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Contact: Kim Coons, 423-752-5213 x139
Fort Oglethorpe, GA: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park invites the public to attend a series of special programs conducted Memorial Day weekend, May 23-24. On Saturday, May 23, at 2 pm, a special two-hour car caravan tour will leave Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center to explore the stories of some of the soldiers that were killed in the fighting at Chickamauga. The battle ended the bloodiest summer of the Civil War, a summer which saw death touch every community in the country and produce "a nation of suffering." The field of Chickamauga became one massive graveyard, prompting one newspaper to call it "a regular Golgotha" –a place of bones. This program will focus on the lives and untimely deaths of soldiers caught up in the terrible bloodletting at Chickamauga. Participants will also explore how the country continues to feel the impact of that generation's loss. Visitors are encouraged to bring along a bottle of water and a folding chair. On Sunday, May 24, at 2 pm, a special one-hour program will be conducted at Point Park, located atop historic Lookout Mountain.This program will explore memorialization, its ties with the creation and tradition of Memorial Day, and how Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was created to be a living memory for those that contested these battlegrounds.This program will begin at the New York Peace Monument, located inside Point Park. Participants are encouraged to bring a bottle of water and a lawn chair. Admission to Point Park is $3 per adult, age 16 and older;kids 15 and younger are free. |
Last updated: May 16, 2015