Proud of old battle flag
Published: May 23, 2007
Alex Riess (Think the confederate flag should be raised with pride?) writes an opinion which is very derogatory toward the confederate battle flag. The tone of her message is summed up in the line where she says, “However, if you are proud to claim the Confederate flag as a symbol of the South, you are already dead.”
This type of ignorance is very offensive to me. People like Miss Riess do not know anything about the Civil War and are equally confused about the battle flag. They think that the flag equals slavery equals the Civil War. Slavery existed in North America for over 200 years before the war or the flag. The war for southern independence (1861-1865) lasted only four years. The war did not consist of confederates fighting slaves. it consisted of confederates fighting Yankees.
If people were interested enough in their history to find out what their ancestors were doing during the war, most caucasians would find out that family members were serving honorably in the Confederate armies and that those who were back at home were suffering great hardships and deprivations.
The men of the Confederate armies fought with unsurpassed courage and determination against overwhelming odds, and they did it honorably, unlike the Yankees, who conducted war against the civilian population under General Sherman, driving people from their homes, stealing and burning their property, and needlessly slaughtering their livestock.
Both of my mother’s grandfathers fought with the armies of the South. I am proud of the old battle flag. Let it continue to represent the indomitable spirit of our ancestors.
Mitchell Williams
Philadelphia
On The Web: http://www.meridianstar.com/local/local_story_143003356.html
