Thread: What It Is To Be A Patriot

Copied from the Sons of Confederate Veterans web site: Why I Am a Member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans BECAUSE I have a deep sense of loyalty to my family and that especially includes my great Grandfather, who as a private in the Confederate Army with no hope of recognition except that his sacrifice would be remembered by his family, gave his life in defense of his country, his home and those who would come after him. BECAUSE I believe in the promise of the Man of Galilee, of life after death. As my great grandfather looks down upon me from the Valhalla of Confederate heroes I want him to know that I am not ungrateful, that I remember and honor his bravery and sacrifice. BECAUSE I have so much to be proud of in the Confederate Army. Its brilliant fight, under conditions of extreme privation, against an enemy overwhelming in numbers and equipment, so won the admiration of the world that 100 years later, a group of retired British Army and Navy officers organized the Confederate Historical Society of Great Britain, headquartered in London, to study its campaigns. In 1974, a group of Belgians organized the Confederate Historical Society of Belgium, based in Brussels, for the same reason and purpose. The Southern Skirmisher's Ass'n in England re-enacts battles of the War. Some members have to wear the Blue but typical of the sentiment, is one sturdy English Confederate who told a reporter: "...one Southern fighting man was worth two Yankees. I would never be anything but a Southerner." No other army in history has been paid such a tribute by foreigners over a century after the war in which it was engaged. Are foreigners to admire and honor the valor of the Confederate soldier in my family while I remain indifferent? BECAUSE I Love the South and I am proud to be a Southerner. I am proud of the culture, grace and elegance of the Old South, of our heritage of courage, honor, chivalry, respect for womanhood, patriotism, and of duty to God and country. I love the Confederate Flag and "Dixie" as stirring sybols of that heritage. I take pride in the earlier leading role the Old South played in the Revolutionary War, the drafting of the Constitution and the founding of the United States. I love the "Star Spangled Banner" and the Flag of the United States, and I served under that flag in World War II. BECAUSE our Southern heritage has served our nation well since 1865. No section has surpassed the South in percentage of volunteers to defend our country in time of war. And, the Southern people, who lost everything in the War, and without government aid, had to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, traditionally adhere to the free enterprise system with its liberty and opportunity for all as opposed to the dictatorship of the welfare state with its liberty and opportunity for none. BECAUSE even today, some of our school books, movies, television programs and press falsely portray Southerners as rebels and traitors who fought to preserve slavery, misleading our children and millions of Americans ignorant of history. Since my family fought for the Confederacy, they thereby falsely malign my family and me. BECAUSE there are even those who would ban "as offensive" the playing of Dixie and the display of the Confederate Flag for which so many Southerners shed their blood; who would dismantle all monuments to our Confederate dead; who would erase all honor to Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Wade Hampton, Jeb Stuart, and all our other Southern heroes. Their purpose is to destroy our proud heritage. As Winston Churchill said, "any people with contempt for their heritage have lost faith in themselves and no nation can long survive without pride in its traditions". Our enemies know this. At the same time of the movement to ban the display of the Confederate Flag, during the Vietnam War, we saw our American Flag spat upon, burned, and the flag of an enemy nation with whom we were at war, paraded through the streets of our Nation's Capitol. BECAUSE I intend to defend my family's honor and remember the sacrifice of my Great Grandfather, Wilson L. Dykes, private in the Confederate Army, and because it is my patriotic duty to my country, I belong to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a respected, non-partisan, patriotic organization dedicated to preserving our Southern Heritage for ourselves, our children, and our children's children, and to seeing that the history of the Confederate States of America and the war fought in its defense, is truthfully recorded.... "In testimony of our love, recalling deeds immortal, heroism unsurpassed." "With ranks unbroken, ragged, starved and decimated, the Southern soldier for duty's sake, undaunted stood to the front of the battle until no light remained to illumine the field of carnage, save the luster of his chivalry and courage." We are determined that your glory be not forgot, as long as fame her record keeps.
January, 1979 Dean Boggs Kirby-Smith Camp, No. 1209 Sons of Confederate Veterans Jacksonville, Florida

There's nothing wrong with that! The only thing wrong is flying the Confederate Flag on state capitols and other public property. Honor your dead, be proud of their military strategy, but your organization should stand up for the beliefs of our nation, that all men are created equal and ask that the dark side of the Confederacy not be illuminated by the act of flying this flag on public property. I love the South, I love Southerners, I came to North Carolina 16 years ago on a 3 day business trip, business matters needed me to stay, so I decided to stay and have never regretted it.

South Carolina has a black population of almost 28%. How can you want to fly the Confederate Flag in their faces? Good and decent people would not do that to promote or brag about their military accomplishments in a war that should have never been because the cause of it should have never existed in our little land of the free and home of the brave. Same with North Carolina who has a black population of 22%, which is why our Governor wants to stop issuing Confederate license plates. And who was behind these license plates to begin with? Yes, your organization, the North Carolina Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

One of characteristics I admire about Southerners is their Rebel nature. This is a great attribute. Why waste it on something as unelegant and ungracious as the Confederate Flag, a symbol of secession that lacked good cause or valid purpose and was defeated? Put it to work passing the FairTax, repealing Obama Care, ending the War on Drugs, stopping Illegal Immigration and bringing an end to Free Trade Treason for the benefit of all Americans in our One Nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. This would be elegant, this would be gracious, and this would be honorable, because this is our culture, standing up for what is right, not defending or honoring what is wrong.

Miss Judy, Thank you for your post. I am very glad to hear you enjoy your time in the South. Unfortunately your write up continues to illustrate what a poor job our school system does in explaining American History. Everyone quotes, "All men are created equal" but that is not what Thomas Jefferson meant when he wrote it. The definition of "men" was much different then. Any one of the slaves working his estate when he died could have told you that. That phrase did not become reality until the 1950's and 1960's. The American Civil War was fought between two slave holding countries. Slavery was constitutionally protected in the North and was part of the CSA in the South. The amendment to the constitution came after the war had ended and after much debate. You say "the Dark side of the Confederacy"? Why single out the Confederacy? Everything done legally and otherwise in the United States from the day the first outsider touched shore to when separate but equal was stricken was done under the ideal that blacks were an inferior race. Read the legal descriptions from the Supreme Court when they first upheld separate but equal. It directly quotes that when one race is vastly inferior to another the constitution cannot be used to put them on an equal level. The Confederacy sure had nothing to do with that. The dark side belongs to all of America, not just the CSA.

Slavery and race was one of the driving factors behind the start of the Civil War. As with everything in history the causes were complex and very intertwined. Other major factors included the idea that the federal government was getting to strong and “stealing” power from the States. The President was abusing his power and authority, the Supreme Court was effectively passing legislation with their opinions, laws were passed that half the states would not honor and others could not enforce, rich power brokers were running the government and there was little the common man could do about it, trade was heavily regulated in favor of a select few, government was gridlocked and debates over sanctuary states and cities were heated and aggressive. Wow, come to think of it, doesn’t look like much has changed. The southern states left the union to make their own country because they felt nothing would ever get better in the old one. Again, the right of secession was an American thing. Wisconsin moved to try to leave the union a month before South Carolina did. New England states tried at one point. The 11 states of the CSA were the only ones with the guts to actually try.

The Confederate Battle Flag was just a flag until nearly a hundred years later the old democratic party and the KKK used it to abuse blacks, poor whites and non-land holders and influence them into keeping certain whites in power. I for one, am very glad those days are gone. But it does force one to look at everything around them in the context it is intended. In the hands of a crazy white kid guilty of mass murder the flag is a symbol of HIS hate. Over a soldier’s grave or atop a monument it is a symbol of history and respect. In all cases it is American History. Confederate soldiers fought for the same thing every soldier has fought for…his home and his country. He fought because he felt his neighbors could better decide what was best for the community rather than power hungry people in Washington. He fought because the federal government had become too strong and they felt the founding fathers had given them the right to change their government. Lacked good cause? Sounds like the same things you are talking about on this forum. Honoring our confederate dead and the extremes they went through is honorable. It is standing up for what is right. Why is the Southern part of history wrong? Why does one side of America get to celebrate history and another does not? Thought the words of today were tolerance and acceptance. I don’t see it. It is not about hate. We need those license plates and flags over monuments to remind us that brave men from all over the country have always fought for what they believe in. No matter what the odds. Keep in mind, the last men that truly died for your freedom fought barefoot and wore gray!!

Originally Posted by Judy

There's nothing wrong with that! The only thing wrong is flying the Confederate Flag on state capitols and other public property. Honor your dead, be proud of their military strategy, but your organization should stand up for the beliefs of our nation, that all men are created equal and ask that the dark side of the Confederacy not be illuminated by the act of flying this flag on public property. I love the South, I love Southerners, I came to North Carolina 16 years ago on a 3 day business trip, business matters needed me to stay, so I decided to stay and have never regretted it.

South Carolina has a black population of almost 28%. How can you want to fly the Confederate Flag in their faces? Good and decent people would not do that to promote or brag about their military accomplishments in a war that should have never been because the cause of it should have never existed in our little land of the free and home of the brave. Same with North Carolina who has a black population of 22%, which is why our Governor wants to stop issuing Confederate license plates. And who was behind these license plates to begin with? Yes, your organization, the North Carolina Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

One of characteristics I admire about Southerners is their Rebel nature. This is a great attribute. Why waste it on something as unelegant and ungracious as the Confederate Flag, a symbol of secession that lacked good cause or valid purpose and was defeated? Put it to work passing the FairTax, repealing Obama Care, ending the War on Drugs, stopping Illegal Immigration and bringing an end to Free Trade Treason for the benefit of all Americans in our One Nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. This would be elegant, this would be gracious, and this would be honorable, because this is our culture, standing up for what is right, not defending or honoring what is wrong.