Today we visited Andersonville, the site of the Confederate POW Camp Sumter. It was a fascinating, yet disturbing day, to see how man can treat other men when they are in a position of power over them. The site is a museum and memorial for all US POW's and their history is depicted in several graphic displays, including a film.
The Museum is built in the grounds of the prison. We followed a ranger who explained some of the details of the camp. The reality of it was horrendous. Up to 33,000 men packed into 20.5 acres, That works out at about 1.5 square yards per man, barely enough to lie down in. There was no shelter, only what the prisoners could scrape together. In just over a year 13,000 men died there.
After Andersonville (by the way the little town is very nice, we got 2 coffee's at Patsy's for just $1.63) We drove south to Americus, past Souther Airfield. This is where Charles Lindberg bought his first plane and learned to fly, about 4 years prior to flying solo across the Atlantic. Here then was a symbol of hope that man can overcome adversity and climb to the heights.
Tomorrow we move on, we have decided to move west to Montgomery to find out more about the Civil Rights Movement.
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