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[Tense Music]
[TOUR GROUP NOISE]
[TOUR GUIDE] Here is a picture of George Shriver.
He and Hettie had a dream to build a business until...
[Swooshing Sound]
[GEORGE SHRIVER] I need to do this
[HETTIE SHRIVER] George, you can't go to war.
Think about the girls.
What would it be like for them growing up without a father?
Sadie and Mollie need you.
I need you.
[GEORGE] I'm sorry, Hettie, but right now,
my country needs me more than my family.
[SADIE SHRIVER AND MOLLIE SHRIVER] Father!
[HETTIE] Don't be too long
[GEORGE] I won't.
Why, by Christmas, our Shriver's Saloon & Ten-Pin Alley will be
open for business
[Musket firing]
[UNION SOLDIER/JOHN] George!
We have to go!
[Ominous Battle Music]
[GEORGE] John, stay with me.
Stay with me!
[Battlefield Muskets and Canons heard nearby]
[TOUR GUIDE] Two more years would pass for the
Shriver family -- without a husband, without a father.
[George fires his musket]
[Dramatic Music]
[TOUR GUIDE] Women, like Hettie Shriver,
did everything to protect their
family and to assist the wounded soldiers.
This was their way of fighting the war on the home front.
[Musket and Canon noise heard from the distance]
[SADIE] What was that?
[MOLLIE] Mommy?
[HETTIE] Sadie, Mollie, we're leaving now!
[MOLLIE] But Mommy!
[HETTIE] Now!
[Door Slam]
[TOUR GUIDE] Hettie and her daughters were
escorted to her parent's farm.
What Hettie did not know was that their farm was where some
of the more horrific fighting occurred.
Chaos and death would surround them for three days.
After the battle ended, Hettie helped the countless number of
wounded soldiers all around the farm and inside
the parent's house.
On the morning of July 7th, Hettie and her daughters began
their journey back to town.
What they saw along that 3-mile trek would be etched in their
minds forever.
[SADIE] Do you think father is still alive?
[HETTIE] Let's hope so.
[UNION MESSENGER] Congratulations, George,
you've been given a four-day furlough -- you get to
see your family for Christmas this year!
Enjoy your holiday!
[GEORGE] Thank you, thank you so much.
[SADIE] You think father will come home this Christmas?
[GEORGE] Merry Christmas!
[SADIE and MOLLIE] Father!
[HETTIE] George!
[SADIE] What was war like Father?
John, stay with me... stay with me... stay with me!
[HETTIE] You can't leave us again George.
Please don't leave us again.
George... George, we have to go!
[GEORGE] I love you.
[HETTIE] I love you too.
[HETTIE slowly starts to cry]
[TOUR GUIDE] George Shriver returned to duty
on December 29, 1863, near Brandy Station, Virginia.
Three days later, George is captured and sent to the
commonly known prison, Andersonville,
nearly 800 miles south of Gettysburg.
One can only imagine the lonely nights Hettie spent lying awake
in her bed wondering when George would be coming home,
indeed, if he would ever be coming home.
And he never did.
That concludes our tour.
I hope you all have enjoyed, and do enjoy the rest of your
stay in Gettysburg!
[VETERAN'S DAUGHTER] Wow, we're a lot like the Shriver family.
You never told me about war.
What was it like?
[VETERAN'S VOICE ECHOING IN HER HEAD] Help, help!
Somebody help me.
I need a medic, I need a medic - somebody help
[VETERAN] It was tough, but I made it home.