Shoup Airlines

Andersonville

One of the more educational things we got to do during WOCS was what is called a staff ride. Unit commanders will take their officers on a trip somewhere educational that can reflect on lessons learned and basic leadership skills. Ours was to Andersonville, GA. Ever heard of it? Nor had I.

Real quick recap: during the Civil War both the North and South had POW camps in which the living conditions were extremely sub standard and over crowding was the norm. The South’s was located in Andersonville and had nearly 45,000 Northern soldiers enter its gates. Only 75% of those ever exited the gates. There are many stories to be told at this historical site and none that I can do justice with on the blog.

It was a 3 hour bus trip to the site so we watched the 1996 made for tv movie by the same name. I slept through most of the movie knowing it would be bastardized by Hollywood. It was. But I have to admit it was sobering to watch scenes in the movie and then step off the bus and see the exact same scenes in real life.

It was unfortunate that we didn’t have much time to explore the actual POW museum at Andersonville. They had quite an extensive display echoing from the Civil War all the way up to the present day war. Several of us recognized the poignancy of walking through those halls and knowing where we would be in just a few short weeks. But in usual military fashion, we had somewhere else to be and not enough time to get there.

On the ride back we stopped in Americus, GA for a real home cooked Southern meal. Or so they told us. I still refuse to call it a real Southern meal simply because they didn’t have fried okra on the buffet. I have NEVER had a Southern meal without fried okra. But I shouldn’t complain, the sweet tea, mashed potatoes and fried chicken were some of the best I or anyone else had ever had. Of course, that is 5 weeks of DFAC food getting in the way, but it was still pretty damn good.

The rest of the photos are up in the Gallery.