‘God Knows Who He Was’

No one is sure which side he fought on, only that he died in Gettysburg, Pa., 134 years ago in one of the Civil War’s bloodiest battles. The unidentified soldier, whose bones were unearthed last year, was reburied with full honors Tuesday, neither Rebel nor Yank. Riflemen fired a 21-gun salute, a bugler blew “Taps,” and a brass band struck up “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” The Rev. Daniel Hans said: “We do not know if his heart belonged to the North or to the South, but we do know that his soul belonged to God, as we all do.” The soldier, in his early 20s, apparently was killed by a bullet. “We need not know this soldier’s identity, his name, his rank, his allegiance,” Hans said. “It is enough that God knows who he was and who he is.”