The Long Roll

As far as historians can tell, no battle of any war has ever been fought in the sleepy confines of the Chinquapin River Valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But as the residents of this pastoral highland community gather on the week leading up to Memorial Day in 2004, they pay tribute to one hundred and twenty-two sacrifices, offered up on distant battlefields in a dozen wars that span nearly three hundred years, from Kings Mountain to Chapultepec, from Chancellorsville to Belleau Wood, from Bataan to Chongju to Khe Sahn to Karbala. Memorial Week is a tradition in the Chinquapin Valley. The centerpiece is a Civil War reenactment, and the valley folk, whose forebears fought and died under both flags, see no paradox in a dual celebration of Southern heritage and American patriotism. Memorial Week is homage to those who serve, a chance for the reenactors to camp out for a week, and an educational event with demonstrations, drills, and dramatizations that culminates in an elaborate recreation of a major battle of the Civil War. A summer celebration, with flags and bunting, bands and concession stands, time to relax and time to reflect. But behind the sunshine and the patriotism are troubled hearts and minds. The reenactors and their families find their deepest beliefs about their country challenged by the disturbing pictures from Abu Ghraib. A man still plagued with guilt from his own war seeks to put the past behind him. A woman reassesses her career as corporate competition becomes too much like combat. And two young people struggle with the decision to don the uniform of their country and put themselves in harm's way.