The War For Southern Independence Began Today – 150 years ago.

The War For Southern Independence Began Today – 150 years ago.

Fort Sumter Fired On!  It’s War!

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The predawn darkness of an early spring morning, 150 years ago today, bore witness to the birth of a conflict which would tear this nation apart, bring death and destruction, on a scale never before seen nor even dreamed of in the worst nightmares of the leaders of the two nations who, at this precise moment, committed themselves to a life and death struggle to preserve what each believed was a just cause, a righteous cause, a cause for which Providence had appointed each of them to prosecute and see through to the bitter end.

The result of that conflict finds Southerners, today, brimming with pride while we still wrestle with the sorrow, pain, and tears, that war wrought. 

Even though the South lost the war we still hold those southern cavaliers in honor and awe.  We respect them, not only for their prowess in battle, but because they are our ancestors, our family.  The blood of those “Southern Knights” still flows in our veins to this very day.   

In the early morning darkness of April 12^th, 1861, at precisely 4:29 AM, the restless waves of the Atlantic lapped gently and peacefully against the sandy shoreline of Charleston Harbor. 

The first hint of daylight could be seen at the eastern horizon where the demarcation line between sea and sky could just be made out as the upper half took on a lighter hue of velvety purple.  Boats rocked sluggishly in the gently swells as their lines stretched and loosened, stretched and loosened, as the waters surface rose and fell.

An uneasy silence lay like a heavy blanket all along the waterfront and the battery as one of the oldest and most beautiful cities on the continent waited… waited on history.

The long minute hand of the clock in one of the tallest church steeples in the city ratcheted one more notch and then… dropped into it’s notch at the bottom of the clock’s face.

It was 4:30 AM.

For one more second the uneasy silence continued.  Then the Angel of Death spread her wings and leapt silently from her perch to glide quietly over the men huddled in clumps of blue and gray in a semi-circle around that beautiful harbor and charming city.  It would be 4 years before that beautiful Dark Angel regained her perch.

Suddenly, the quiet was ripped apart by the ‘BOOM’ and ‘CRASH’ and ‘WHISTLE’ of no less than 43 big guns placed in a ring around the harbor. 

The hot barrels of those guns were all turned to a single spot just a little darker than the surrounding water.  It was a man-made island near the middle of the harbor upon which a fort had been built to provide protection for the harbor and city of Charleston, South Carolina.  It was Fort Sumter.

The unfinished fort was named for South Carolina Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Sumter.  Eighty-five Union soldiers, and their Commander Major Robert Anderson, held their collective breathes as the cannon balls began their iron hailstorm upon their fortress.  With only ten casement guns on the fort they would return fire only occasionally. 

 

The Boom of the big guns soon became a ROAR, and then a RUMBLE, and finally one long unceasing MOAN of shot and shell as the muzzle flashes of the big guns created a “false dawn” around the harbor and vibrated the cobbles in the streets and rattled the glass in the windows of the gracious homes lining the streets of the old city. 

Smoke from the spent gunpowder would hang low on the water in the early morning dampness.  The stink of the sulfur and saltpeter would burden the air with a rank odor and foul taste.  It was the taste, and odor, of Hell. 

Those guns would continue to lob destruction onto that fort for 34 hours before the order to “Cease Fire” was given. 

The Dogs of War had been loosed, slipping their bonds and snarling into history.

Four years later, 700,000 American men would be dead!  Consumed by the scythe of the Grim Reaper, the constant companion of the Dark Angel.  Their work would become legend. 

Families all over this land would be touched by the agony of that conflict.

The cream of an entire generation of Americans was wiped from the face of the earth.  Gone from this world.  Gone from their families.  Gone from a society, which needed them so much.

Who knows what accomplishments were lost to the shot and shell and cold steel of the bayonet.  How can we know that one of these men could not have advanced medicine to find a cure for the diseases that ravage us today?  How can we know that one of those young men wouldn’t have written the Great American novel, or preached the sermon that would change the lives of murderous convicts, or painted the next Mona Lisa, or become the greatest President to ever lead this nation, and on and on?

We can’t know.  We will never know.  Any chance of that happening died with those men on some bloody battlefield as two great nations, the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, tore each other apart.

The firing on Fort Sumter took place only after numerous warnings for Major Anderson to remove his troops under a flag of truce.  He chose instead, to notify Washington, and was ordered not to give up the fort and, he was told, that Union reinforcements were on the way. 

Before those reinforcements arrived the South’s warning and patience ran out.  Lincoln, himself, denied an audience to a peace delegation sent to him from the Southern Government.  He would not see them, nor hear them.   He would rather, it seems have war.  That is what he got.

Beginning today, and for the next four years, the Sons of Confederate Veterans and many of the southern states of America will memorialize the “War for Southern Independence.” We will attempt to correct much of the revisionist history of the war and we will celebrate the men who went to war wearing the southern gray.

We expect much opposition.  In fact, it has already begun.  But we WILL press forward. 

Over the next four years the American public and, indeed, the world, will be afforded an opportunity to learn the truth behind the war that still stokes bitterness, discord, and even rage in the hearts of Americans -- both North and South.

The scars of that war remain sensitive to the southern people who feel their Confederate ancestors have been maligned by historians with an agenda less about the truth and more about political correctness and politics.

It is time the truth was told – past time – and we intend to tell it over the next four years.

J. D. Longstreet     

Political Correctness Slams Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans

Georgia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
PRESS RELEASE:

HISTORY CHANNEL CAVES TO POLITICAL CORRECTNESS IN GEORGIA

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(ATLANTA - November 29, 2010) The nationally syndicated cable television History Channel has made the controversial decision to force cable television companies, including Comcast and Charter, to pull ads paid for by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Georgia commemorating the Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary) of the War Between the States.

The series of twelve television commercials by the Sons of Confederate Veterans is part of a statewide radio and television campaign aimed at commemorating the anniversary of the late War Between the States and educating the public on Georgia's important role and the historical causes of the War. All twelve television commercials, as well as a companion series of radio commercials, are still broadcasting across the state of Georgia; and an entire slate of additional commercials are already in production for 2011.

The commercials came under scrutiny of the History Channel when a little-known liberal Internet site began attacking the Sons of Confederate Veterans for commemorating the War and, subsequently, also the History Channel for allowing the commercials to broadcast in their programming.

Vice-president Nancy Alpert of A&E Television, the parent company of the History Channel, gave the following explanation of her decision to ban the historical ads: "The subject matter of each of the SCV ads, plus the actual language... is well beyond our guidelines for any advertising on AETN." Alpert cited her opinion that the ads violated History Channel guidelines by quoting, among other things, a statement in one commercial that the war was "Not a 'civil war' fought to take over the United States, as it is called in history books today, this was a war... against an aggressive invasion by federal troops." She also complained that one of the commercials related to the causes of the War stated that the South seceded in part because "Northern congressmen were able to vote themselves virtually anything they wanted, using Southern tax money, while the South was powerless to stop it."

The commercials clearly offer a different point of view than that which is usually presented by documentaries on the History Channel; yet the channel has purported in the past to be an outlet, which offers competing, and even controversial, opinions about historical events.

Speaking on behalf of the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans which paid for the commercials to run, Division Commander Jack Bridwell had this to say, "We find it more than interesting that the History Channel has no problem airing shows with controversial theories about history, including more than one show which speculates that extraterrestrial aliens in UFO's somehow redirected human history, and yet the same channel does not see the value in allowing a non-profit, educational organization to present the Southern view of the causes for the War."

As the organization founded in 1896 and directly descended from the original United Confederate Veterans, the Sons of Confederate Veterans is charged in their initial charter with teaching the historical reasons for the South's heroic stand against overwhelming odds in the War. The charge given at the organization’s founding states, "To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will submit the vindication of the cause for which we fought; To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, and the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish."

With the Sons of Confederate Veterans representing more than 100,000 Southerners across the country, the Georgia Division of the SCV announced today that it is launching a campaign to educate the general American public about the censorship and hypocrisy of the A&E Network and particularly the History Channel. It is estimated that the A&E Network stands to lose several hundred thousand dollars over the course of the next two quarters as their advertisers are barraged by former viewers who are unhappy with this pandering to "political correctness," particularly across the South.

Interviews and statements related to the Sons of Confederate Veterans may be arranged via Announcements@RayMcBerryEnterprises.com or by calling 1-866-SCV-in-GA.

END RELEASE

(Ray McBerry Enterprises is the public relations firm for the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.)

HUGE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG GOING UP ON I-75 IN GEORGIA

Sons of Confederate Veterans, Georgia Division

Press Release

HUGE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG GOING UP ON I-75 IN GEORGIA

(ATLANTA - 21 September 2010)

In conjunction with the launch of events to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans will be erecting a 100' flagpole with a Confederate battle flag on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at I-75 Exit 71, just north of Tifton.

The flag raising is part of the ongoing Flags Over Georgia project of the Sons of Confederate Veterans here in the state and is designed to increase awareness of the significant role that Georgia played during the War. Due to the current political climate in America, there is more interest today than any other time in the last hundred years regarding our Confederate heritage as people attempt to understand the South's stand against an out-of-control federal government.

Earlier this year, the Florida Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans received national attention when they, too, raised a large Confederate battle flag alongside a major expressway in their state.

Georgia Division Commander, Jack Bridwell, had this to say about this Saturday's flag raising, "This beautiful Flag signals the start of our celebration of the Sesquicentennial of the War for Southern Independence. We will continue to highlight times, sites, and people over the next 4 years; hopefully the public will join us in this celebration. "

The Sons of Confederate Veterans are also preparing to launch a statewide radio and television campaign with commercials which will educate the public about Georgia's Confederate heritage and role during the War in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the War Between the States.

Interviews or more information about the Sons of Confederate Veterans or the flag raising may be obtained by contacting the Georgia Division at 1-888-SCVinGA or online at www.GeorgiaSCV.com.

This is Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina

This is Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina .
…And I Have a Bone to Pick!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Every year, when spring rolls around, you can count on numerous articles in the mainstream media, and elsewhere, reviling the Confederacy, and so-called Neo-Confederates, the Confederate Battle flag, Proclamations of Confederate History Month, etc, etc, … ad infinitum.

It never fails that Southerners are branded as slavers over and over, and readers are told how vile, and nasty, and ignorant, and just plain E V I L we Southerners are. Most of the ruminations by these writers and commentators are just plain garbage not backed up by REAL history but underwritten by revisionist history. In plain English -- it is BOVINE SCATOLOGY!

I know what I am about to attempt to tell you will fall on mostly deaf ears because many of you anti-Southerners don’t want to hear it, will not hear it, and will continue to deny the truth simply because the facts do not fit your life’s template. TOUGH!

Yes, we had slaves in the South. But so did the north. In fact, the north ran the slave trade. Many of the fortunes of wealthy northeasterners today were built on the slave trade.

My family had no slaves. As sharecroppers there were times when the slave’s living conditions were, in fact, better than theirs!

And I am sick and tired of the anti-southerner’s vindictive claims that the War Between the States was fought entirely to free the slaves. That, dear reader is a bald-faced lie!

Yes, many months into the war, slavery was injected into the “reasons for the war” by the Lincoln Administration. Remember, of all slave-holding and slave-trafficking countries on the globe at the time, America was the ONLY one to abolish slavery through war! THE ONLY ONE!

We are fed the idiotic pabulum of revised history in our public school system that Lincoln was the savior of the Black man in America. We are taught that Lincoln freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation. That, too, is a bald-faced lie.

One of the spoils of war is the right to write history the way you want it to be remembered and taught. The Confederate soldier knew that and Confederate General Patrick Cleburne attempted to impress upon his men the meaning of losing the war. He summed it up this way: “…It means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be taught by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by all the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, or maimed veterans as fit objects for derision.” Gen. Cleburne was spot on!

As to Lincoln freeing the slaves, allow me to inquire… have you ever actually read the Emancipation Proclamation? I advise you to do so. When you DO read it, and read it carefully, you will quickly see that it did not free a single slave – NOT ONE!

In reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln, himself, said the following: "The [Emancipation] proclamation has no constitutional or legal justification except as a war measure." That statement was in a letter to Sec. of Treas. Salmon P. Chase; 3 Sep 1863.

The following is a quote from the London Spectator, dated October 1, 1862 concerning the Emancipation Proclamation: "The principle [of the Proclamation] is not that a human being cannot justly own another, but that he cannot own him unless he is loyal to the United States government."

But, we Americans are taught that Lincoln LOVED the black people, right? Well, it isn’t exactly the truth.

Let us examine Lincoln’s own words and try to determine the degree of respect Lincoln held for the Black race:

Abraham Lincoln said the following on September 18, 1858 in a speech in Charleston, Illinois:
"I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races [applause]: that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will for ever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race." -- Reply by Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas in the first joint debate, Ottowa, IL; 21 Aug 1858.

Lincoln also said this: “"I have never seen to my knowledge a man, woman, or child who was in favor of producing a perfect equality, social or political, between Negroes and white men." This statement was in his opening speech, fourth joint debate with Douglas, Charleston, IL; 18 Sep 1858.

Lincoln thought the Black man should be equal to the While man, right? Well, think again! Lincoln said this about that: "Negro Equality! Fudge!! How long in the government of a God, great enough to make and maintain this Universe, shall there continue knaves to vend, and fools to gulp, so low a piece of demagoguism as this?" A separation of the races is the only perfect preventive of amalgamation, but as immediate separation is impossible the next best thing is to keep them apart where they are not already together. Such separation, if ever affected at all, must be effected by colonization. The enterprise is a difficult one, but 'where there is a will there is a way:' and what colonization needs now is a hearty will. Will springs from the two elements of moral and self-interest. Let us be brought to believe it is morally right, and at the same time, favorable to, or at least not against our interest, to transfer the African to his native clime, and we shall find a way to do it, however great the task may be." From an address by Abraham Lincoln at Springfield, Illinois, on June 26, 1857.

In a speech at Springfield Illinois on July 17th, 1858, Lincoln said the following: “What I would most desire would be the separation of the black and white races.”

Speaking at Charleston, Illinois, September 18th, 1858, Lincoln said this: “ … I will, to the very last, stand by the law of this state, which forbids the marrying of white people with Negroes.”

There is a very “telling” letter which Lincoln wrote to Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune, in response to an article Greeley had written entitled; “Prayer of Twenty Millions.” The letter from Lincoln is dated August 22nd, 1862. In the letter Lincoln says the following:

Dear Sir: I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the New-York Tribune. If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptible [sic] in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing" as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.

I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.

I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.

Yours,

A. Lincoln

Do you detect the slightest bit of political “double talk” in Lincoln’s letter? Never forget, Lincoln was, first and foremost, a politician! If you had ANY doubt, this letter to Greeley ought to dispel it.

So which is it? Was Lincoln Pro-slavery, of Anti-slavery? You decide.

In his first Inaugural Address before Congress on March 4th, 1861, Lincoln said: “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to intervene with the institution of slavery.”

Then, in another letter to Horace Greeley dated March 24th, 1862, Lincoln said: “I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District of Columbia.”

Confused? Oh, it gets even more confusing -- or enlightening -- depending upon the degree to which you admire the truth.

Ever hear of The Corwin Amendment? Some refer to it as the original 13th amendment to the US Constitution. Let’s take a look at it.

On February 28, 1861, the United States House of Representatives approved the resolution by a vote of 133-65 (Page 1285, Congressional Globe). On March 2, 1861, it was approved by the United States Senate with a vote of 24-12 (Page 1403, Congressional Globe). A young Henry Adams observed that the measure narrowly passed both houses due to the lobbying efforts of Abraham Lincoln, who was then the President-Elect.

Why is the Corwin Amendment important? First let’s take a look at the text, shall we?
The text of the Corwin Amendment is as follows:

“No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State.”

Ratification efforts began soon after the measure was adopted and Lincoln endorsed it in his inaugural address. In fact, Lincoln said this about the Corwin Amendment in his first Inaugural Address on March 4th, 1861: “To the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the states, including that of persons held to service … I have NO OBJECTION TO ITS (THE CORWIN AMENDMENT) BEING MADE EXPRESS AND IRRVOCABLE.”

The proposal was ratified by the legislatures of Ohio (May 13, 1861) and Maryland (January 10, 1862). Illinois lawmakers — sitting as a constitutional convention at the time — also approved it, although some still question the validity of that action. It was also considered for ratification in several other states including Kentucky, New York, and Connecticut where it was either rejected or died in committee because wartime issues had begun to preoccupy the states and the nation as a whole.

So why is the Corwin Amendment important today? Because, dear reader, it IS STILL PENDING! As long as it remains a pending amendment, there is the possibility, however slim, that it could still be ratified. The President’s signature is not required, and a President cannot veto an amendment to the constitution.

Congress even passed the Crittendon-Johnson resolution on July 22, 1861 in which the Congress announced that the purpose of the war “was NOT interference with the rights or established institutions of those states, but to Preserve the Union with the rights of the several states unimpaired.”

Then, in December of 1862, in his State of the Union message to Congress, Lincoln proposed three constitutional amendments: 1 – Slaves not freed by the Emacipation proclamation were to be freed over a 37 year period, to be completed by January 1st, 1900. 2 – Provided compensation to owners for the loss of their slave property. 3 – The government would transport “FREED BLACKS,” at government expense, out of the United States -- and relocate them in Latin America and in Africa.

Now. Does any of this sound like the Lincoln you know -- or the Lincoln you were taught about in the government indoctrination centers we refer to as Public Schools? Probably not! Ask yourself how much more you DO NOT KNOW about President Abraham Lincoln.

For instance -- did you know that Lincoln started a war without the consent of Congress? Did you know that he illegally blockaded southern ports; illegally suspended habeaus corpus and arrested tens of thousands of his political opponents; illegally orchestrated the secession of West Virginia; shut down hundreds of opposition newspapers and imprisioned their editors and owners; deported the most outspoken member of the Democratic Party, Congressman Clement I. Vallandigham of Ohio; confiscated private property, including, by the way, firearms; ignored the Ninth and Tenth Amendments; tolerated the arrest of ministers who refused to publicly pray for him; arrested duly elected members of the Maryland legislature, as well as Congressman Henry May of Baltimore; and supported a law that indemnified federal officials from all these illegal acts.
Shocking, Right?

THIS, dear reader, is the Lincoln I know – not the “Saintly Lincoln” revised history forces on us today. The “air brushed” Lincoln we know today is pure propaganda.

The facts we enumerated above can be easily verified on the internet. Once you begin digging don’t be surprized when you turn up even more historical accounts of Lincoln’s duality. Your research will present you with a choice. You must choose between the REAL Lincoln, or the REVISED Lincoln.

Someone once said “so much of what we know is wrong.” The wise man, in today’s world, questions everything.

Here in North Carolina we celebrate our Confederate history today. By “history,” I mean the TRUE history of of the Confederacy.

As a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, I took an oath to see that the true history of the of the Confederate soldier is preserved and passed on to generations yet unborn. It is a story of courage, bravery, audacity, faith, pride and honor. I will make every effort to see that his story is told and then passed on.

It is the oral tradition of passing on a people’s story, which is as old as man himself. In this way we can be sure that no matter what the revisionists do to the “official” record, we will have the truth. And it is the truth that makes one free.

J. D. Longstreet

U.S. Marines Reject Recruits with Confederate Flag Tattoos!

U.S. Marines Reject Recruits with Confederate Flag Tattoos!
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"A widely regarded Southern symbol of pride and states' rights is standing in the way of would-be Marines in their quest to serve their country – a Confederate battle flag.

Straight out of high school, one 18-year-old Tennessee man was determined to serve his country as a Marine. His friend said he passed the pre-enlistment tests and physical exams and looked forward with excitement to the day he would ship out to boot camp.

Shortly before he was scheduled to leave Nashville for boot camp, the Marine Corps rejected him.
Now, the young man, who wishes to remain unnamed and declined to be interviewed, has chosen to return to school and is no longer an aspiring Marine.

"I think he just wants to let it go," said former Marine 1st Lt. Gene Andrews, a friend of the man and patriotic Southerner who served in Vietnam from 1968 through 1971. Andrews is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group of male descendents of Confederate soldiers. He counseled the young man when he decided to become a Marine.

"He had been talking to me, and he was all fired up about joining," he told WND. "He asked my opinion of it, and I just tried to tell him the truth, good points and bad points."

When the young recruit didn't go to boot camp, Andrews learned of his rejection based on his tattoo of the Confederate battle flag on his shoulder. "

Read the entire article HERE.
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Below is a statement from former Marine 1st Lt. Gene Andrews, a friend of the man and patriotic Southerner and a member of The Sons of Confederate Veterans:

A Southerner Speaks SOURCE

“I have always been proud of my time spent as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. I served in the Republic of Vietnam in 1969 and, while I was certainly no “John Wayne” type, I tried to do my duty to the best of my ability and I did bring all of my platoon out of Vietnam alive.

This past summer, the son of a friend of mine was very ‘gung ho’ about joining the Marines and asked my opinion, which I tried to give as honestly as possible, warts and all. I don’t know if my discussions had any influence on him, but he enlisted, completed all of the pre-enlistment tests and physical exams, and went to all of the pre-enlistment meetings. To say the least, he was very excited about serving his country in the Corps.

Shortly before he left Nashville for boot camp, he was told he could not serve his country because he had a Confederate Battle Flag tattooed on his shoulder in an area that would be completely covered by a t-shirt, and certainly by his uniform.

When informed of this, I went to the local recruiting station that had processed this young man to see if I were getting the entire story. The recruiter, a staff sergeant, told me, “Yes, sir. The Marine Corps considers the Confederate Flag a ‘hate symbol,’ but if the young man in question had a state or U.S. flag tattoo, that would be acceptable.”

I informed the young sergeant that my family had defended the State of Tennessee (also his home state) against a sadistic invasion under that flag and to call our sacred flag of honor a ‘hate symbol was an insult to ALL southerners, but especially to those southerners who had risked or even given their lives in service to the Marine Corps. Southerners had served at Belleau Woods, at Taraw and Iwo Jima, at Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir, and at Khe Sahn and Hue City, but now we are no longer wanted in the politically-correct don’t-offend-any-minorities military? (This was just prior to the Fort Hood massacre)He was polite, even sympathetic, but said the flag policy was a Marine Corps policy from Headquarters Marine Corps and not a local decision.

After informing the sergeant that it seemed to me that our military was building a mercenary force of illegal aliens while rejecting native-born Americans in order to have a ready force to turn, without question, on American citizens, I asked the sergeant if he had taken out the trash yet. He replied that he hadn’t. I then said, “Please add these to the day’s garbage,” and returned my lieutenant’s bars, my gold and silver Marine Corps emblem from my dress blues, my shooting badges and my Vietnam ribbons.

I, like many of you, have always been told, “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” and “There are no ex-Marines, only former Marines,” but for me that is no longer true.

I was born in the South. I was raised here. I raised my family in the South and some day, God-willing, I hope to be buried in the native soil of our Southern homeland. I have always considered myself a Southerner first, and will remain so, despite any other organization that I may temporarily join.

I will never make a critical remark about a veteran, from any branch of the service, but from now on, I will do everything in my power to discourage any Southern young man, or lady, from becoming a future veteran. I am now an ex-Marine.”

Gene Andrews
ex-Marine,
1st Lieutenant
3rd Marine division
Vietnam

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As a veteran, a member of the American Legion, AND a member of The Sons of Confederate Veterans, I am outraged at this discriminatory policy of the US Marines. All Southerners should be outraged at this treatment of a fine southern young man who had the courage to offer his life in the service of his country in the Marine Corp!.

Look, in my opinion, if America had a “Warrior-Class” it would be, indisputably, the Southern male!

The US military cannot afford to spit in the face of so many southern warriors in its ranks today. Add to this the rescinding of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy to allow homosexuals to serve OPENLY in the US military, and the recruitment is going to drop like a stone.

What is next? You KNOW what’s next…the return of the draft and a mediocre military.

Oh, well. Maybe we can make a deal with Israel to lease the IDF to defend the USA. Do you suppose?

J. D. Longstreet