops signed up to fight for the Confederacy though there were a sizable number of Arkansans who fought in the Union Army. One Union soldier, William Perkins Black, became noted for his courage in battle while in Arkansas. Black was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for actions at the Battle of Pea Ridge, one of the few American troops ever awarded the nation’s highest military honor for actions taken in Arkansas.

With the craziness of the election, it’s easy to forget Veterans Day coming up on November 11. Veterans Day is meant to honor military veterans. These veterans fought for our freedom. We still have the right to vote because of their service to the country.