this is a film about storytelling. about how we tell the story of our country s past. why do we want to believe one version and not another? maybe because it makes us feel safe at night. there is one episode of america s history that is told very differently depending on who you are and where you live. it is the story of our civil war and what came after. the winds of war blew across the land, made of it a country divided. friend turned into foe. brother fought against brother. it was such a long and drawn-out struggle, and the feeling on both sides was so intense. we re all just romantics, lost in contemporary times, you might say. every one of us feels we was born 125 years too late. to introduce myself, my name is rachel boynton. this is nelson walker. hi. we are independent documentary filmmakers. we re making a film about how we tell the story of the civil war. we re filming in lots of different schools, and we re going places with a deep connection to this
it matters. our democracy is more than a system of government. it s the very soul of america. it s how we ve been able to constantly adapt through the centuries. it is why we ve always emerged from every challenge stronger than we went in. it s how we ve come together as one nation united. just as our fallen heros have kept the element of faith with our democracy, we must keep faith with them. because of them, all of them, we stand here today. we will never forget that. we will never, ever, ever stop working to make a more perfect union, in which they live and which they died for. that was their problem. that s our promise. that s our promise today to them and our promise always. good morning. welcome to morning joe. it is tuesday, may 28th. that was president biden marking memorial day at arlington national cemetery with a somber message about freedom, democracy, and honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. it certainly is a day for reflection
it is the story of our civil war and what came after. the winds of war blew across the land, made of it a country divided. friend turned into foe. brother fought against brother. it was such a long and drawn-out struggle, and the feeling on both sides was so intense. we re all just romantics, lost in contemporary times, you might say. every one of us feels we was born 125 years too late.
like those are just spurts. how do we stay connected to our history and how do we make sure our children in the next generations understand what s gone in, going all the way back to the revolution, to making this country and to keeping this country together? well it goes back to something mike was saying. it s about memory. you know, the central command at the center of several of the great religious traditions, christianity, do this in remembrance of me, judaism, from the song of moses, remember the days of old, remember the years of many generations, ask thai fathers and they will tell thee, ask the elders and they will show thee. human instinct, thinking about it last week, we lost herman woke, the great novelist who wrote a lot, but the winds of war and war and remembrance i think i m right that last line of war and remembrance, thousands upon thousands of pages into this narrative, he wrote, the beginning of the end