Let's keep in mind today the role fences have played in the military history and how they've affected the lives, deaths, victories and defeat of US Veterans. Let's look at a couple of famous fences in military history.  

The march across the open field was only stopped by
the rail fence at the Emmitsburg Road and because of its height and
construction, it prevented the troops from scaling it and getting
across the road fast enough. The death toll on this field was
phenomenal. photo: gettysburgbeat.com

Battle of Gettysburg

Photo: http://havemorecake.blogspot.com/2008/07/
through-battlefields-of-gettysburg.html

This letter by Henry Moore of the 38th North Carolina may shed a little light on the subject of the fence. He writes, " As we emerged from the woods we were nearly three fourths of a mile from the Federal lines. We could see about a mile of the enemy's works. We suffered very little from the enemy fire until about half way across the field. We climbed a diagonal fence running across the field and (when we had) climbed it. We were now greeted by heavy doses of canister. Our men were falling in every direction but we managed to struggle on. About 200 yards from the enemy we reached another fence which confused us considerably.
 The fire from enemy artillery and infantry were terrible and we were reduced to a mere skirmish line."  



WWI
The Dutch-Belgian Wire of Death. Down by the Swiss border, an experimental electric fence, strong enough to kill any person or animal that touched it, had been constructed in early 1915 to isolate thirteen Alsatian villages from Switzerland. It was decided to use a similar fence on a much larger scale to seal off the Belgian-Dutch border. Work began in April 1915 and, using hired local workers, Landsturm troops (third-class infantry) and Russian POWs, the fence was completed in August 1915.

It stretched almost 200 miles from Vaals, near the German border, to the Schelde River, north of Antwerp (see map), more or less following the border, completely on Belgian soil. The main fence was six to ten feet high with five to ten copper wires carrying 2,000 to 6,000 volts, more than enough to kill anyone touching one of the live wires. A series of huts housed the generators and the current could be cut off in sections for maintenance or to retrieve dead bodies. Usually, two outer barbed wire fences, one on either side, would stop stray animals or humans from coming in contact with the electrified fence, though there were sections with only the live fence and nothing to keep people from brushing against it. At regular intervals, guard posts were built and the perimeter was regularly patrolled. The German soldiers were given orders to shoot to kill and some escapees were shot even though they had made it to Dutch territory.

photo: http://inspiringpretty.com/2012/06/26/
creative-ways-show-off-red-white-blue-independence-day/

We at Academy Fence Company are fortunate to operate in a time and place where fences are peaceful installations, most of which have safety, beauty and security as their function. Here's to the veterans who have sacrificed their lives and to those who dedicate their lives to help keep it that way. Peace and Justice.