GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) – Officials with the National Park Service say the Confederate monuments at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania will not be removed from the battlefield.
Katie Lawhon, senior adviser for the park service’s Gettysburg battlefield office, tells the Reading Eagle the site-specific memorials are important, and the park service’s job is to historically and objectively tell the stories the monuments commemorate.
The battlefield has more than 1,300 monuments that tell the story of the deadliest engagement in the Civil War. Only 30 are dedicated to Confederate states, military units and individuals. More than 46,000 soldiers died in the Battle of Gettysburg from July 1 to July 3, 1863.
A nonprofit that promotes tourism in the county says about 3.7 million tourists visit the area each year.