The AP did a story about how the costs of war can linger on. You can read it here. As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, I was surprised to see that the government pays $876 per year in survivor benefits to two disabled children of Civil War Veterans.
The article also quotes Juanita Tudor Lowrey, a non-disabled child of a Civil War veteran. Ms. Lowrey describes the disbelief she encounters when she says her father fought in the Civil War. Having been on the receiving end of such disbelief when I mention that my grandfather (who fought in WWII) was the child of a Civil War veteran. I can vouch for the accuracy of Ms. Lowrey's statements to the AP.
While the AP story raises some interesting questions about how we should be calculating the costs of war, I suppose we should also take a moment to contemplate the strength of the biological impulse that caused men in their 70s and 80s to continue to father children. Further examples of this impulse are found here.
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