A heads up for all DUers: "The Civil War" by Ken Burns begins again at 8 p.m. EDT tonight.

[Faygo Kid]

I will surely weep again at the end for Sullivan Ballou.

The Sesquicentennial has been virtually ignored, except by the New York Times.

I shall not ignore it. More to come. Please, my fellow DUers, acknowledge this extraordinary history.

I know you will.

[charlie and algernon]

1. I have a firm hold on my calendar for July 1st-3rd, 2013

The 150th anniversary of Gettysburg. I went to the 130th in 1993, but I was still a young kid. I wouldn't miss 2013 for the world.

[Drale]

2. Own it and

currently re watching The National Parks Americas Best Idea.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Anyone who has not seen it.....you are missing out on a par excellence.

uh-huh...uh-huh...oh, yeah

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. It is an amazing and wonderful work; his best, I believe.

The music alone will make it worth watching.

Recommended.

[Condem]

5. I'll be here, Faygo.

Been waitin' my whole life for the 150th.

[WillyT]

6. I Used To Think We "Won" That War...

I used to think we "won" World War II...

I'm not so sure any longer.

I'm not so sure you can ever rid the world of bigots and fascists.

You sure as hell cannot shame them anymore.

:shrug:

[proud patriot]

7. Woo Hoo ! DVR'd

Thank you for posting

[pokerfan]

8. Lot of supporting material up on pbs.com

http://www.pbs.org/civilwar


Charleston

[femmocrat]

9. K&R Watching it as I type....

Even better the second time around!

[MissDeeds]

10. One of the best series ever on television

As soon as it became available, we bought it. It's a masterpiece that reveals the true human cost of the Civil War. "Ashokan Farewell" is incredibly moving, and don't even get me started on Sullivan Ballou's letter to Sarah.

K&R

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. Anyone who does not get at least a little teary during that

letter has a heart of stone. It is just that great.

[Zorro]

11. FWIW

The entire series is free to view if you have a blu-ray DVD/HDTV that supports streaming media AND belong to Amazon Prime.

[fishwax]

15. good to know -- thanks! n/t

[neverforget]

12. Thank you for telling me. I'm recording it. Thanks!

[jakestake]

13. I've been wanting to watch this, but I think I'll check to see if it's on netflix.

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. It IS available on Netflix! It's available for streaming too! Not just on DVD. n/t

[dgibby]

17. Wonderful film.

I had 3 great grandfathers and a great uncle who served in that war. My maternal g.grandfather fought for the Union, my father's people fought for the Confederacy. All of them lived in Virginia, but my maternal g.grandfather lived in Marshall Co, which became part of West Virginia when they seceeded from Virginia.

It was a time of great sacrifice and sorrow on both sides. Both of my paternal g. grandfather's were wounded, one of them at the battle of Cold Harbor.

My maternal g. grandfather wasn't wounded, but almost died from Typhoid fever, and was unable to get home to bury his two small sons and father-in-law who all died from bloody dysentery. The children both died on the same day, their grandfather a week later. I often wonder how my great grandmother survived the grief she must have felt.

I have the letters my great grandparents wrote to each other throughout the war, and they range from the mundane (are the cows producing?, did you harvest the wheat?, etc, to the heartbreaking news about the loss of the children and their maternal grandfather). My g.grandfather survived the war, but was killed at a neighbor's barn raising when a log crushed him to death.