I always had a love of history and traveling. As a young boy, my older brother, Robert, would take me to historical sites all over the United States. When I grew up, I became an American History and Global Studies High School Teacher. I was fortunate to have traveled to historical sites all over the world, and experienced History in the Raw.
In France, I traveled to Normandy. Stunned to see thousands of American graves and the cliffs at Normandy, which our troops scaled to defeat the Nazis. The Nazi machine gunners’ nests above mowed down our troops below as they scaled the walls and climbed over the cliffs.
Oh, My God!
I thought, how they did this? I penned a poem:

Normandy, The Impossible Made Possible
Into the face of death, they forged our destiny,
Changing the course of history,
Climbing rope up steep, rugged cliffs like spiders,
Rushing into the volley they advanced.
As paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines
Like a heavy April rain,
And the Allies stormed the beaches like gladiators,
Forward! All-the-way-to-Germany
Notice the deep, dark craters.
that stamp time’s immortality.
All is quiet now,
Except crashing waves
pounding against a rocky shore.

One can read history books, but to visit an actual site is incredible, moving, and unforgettable. This I call History in the Raw.

In Thailand, I crossed over the Kanchanaburi Bridge, over the River Kwai, and learned of the human cruelty, savagery, and deplorable treachery committed by the Japanese on the native peoples and the Allies. In Cambodia, I walked through the Killing Fields, stunned. I will never forget the thousands of human skulls. The infant skulls haunted me most! Walking over bones I thought what a monster Pol Pot was. In Poland, I saw barbarism thrust upon Christians, Jews, Gays, and all political enemies of the Nazi Regime. The white ashes in a brick oven and the large black steel doors to the gas chambers sickened me. In Vietnam, I crawled through the tunnels which saved the Vietnamese people from the bombardment above.

In Pennsylvania, I walked through Gettysburg, fought from July 1st-3rd, 1863, (3 days), Fifty-three thousand Americans died.

In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, I learned the world can never have another war. To think people were vaporized, melted, their images seared into the pavement. Their shadows etched in stone.

Yet, there are so many places on earth where one can experience joy. The gardens of Holland, England, France, Japan, and Korea. The Ruins of Rome, Machu Picchu, Peru, Mexico, Cambodia, the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canyon, The White Sands of New Mexico, the boundless beauty of Alaska.

History can be a bitter pill to swallow, it can also be a joy. History is a magnificent work of art, a cathedral, a garden, a world of spectacular wonders, mysteries, and spender to explore. Peace and Flowers, Love and Light.