Scenes from the 2019 Wertman Family Reunion in Getysburg, PA
"There were 54,000 Civil War veterans at the 50th Reunion in July 1913. The tent Encampment was built in the field of Pickett’s Charge with a “Big Tent” where the “speechifying” occurred. The women who were from Gettysburg and other places who were nurses after the battle were also invited to attend. Those veterans, average age 72, who were part of the Confederate attack and Union defense of July 3 decided to recreate Pickett’s Charge. But instead of starting on Seminary Ridge a mile away, they lined up on the Emmitsburg Road, gave the “Rebel Yell” and charged. The Union vets were behind the low stone wall. But instead of whacking each other at the wall, they reached out and shook hands across the wall! That ceremony has continued to this day with the sons and grandsons ! At that 50th reunion the veterans planned to erect a peace monument and return in 25 years if they were still alive. The Eternal Light Peace Memorial was the result! " (From Deb Novotny, Guide at Gettysburg for the Wertman Family Association, 2019.)