Should confederate flags at old soldiers' gravesites be left alone?

CH (MAJ) William Beaver — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 09:55:20 -0400

Across the South, families still honor their fallen confederate relatives in cemeteries, at their final resting place. I'm not sure where this nationwide furor to remove all things confederate will end, but even as a native of Michigan, I believe that it should stop at the cemeteries. Let the warriors rest in peace. Let their families honor them with any flag they choose: Confederate or American. Leave it alone.
What say you?

Response by SSG Ed Mikus made Jun 26 at 2015 9:56 AM

SSG Ed Mikus — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 09:56:05 -0400

Messing with a grave of anyone should be punishable by law

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2015 9:56 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 09:56:59 -0400

Yes, it should be left alone, just like the rest of the flags. It's a part of history. One that like it or not exists. We can't go wiping that away on the whims of the offended.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Jun 26 at 2015 9:57 AM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 09:57:15 -0400

Absolutely! This whole Confederate Flag situation has really gotten way out of hand. How many RP Members think it is time for the public and government should put this issue to bed?

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2015 10:01 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:01:10 -0400

ABSOLUTELY!!! Its a grave site. An area of sorrow and memories. Hallowed grounds. Leave these areas alone.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2015 10:01 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:01:56 -0400

I think we need to leave it all alone. Besides removing them from Federal and State buildings.

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made Jun 26 at 2015 10:02 AM

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:02:40 -0400

Those are the folks that earned the right by their sacrifice for their beliefs.
As opposed to the the cross-burning cowards in sheets that appropriated it for their hateful message.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2015 10:12 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:12:45 -0400

If they fought and died under that flag...then they should rest under that flag. Point blank period.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2015 10:19 AM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:19:16 -0400

No one had a right to disturb the grave of another.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2015 10:29 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:29:08 -0400

https://youtu.be/YF-QIJyLhKQ Let the fallen rest in peace, let them be honored as they should be. This is escalating to levels beyond the level of importance it should be afforded.

Behind The Dixie Stars

7 minute Documentary featuring Nelson W. Winbush, a black son of confederate black soldier Luis Napoleon Nelson who fought under Nathan Bedford Forest, found...

Response by SGT Jeremiah B. made Jun 26 at 2015 10:47 AM

SGT Jeremiah B. — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:47:40 -0400

I am on the side of removing any flag representing the Confederacy from government lands, BUT it stops at the cemetery. Those men were Americans and in the wake of the war, all was forgiven. We honor our dead, even if we disagree with the cause 150 years later.

Response by MAJ William Guglielmi made Jun 26 at 2015 10:53 AM

MAJ William Guglielmi — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:53:30 -0400

Gravesites should be off limits as SSG Aaron Walker and others do ably stated.

Response by COL Jean (John) F. B. made Jun 26 at 2015 11:43 AM

COL Jean (John) F. B. — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 11:43:54 -0400

Without question... This whole issue is nothing but liberal PC BS.

Response by SGT Kevin Dowd made Jun 26 at 2015 11:56 AM

SGT Kevin Dowd — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 11:56:29 -0400

They should be left alone period!

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Jun 26 at 2015 12:19 PM

SSG (ret) William Martin — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:19:16 -0400

CH (MAJ) William Beaver, My questions are: if the grave site government property? Is the grave site private property? Is the gravesite considered public property? Is the confederate flag permanent? What does the law actually state about the banning of the Confederate flag? If its private property, you are already know the answer to that, leave it alone or be subject to whatever local laws. People just don't g visit grave sites they have nothing to do with so I don't see the big deal. We should leave individual grave sites alone. If someone doesn't like it, they can do what the normally do and that's burn down the businesses of private citizens

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 26 at 2015 12:22 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:22:04 -0400

I have great-great grandfather that fought and died in the civil war as many people do. I think removing the flag from his gravesite would be wrong. This whole flag thing is getting out of hand. The flag had nothing to do with who killed those people in that church. He just happened to be wearing one on his jacket. If he had been wearing the rainbow flag symbolizing Gay Pride would we now have a national outcry to get rid of that flag too?

Response by SSG Leonard Johnson made Jun 26 at 2015 12:27 PM

SSG Leonard Johnson — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:27:28 -0400

Yes....of course....It's their place...their home for their departed body....Leave it alone

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made Jun 26 at 2015 12:30 PM

TSgt Joshua Copeland — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:30:12 -0400

Did they die a Confederate or did they die an American?

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jun 26 at 2015 1:57 PM

PO1 John Miller — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 13:57:08 -0400

Absolutely.

Response by SPC Charles Brown made Jun 27 at 2015 12:21 AM

SPC Charles Brown — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 00:21:07 -0400

I agree wholeheartedly.

Response by Capt Walter Miller made Dec 8 at 2015 2:00 AM

Capt Walter Miller — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 02:00:48 -0500

No dead person ever put a flag on a grave.

"The CSA didn’t really have much success on the battlefield.

Federal battle deaths were 110,000, CSA battle deaths were 94,000. Since the so-called CSA was on the defensive, and the recent wide spread use of the rifled musket magnified defensive power at the expense of offensive power, those figures should show –many- more federal deaths than CSA deaths, in keeping with Napoleon’s dictum that it takes three attackers to drive off one defender. The rebels also had the advantage of interior lines.

Federal armies in the ‘West’ went pretty much from victory to victory throughout the war, capturing Forts Henry and Donelson early in 1862, occupying Nashville not long after that, driving into north Mississippi to cut the east-west rail line to Texas, driving off CSA army after army in the investment of Vicksburg, where an entire army was captured, driving the rebels out of middle Tennessee and capturing Chattanooga, inexorably advancing on and capturing Atlanta, Savannah and Columbia. The single bad check of the western federal armies was at Chickamauga.

In the eastern theater, Lee had as little success outside Virginia as various federal generals had within it. He is vastly overrated. After he wrecked his own army for offensive operations, he operated primarily on the defensive in an era when defensive technologies were dominant.

Finally, when the big plantation owners reneged on their pledge to raise food stuffs to feed the soldiers’ families, the rebel armies melted away. All that “you fought all the way Johnnie Reb’ is a lot of road apples.

One thing to keep in mind about the so-called CSA is that it never really existed. The various rebel states passed secession documents – you can do the same thing. But since they were no more able than you to give them force, the so-called CSA was just what President Lincoln called them: Combinations too powerful to be dealt with by the US Marshals.

As the so-called CSA was busy collapsing and its armies were melting away, President Lincoln was criticized for treating with the legislature of Virginia. He had not done that he said, he dealt with a group who styled themselves as the legislature of Virginia, because they had power to effect events."

Walt

Response by Capt Walter Miller made Dec 8 at 2015 2:01 AM

Capt Walter Miller — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 02:01:58 -0500

You cannot separate the Confederate Battle Flag from racism, unjust war and treason. The neo-confederates use the CBF for the purpose of in-your-face racism.

It only belongs in the losers' corner of museums.

Walt

Response by Capt Walter Miller made Dec 8 at 2015 2:05 AM

Capt Walter Miller — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 02:05:48 -0500

My GG-uncle Wilson Parks Howell was a captain in the 25th Alabama Infantry

https://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2008/01/01/25th-alabama-soldier-tells-story-of-battle-of-murfreesboro/

Response by CPT Karen Nichols McAbee made Dec 8 at 2015 11:06 AM

CPT Karen Nichols McAbee — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 11:06:36 -0500

Leave it alone. Seriously. Moving/removing ANYTHING from someone's grave can cause severe distress to loved ones. In the small, very old church cemetery where my in-laws are buried, there are several graves from the 1800's with iron CSA markers next to the headstones, signifying those who served during the Civil War. Removing those would be no different to their families than how distraught my mother-in-law was when someone stole the die-cast metal police car from my father-in-law's grave. its a memorial to who the deceased was in life - no more, no less...

Response by SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT made Dec 8 at 2015 11:18 AM

SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 11:18:49 -0500

They should be left alone because they are an important part of our American history.
I do not understand why the complaints of the few can force an agenda on the many.
Many of the generals that fought on both side where originally officers in the U.S. Army
with a lot West Point graduates fight against their former classmates.

Response by CW3 Jim Norris made Dec 8 at 2015 3:02 PM

CW3 Jim Norris — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 15:02:49 -0500

Yep, absolutely. Let's stop the degeneartion of our nation and then we can get back to arguing a decided issue that's 150 years old.

Response by Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM made May 19 at 2016 5:08 PM

Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM — Thu, 19 May 2016 17:08:18 -0400

This is Our History like it or not~leave it alone for future generations to learn from that in which we did not.

Response by SPC Terry Martin made May 30 at 2016 1:34 PM

SPC Terry Martin — Mon, 30 May 2016 13:34:43 -0400

Yes, History is History and shouldn't be rewritten period! It should also be taught that way. Our Mascot at my H.S. was Colonel that some felt took on the appearance of a Southern Plantation Colonel. A newbie to town got it taken away because he felt it was "racist." Never was from the founding of the school.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made May 30 at 2016 7:11 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 30 May 2016 19:11:20 -0400

Easy question to answer. ANYTHING the family places on the grave of their should be left alone.

In the event that something is really so troubling then the powers that be should work out a solution with the family.

Response by Maj William W. 'Bill' Price made Sep 27 at 2017 8:24 PM

Maj William W. 'Bill' Price — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 20:24:23 -0400

Yes, CH (MAJ) William Beaver.

Response by SPC William Weedman made Jan 27 at 2019 8:30 PM

SPC William Weedman — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 20:30:48 -0500

Not too far from my old hometown of Louisville Kentucky there is a Confederate cemetery. The white flag withe red stripe flies there everyone buried there was a Confederate soldier most of whom died at the nearby Confederate soldiers home (long gone now). Many streets in the area have name referring to the South. I have never heard a word about the place. Well kept and the flags are always in repair.