Confederate Flags removed at South Dakota Va
 
From: george8576@att.net
 
Chuck,
 
Please see attachment for a letter I am about to send to my Mississippi representatives regarding the removal of Confederate Flags at the South Dakota, VA center. I also intend to send this to VA administrator and South Dakota’s representatives.
 
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/confederate-flags-at-hot-spring-va-being-removed-again/article_062f4f34-9a13-5260-8fad-f004513275f8.html
 
I present this document for anyone to use. please edit to your needs.
 
Included in the attachment are several facts that need to be pointed out to all concerned parties. 
 
As  Confederate descendants we must stand up and defend our heritage against all attcaks. If we do not defend what we believe is right, who will? certainly not the Sons or daughters of the Confederacy. The task falls to everyday people like us.
 
George Purvis
Southern Heritage Advancement Preservation and Education
 
Congressman/Senator
 
Sir (Madam) it has come to my attention that Janet Murphy, director of the VA Midwest Health Care Network in Eagan, Minn., Wednesday that the controversial flags would be removed from a Freedom Shrine display in the rotunda of the main VA building in Hot Springs South Dakota. This action was taken because of the complaints of two (people).
 
I note the reason given for this action are based on ignorance of history and I am sure some biased in the part of of Ms Murphy
 
Let’s take a look at some of the reasons—
 
1. "To ensure the Hot Springs VA Medical Center is a place of healing for all veterans, the Confederate flags will be removed from the Freedom Shrine display, located in the rotunda of the main building," Murphy said.
 
The Confederate flags have nothing to do with healing nor does the United States Flag.  Healing is the job of the medical personnel working at the VA center.
 
2. “DeMouchette said he had been in contact with members of Colorado’s congressional delegation about getting the flags removed. He said he understood that the flags have historical value but believes their place to be in a museum setting.”
 
Isn’t that exactly what Freedom Shrine is supposed to be?
 
3. “Whatever the actual intent of the flags or their value, they have come to represent racism and oppression for African-Americans and other minorities, DeMouchette said’
 
Mr. DeMouchette apparently has no idea of the history of the United States Flag or the history of the United States. He should do some research on the KKK and find out what their official flag is. He should look up slavery and see how long it existed under the US Flag. He should look up the treatment of the Native Americans during the Plains Wars and Japanese Americans during WWII. He should look up the treatment of the Jews during our so called “Civil war”. Mr. DeMouchette would find plenty of racism stains the United States Flag.
 
4. U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., agreed in a statement sent by her staff.
 
5. "I believe this was the right decision," she said. "Veterans of all backgrounds should feel welcome at our VA facilities."
 
Ok now I feel uncomfortable when I visit a Federal building with the United States flying. In fact due to Lincoln’s total war policy on the South I feel uncomfortable any time I see the United States Flag. I wonder just when the United States government will attack me.
 
With these points being made I feel that Ms Murphy should be removed from her job. It is obvious she has no education an in history yet is allowed to make decisions about another’s heritage through ignorance.
 
I take this time to remind you of some historical points regarding the Confederate battle Flag:
 
When the Spanish-American War concluded successfully in December 1898, President McKinley used this as an opportunity to “mend the fences”. Remember, as part of the conciliation, several former Confederate officers were commissioned as generals to include former Confederate cavalry general, Wheeler. This is what McKinley said:
 
On 14 December 1898 he gave a speech in which he urged reconciliation based on the outstanding service of Southerners during the recent war with Spain. “…every soldier’s grave made during our unfortunate civil war [sic] is a tribute to American valor [my emphasis]… And the time has now come… when in the spirit of fraternity we should share in the care of the graves of the Confederate soldiers…The cordial feeling now happily existing between the North and South prompts this gracious act and if it needed further justification it is found in the gallant loyalty to the Union and the flag so conspicuously shown in the year just passed by the sons and grandsons of those heroic dead.”
 
Congressional Appropriations Act, FY 1901, signed 6 June 1900Congress passed an act of appropriations for $2,500 that enabled the “Secretary of War to have reburied in some suitable spot in the national cemetery at Arlington, Virginia, and to place proper headstones at their graves, the bodies of about 128 Confederate soldiers now buried in the National Soldiers Home near Washington, D.C., and the bodies of about 136 Confederate soldiers now buried in the national cemetery at Arlington, Virginia.”
 
Remarks: More important than the amount (worth substantially more in 1900 than in 2000) is the move to support reconciliation by Congressional act. In 1906, Confederate Battle flags were ordered to be returned to the states from whence they originated. Some states refused to return the flags. Wisconsin still has at least one flag it refuses to return.
 
Congressional Act of 9 March 1906  (P.L. 38, 59th Congress, Chap. 631-34 Stat. 56)
 
Authorized the furnishing of headstones for the graves of Confederates who died, primarily in Union prison camps and were buried in Federal cemeteries.
 
Remarks: This act formally reaffirmed Confederate soldiers as military combatants with legal standing. It granted recognition to deceased Confederate soldiers commensurate with the status of deceased Union soldiers.
 
U .S. Public Law 810, Approved by 17th Congress 26 February 1929
(45 Stat 1307 – Currently on the books as 38 U.S. Code, Sec. 2306)
 
This law, passed by the U.S. Congress, authorized the “Secretary of War to erect headstones over the graves of soldiers who served in the Confederate Army and to direct him to preserve in the records of the War Department the names and places of burial of all soldiers for whom such headstones shall have been erected.”
 
Remarks: This act broadened the scope of recognition further for all Confederate soldiers to receive burial benefits equivalent to Union soldiers. It authorized the use of U.S. government (public) funds to mark Confederate graves and record their locations.
 
U.S. Public Law 85-425: Sec. 410 Approved 23 May 1958        US Statutes at Large Volume 72, Part 1, Page 133-134)
 
The Administrator shall pay to each person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War a monthly pension in the same amounts and subject to the same conditions as would have been applicable to such person under the laws in effect on December 31, 1957, if his service in such forces had been service in the military or naval forces of the United States.
 
Remarks: While this was only a gesture since the last Confederate veteran died in 1958, it is meaningful in that only forty-five years ago (from 2003), the Congress of the United States saw fit to consider Confederate soldiers as equivalent to U.S. soldiers for service benefits. This final act of reconciliation was made almost one hundred years after the beginning of the war and was meant as symbolism more than substantive reward.
 
Additional Note by the Critical History: Under current U.S. Federal Code, Confederate Veterans are equivalent to Union Veterans.
 
U.S. Code Title 38 – Veterans’ Benefits, Part II – General Benefits, Chapter 15 – Pension for Non-Service-Connected Disability or Death or for Service, Subchapter I – General, § 1501. Definitions: (3) The term “Civil War veteran” includes a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, and the term “active military or naval service” includes active service in those forces.
 
In a nutshell Confederate Veterans are US veterans and their flag should be honored just as the United State Flag is honored. All races served under the Confederate Flag regardless if they were White, Black or Indian. The Federal government has no business practicing cultural genocide.
 
George Purvis