Ralph John Harting

West Point, 1998

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Sean Protas on November 6, 2005:

I have always been a student of history and military history at that. If you have read any of my other posts I have found understanding for Jay's death through my love of history. Recently my studies have focused on the US Civil War as I have become a reenactor of that momentous conflict in our history. I was introduced to a letter that a Major wrote to his wife on the eve of the First Battle of Bull Run via the soundtrack to Ken Burn's series Civil War. After hearing this letter, my thoughts instantly went to Jen Harting and all of the spouses that have lost someone in the Iraq War. Major Sullivan Ballou was a member of the 2nd Rhode Island volunteers who fought valiantly under Gen McDowell at Bull Run as a member of the flanking attack against the confederacy. Maj. Ballou was fervent patriot who struggled with the love for his wife and family but with his need and desire to support the Union cause and the nation he dearly loved. From the time I knew Jay, I know he went through the same thing everyday in Iraq. This letter truly shows this battle in Maj. Ballou's mind on the eve of battle and his view of what his demise in battle would be. He was killed in the battle at Manassass on July 21, 1861. This letter was written exactly one week prior. I wanted to just show a few lines of it, I have also included a link to see the whole letter. "Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure -- and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing -- perfectly willing -- to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt." While, Jay may not have felt the same ties to the Revolution as Maj Ballou did, I know that he felt strongly in the desire to see the Iraqi people free and to ensure that all of us would be free to live our lives as we see fit. So like Maj. Ballou, Jay gave his service to our great nation in its time of need and it should never be forgotten. "...I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children -- is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country? ....Sarah my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing byt Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield. ...But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night -- amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours -- always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again. As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. ... Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there!...." This letter is so touching that it transcends all time and history and applies to many of the soldiers that serve our great nation today. They go into battle carrying the hopes and fears of a nation and also the love of those comrades beside them and the family on the home front. I hope that these words may give strength to Jen and her children in the tough time that they are going through without Jay in their life. Always remember that the Salesianum family is here for you Jen, and remember that help can be found in the annals of history. You have the honor of being forever the wife of a true hero. Please teach your children that their father is a hero in the truest sense in that he gave up everything he had at home to ensure that a people could experience what he had and to ensure that the country he loved would last. In the immortal words of Thomas Jefferson, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots." Sean Protas Sallies class of 1995 Tenui Nec Dmittam CW Reenactor 2nd DE Volunteers Co. G

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