On August 2, 1956 a valuable link to America's history was lost when Albert Woolson passed away at the age of 109. Woolson was the last of 2,200,000 people who served in the Union Army in the American Civil War. At the age of 17 he answered the call to enlist, serving as a drummer boy in Company C of the 1st Minnesota Heavy Artillery Regiment. He initially enlisted as a rifleman, with hopes of being a drummer boy, but the slot was filled. However, Woolson was able to claim the position from his competition, recalling, "I got the job by knocking his block off." He never saw combat, but carried out burial duty for many who did. Up until the end, his memory was fresh, and at the age of 106 he recalled tales of himself in his blue forage cap marching in a precise line of drummers.
After his discharge, on September 7, 1865, he returned to his career as a carpenter.
His passing was noted by President Eisenhower who remarked,
"The American people has lost a link with the Union Army."
"His passing brings sorrow to the hearts of all of us who cherished the memory of the brave men on both sides of the War Between the States."
It is important to remember these links with the past while they are still here. While all of those who fought in the Civil War have left us, there are many from WWII who remain, and a small handful from WWI. Those fighting now are the future links to the past, who will someday be turned to as representatives of our time, arm-chair historians whose lives are the biographies of the future. The tales they all can tell, the first-hand knowledge they can impart, the history that they witnessed first hand, will be lost through their passing. It is up to us, now, to hear and remember the history they have witnessed, preserving it for future generations.
-Professor Walter
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