How disappointing it was to read that congressional Republicans have cut funds for Civil War battlefield preservation from $70 million to a paltry $10 million (News, Oct. 29). Such an action gives new meaning to the phrase “penny wise, pound foolish.”
Once located in pristine rural locations, many of America’s Civil War battlefields are in imminent danger of urban encroachment. Parking lots and fast-food restaurants now occupy ground stained with the blood of heroes.
Fortunately several non-profit organizations have sprung up in recent years to address this problem. The most successful is the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (APCWS). But these organizations can only do so much. Without significant help from the government, many Civil War sites will be lost to the bulldozer within the next generation. The gallant men, north and south, who fought on these fields deserve better from their descendants.
