Gettysburg

Saturday morning started early for our Class 40 Fellows. We were in the lobby, bags packed, checked out by 6:30am.
After breakfast, we were reintroduced to Colonel Steven Randolph, PhD., our guide for the day. Colonel Randolph is a native Californian, a retired Colonel from the United States Air Force and teaches Military Strategy for the National Defense University. He began with a presentation that equipped us for the place we were about to visit, Gettysburg. Right from the start, we knew this was no ordinary tour from some ordinary tour guide. After the bus arrived, we embarked on the two hour drive to Gettysburg. For the drive, the Colonel offered us an opportunity to deepen our knowledge of Gettysburg by playing a video of an educational documentary about the battle. We stopped in town, took a quick “Bio-Break” and headed to our first stop.

High above the trees, in an observation tower, the fellows took their first look over the battlefield.


After waiting for Dr. Crabb to catch his breath, we turned to hear Colonel Randolph begin to paint the scene in our minds. From his words, the soldiers rose from the ground and the scenery melted into a topographic map of troughs and crests, defensible positions and tactical advantage points. We looked at that ground for the first time as if we were the Generals on the battlefield. He gave us the context of their situations, the blind approach of General Lee vs. the well structured flow of information to General Mead; thanks to the recently resigned General F.J. Hooker’s gift for setting up an effective infrastructure. Leadership lessons anybody?

A powerful part of Colonel Randolph’s tour was entering Gettysburg Cemetery. He asked us to respect the fallen with silence; we did just that, for him and for all of the soldiers that made the ultimate sacrifice. We didn’t know these men personally, but our hearts are now heavy with thoughts of them.

Another impactful stop was a hike on Little Round Top, where Colonel Chamberlain of the Union army succeeded in holding his line. For those not familiar with this success, it was the turning point for the Union army that would not have happened without Chamberlain, a highly respected, brave soldier to say the least.

While the Union had Little Round Top as a defining moment, the Confederate Army had Pickett’s Charge. This represented the courageous nature of the Rebel Soldiers who charged a fortified position, through open ground, all the while under heavy fire. This backbreaking loss exemplified the horrific casualties of this war.

Class 40 decided to avoid the bloodloss and found common ground to solve our differences.

Then, when the fun was over, we walked the historic charge.

It is impossible to tell the whole story and, in fact, more words would not serve justice to the experiences. Instead of trying to replicate the experience here in detail, we’ll simply share an unequivocal truth from the day: the desire of all of us to not only understand what happened there that day, but why…

From the Civil War memorial at Gettysburg Cemetery-

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion...” – Abraham Lincoln (an Excerpt from the Gettysburg address)


Afterwards, we stopped for dinner at the Cozy Restaurant, the restaurant that entertains all the media when the President is at Camp David. We had a wonderful buffet for dinner and thanked Col. Randolph for his knowledge, experience, and time he gave to Class 40. Col. Randolph did make the statement, “The past years classes have been good, but this one is the best.” Once again confirming, “The sun rises and falls on Class 40”.
Finally, we had a very quiet bus ride home, the movie Gettysburg was playing and undoubtedly, most of us were reflecting on the struggles and impact of the Battle of Gettysburg.

P.S. A super special thank you to Mrs. Randolph for the most delicious cookies!!!! Mmmmmm!