Today the U.S. House of Representatives voted to allow an amendment to the annual spending bill that will ban the flying of large scale, historically accurate Confederate flags over the graves of our fallen heroes in gray. As a token of our good rulers' kindness, they'll still permit us to place small Confederate flags on individual Confederate graves on two dates a year - Memorial Day & Confederate Memorial Day. The vote passed with 265 in favor and 159 against.
We should all let those members of the House know exactly how we feel. Click the following link to see how each Representative voted. Once you're there, scroll down to see if your Representative has a "Yea" next to his or her name, click their name, get their contact info, and CALL 'EM UP! Be polite and respectful, but be firm in voicing your opposition.
Vote On Agreeing to Amendment 15 to H.R. 4974 (GovTrack.us)
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms
Admiral Raphael Semmes Camp #1321 (Dearborn, MI)
Army of Tennessee, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Showing posts with label Heritage Violation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heritage Violation. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Saturday, April 30, 2016
HERITAGE VIOLATION: Louisville (KY) Confederate Monument
As the warmer weather comes to us, the servants of hate, intolerance, and ignorance are once again raising their ugly heads around the Southland, hoping to destroy and suppress all public displays of honor for our beloved Confederate ancestors.
The latest monument to be placed in the cross-hairs is the Monument to the Confederate Dead in Louisville, KY. Currently sitting in a median between two streets & surrounded by the University of Louisville, the monument was erected by the Kentucky Women's Monumental Association in 1895. At about 11 a.m., Friday, April 29, 2016 (yesterday), the Mayor of Louisville and the university president gave remarks to express their intentions of removing the monument, stating that they would waste no time initiating the process. By the evening of that very day, work crews had placed a chain-link fence around the site and begun the process of excavating the monument's foundations. The stated plan is to remove the monument and have it placed at, what they deem to be, a more appropriate location, which has yet to be determined.
The Monument is on the National Registry of Historic Places as being significant to the history of the locality where it sits, but this does not offer any protection to the monument.
We encourage everyone who cares about seeing our historic Confederate monuments preserved to make your voices be heard by the "powers-that-be" in this situation! The following are a few ways you can contact the authorities in charge...
Greg Fischer - Mayor of Louisville, KY
Phone:
(502) 574-2003
Address:527 W. Jefferson Street
4th Floor
Louisville, KY 40202
Email:
(Click here to open the link and then fill out the form)
James Ramsey - President, University of Louisville
Phone:
(502) 852-5417
Address:
Grawemeyer Hall
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY 40292
Email:
(Click here to open the link and then fill out the form)
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Dr.JamesRamsey
(He's temporarily taken down his Facebook page. We'll update when it's back online.)
Thanks in advance to everyone who lends their voice in support of keeping this monument to our honorable heritage protected!
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms
Admiral Raphael Semmes Camp #1321 (Dearborn, MI)
Army of Tennessee, Sons of Confederate Veterans
The latest monument to be placed in the cross-hairs is the Monument to the Confederate Dead in Louisville, KY. Currently sitting in a median between two streets & surrounded by the University of Louisville, the monument was erected by the Kentucky Women's Monumental Association in 1895. At about 11 a.m., Friday, April 29, 2016 (yesterday), the Mayor of Louisville and the university president gave remarks to express their intentions of removing the monument, stating that they would waste no time initiating the process. By the evening of that very day, work crews had placed a chain-link fence around the site and begun the process of excavating the monument's foundations. The stated plan is to remove the monument and have it placed at, what they deem to be, a more appropriate location, which has yet to be determined.
The Monument is on the National Registry of Historic Places as being significant to the history of the locality where it sits, but this does not offer any protection to the monument.
We encourage everyone who cares about seeing our historic Confederate monuments preserved to make your voices be heard by the "powers-that-be" in this situation! The following are a few ways you can contact the authorities in charge...
Greg Fischer - Mayor of Louisville, KY
Phone:
(502) 574-2003
Address:527 W. Jefferson Street
4th Floor
Louisville, KY 40202
Email:
(Click here to open the link and then fill out the form)
James Ramsey - President, University of Louisville
Phone:
(502) 852-5417
Address:
Grawemeyer Hall
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY 40292
Email:
(Click here to open the link and then fill out the form)
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Dr.JamesRamsey
(He's temporarily taken down his Facebook page. We'll update when it's back online.)
Thanks in advance to everyone who lends their voice in support of keeping this monument to our honorable heritage protected!
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms
Admiral Raphael Semmes Camp #1321 (Dearborn, MI)
Army of Tennessee, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
HERITAGE VIOLATION: Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, IN (UPDATED 3/30/2016, 7:21pm)
 |
| 1993 Confederate Mound Rededication [Image Credit: Michigan Camps of the SCV] |
"Compatriots, I have today received the following email from the President of Crown Hill Cemetery. I deeply wish to thank each and every one of you who have taken the time to write letters or email on our behalf. As you can see, we will be allowed to distribute our normal SCV programs with Battle Flag images at our memorial service. They also imply permission will soon be given to fly a Battle Flag along with the U.S. Flag inside Confederate Mound. I personally feel this is a satisfactory compromise between all groups concerned and while we still cannot fly a Battle Flag on Crown Hill property, we have accomplished most of what we have set out to do. The flag our men fought under will fly over their graves on April 30th! The VA National Director's office is only a few miles from my home and I will follow up on our formal request. This is what can happen when good people of faith and devotion to our Cause band together as one voice for truth and justice. - Alan E Losure, IN. Division Commander"...and here is the text of the email from Crown Hill Cemetery officials to the Indiana Division Commander...
"Hi Alan, The president of Crown Hill wanted me to communicate to you that your group can print the Confederate flag and your SCV logo on your event program. You organization will be able to honor Confederate veterans on the Confederate Lot, a U.S. National Cemetery, with a Confederate and an American flag as allowed by law. I know you've sought this permission and I'm sure you'll hear back from the Director of the Marion National Cemetery soon. You can also honor these veterans by firing volleys in front of the Confederate Lot from the road."Obviously this blog post from yesterday was too late to have had any influence, but many of you reading this probably first heard about it on social media and responded accordingly. Thanks to any and all who called, wrote, emailed, Facebook messaged, etc.
Since the Indiana Division is satisfied with the result, we stand behind their call. The information below will remain, but no further action in response is requested. - SAA. Jonathan McCleese
==================================================================
==================================================================
As you probably know by now, the officials at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, IN are hindering efforts by the SCV's Indiana Division to hold a Memorial Day ceremony at the cemetery's "Confederate Mound." If you don't know anything about the matter, let me get you up to speed...
Indianapolis, IN was home to Camp Morton, a Union military prison which housed Confederate soldiers captured during the War Between the States. Obviously, many Confederates died while in the prison, and those that did were originally buried in individual graves at the city's Greenlawn Cemetery. According to "the official story" (yeah, we know how that goes), found on the National Parks Service's webpage about the matter, "[i]n 1912, the Federal Government erected a 27-foot tall monument to commemorate the Confederate dead at Greenlawn, as individual graves could not be identified and marked with headstones. In 1928, this monument was relocated to Garfield Park, three miles south of downtown, where it still stands today. In 1933, the remains of the Confederate soldiers were reinterred to a mass grave located in Crown Hill Cemetery and marked by a new six-foot tall granite monument."
 |
| Confederate Mount Monument at Crown Hill Cemetery [Image Credit: Michigan Camps of the SCV] |
 |
| Confederate Mound Rededication; Oct. 3, 1993; (Far Left) SCV Camp #1321 Cmdr. Stan White, (Far Right) Camp #1321 Compatriot Jeff Windsor. [Image Credit: Michigan Camps of the SCV] |
"The mass grave, although in the Crown Hill Cemetery, is controlled by the Director of the Marion (Indiana) National Cemetery. There is a short plastic white chain fence that surrounds Confederate Mound. Everything outside of the fence belongs to Crown Hill Cemetery and is controlled by them. This “dual jurisdiction” is causing problems for us.
"Our Division Commander, Alan E Losure, contacted Ms. Marty Davis in January to remind Crown Hill of our desire to meet there again on April 30th. She informed him that there were some changes that the President of Crown Hill has made and she would get back with him soon. She did so last week and we were informed:Then the IN Div. SCV posted this update from their Commander this past Monday (March 28):
(1) No Confederate flags may be flown on Crown Hill Cemetery property.
(2) Written permission must be obtained from the Director of the National Cemetery to allow any visitor the right to step over the fence in order to view the names engraved upon the brass name plates.
"On Monday March 7th, Commander Losure hand carried the required government form asking permission to allow visitors to step over and view the engraved names. He also provided a written letter outlining this request, a copy of Confederate Veteran magazine and the already printed one page program that has been passed out to all attending members and visitors since 1989.
"On March 10th, he received an email that the President of Crown Hill Cemetery now banned the use of this program because there is a Battle Flag printed on it."
"I got an email from Crown Hill. They are being inundated with emails and letters. They are sending out three paragraph reply to all of our men telling the steps the Federal Government requires for the placement of flags on Confederate Mound. Guys, all of that was accomplished on March the 7th and I have spoken with the Marion Director already. All of that is simply a smoke screen! The last sentence she wrote says we cannot fly flags on Crown Hill property. That has been the issue all along. That and censorship of our programs... Quoting Federal regulations is only an attempt to hide from what they have done."Now that you are up to speed, you might be wondering how you can contact the President of Crown Hill Cemetery to let him know that you want him to remove any & all prohibitions of Confederate flags & symbols on cemetery property. Remembering to be polite and respectful, please feel free to contact him by the following means...
Keith Norwalk
President
Crown Hill Cemetery
700 West 38th Street
Indianapolis, IN. 46208
[Phone] (317) 925-3800
[Email] info@crownhill.org, cemetery@crownhill.org
[Facebook] https://www.facebook.com/crownhill.org/
I wrote Mr. Norwalk my letter and mailed it out on Monday. Please consider doing the same, or contacting them by one of the other means provided above.
Yours in the Bonds of the Old South,
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms
Admiral Raphael Semmes Camp #1321
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Politically Correct Discrimination in the Twenty-First Century
Steve Parrish, a 30-year veteran of the Dothan (AL) Police Dept., was elected to be the town's chief of police by a 6-1 vote of the city council last April. A revelation about Chief Parrish's past, however, now has some local citizens calling for his resignation. What is this deep, dark secret from the Chief's past, you might be wondering. The reason Chief Parrish's job is being threatened is simply because he's a descendant of a Confederate veteran and is publicly proud of that fact!
Several kook websites & blogs have picked up on the story, and they play up the notion that the SCV is a 'neo-confederate' organization, but what does that actually mean? One loose definition for the term 'neo-confederate' is "a term describing groups and individuals who portray the Confederate States of America and its actions in the American Civil War in a positive light" (Wikipedia); another definition is given by the Southern Poverty Law Center (a pseudo-civil-rights organization) as being "twentieth and twenty-first century revivals of pro-Confederate sentiment in the United States." These loose definitions are extremely vague, however, and leave much to be assumed by the reader or insinuated by the author of the story as to what "pro-Confederate sentiment" is and what it means to "portray the Confederate States of America and its actions in the American Civil War in a positive light."
Due to the high level of misinformation and historical revisionism about the Confederacy in the media and academia, the label of 'neo-confederate' often gets used to promulgate the idea that members of groups given that label desire the return of chattel slavery and/or support the overthrow/destruction of the U.S. government. As any member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans knows, this is absolutely not the case, and wasn't even true of the Confederacy when it existed. The widespread acceptance, however, of such misinformation is precisely why it is completely acceptable among politically correct institutions to discriminate against Southerners who are proud of their heritage and active in honoring it.
This is not entirely new news to most of us who are willing to publicly display the flags of our ancestors and stand up in defense of their good name and The Cause for which they fought. We know that this Cause was not slavery or the destruction of the U.S. gov't, as so many are being misguided to believe, but was the cause of independence, self-determination, limited government "of, for, and by the people," and the right of sovereign states to shake off the bonds of tyranny and determine their own course. In all truth, there is absolutely no ideological difference between being proud of one's Confederate ancestry and being proud of a heritage that connects to a Patriot soldier of the Revolutionary War, as the Patriot and the Confederate fought for the exact same things.
How is it, then, that such blatant discrimination can be so acceptable in 21st-century American society? When will the movement of equal rights extend to include Southerners who are proud of their Confederate heritage? As the headlines in the first days of this calendar year will attest, that day is nowhere in sight.
In times like this I am reminded of something that was said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Encouraging solidarity between all of the signers, Ben Franklin is reported to have told his fellow patriots, "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." Let us stand tall and proud, my fellow Compatriots! Stand tall and proud TOGETHER!
DEO VINDICE
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
Several kook websites & blogs have picked up on the story, and they play up the notion that the SCV is a 'neo-confederate' organization, but what does that actually mean? One loose definition for the term 'neo-confederate' is "a term describing groups and individuals who portray the Confederate States of America and its actions in the American Civil War in a positive light" (Wikipedia); another definition is given by the Southern Poverty Law Center (a pseudo-civil-rights organization) as being "twentieth and twenty-first century revivals of pro-Confederate sentiment in the United States." These loose definitions are extremely vague, however, and leave much to be assumed by the reader or insinuated by the author of the story as to what "pro-Confederate sentiment" is and what it means to "portray the Confederate States of America and its actions in the American Civil War in a positive light."
Due to the high level of misinformation and historical revisionism about the Confederacy in the media and academia, the label of 'neo-confederate' often gets used to promulgate the idea that members of groups given that label desire the return of chattel slavery and/or support the overthrow/destruction of the U.S. government. As any member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans knows, this is absolutely not the case, and wasn't even true of the Confederacy when it existed. The widespread acceptance, however, of such misinformation is precisely why it is completely acceptable among politically correct institutions to discriminate against Southerners who are proud of their heritage and active in honoring it.
This is not entirely new news to most of us who are willing to publicly display the flags of our ancestors and stand up in defense of their good name and The Cause for which they fought. We know that this Cause was not slavery or the destruction of the U.S. gov't, as so many are being misguided to believe, but was the cause of independence, self-determination, limited government "of, for, and by the people," and the right of sovereign states to shake off the bonds of tyranny and determine their own course. In all truth, there is absolutely no ideological difference between being proud of one's Confederate ancestry and being proud of a heritage that connects to a Patriot soldier of the Revolutionary War, as the Patriot and the Confederate fought for the exact same things.
How is it, then, that such blatant discrimination can be so acceptable in 21st-century American society? When will the movement of equal rights extend to include Southerners who are proud of their Confederate heritage? As the headlines in the first days of this calendar year will attest, that day is nowhere in sight.
In times like this I am reminded of something that was said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Encouraging solidarity between all of the signers, Ben Franklin is reported to have told his fellow patriots, "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." Let us stand tall and proud, my fellow Compatriots! Stand tall and proud TOGETHER!
DEO VINDICE
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
Monday, January 4, 2016
A Despicable Start to 2016
Last night I returned home from an evening with friends to find an awful story waiting for me in my Confederate-newsfeed, and upon just reading the headline my blood began to boil...
Nine grave markers, most belonging to Confederate military officers, were vandalized at the Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC last week. The total cost of repairing the damages is being estimated around $20,000. As best as I can ascertain, the perpetrators are still at large. (LINK)
As a historian, a genealogist, a preservationist, and the descendant of American military veterans who have served in every armed conflict throughout the nation's history, THIS OUTRAGES ME!!! I don't care who's grave it is, civilized people don't do that! People in a civil society shouldn't act that way! We are talking about tombstones in a cemetery, and some thug(s) thought it appropriate to go in with a can of spray paint to deface them!
This was not the post I had planned as the first for the new year, but here we are.
I have a proposal for how to deal with anyone caught, charged, and prosecuted for vandalizing any monuments & graves, particularly those for Confederate veterans. They should be sentenced to probation with community service, which would include (but not be limited to):
- cleaning up the monument(s) that they vandalized
- maintaining the site for a period of no less than 4 years
- paying a fine of at least, but not limited to, the amount estimated for repair of said vandalized monuments
- attend history classes taught by a member of a Confederate Heritage organization, using the curriculum provided by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
If they violate the probation through failure to comply with any of the above, then they should have to do some jail time along with paying the aforementioned fine.
If anyone reading this blog can provide any information that could help lead to the arrest of the vandal(s) in the story above, contact the Raleigh, NC Police Department using the information at the following link: Raleigh, NC Police Dept.
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
Nine grave markers, most belonging to Confederate military officers, were vandalized at the Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC last week. The total cost of repairing the damages is being estimated around $20,000. As best as I can ascertain, the perpetrators are still at large. (LINK)
As a historian, a genealogist, a preservationist, and the descendant of American military veterans who have served in every armed conflict throughout the nation's history, THIS OUTRAGES ME!!! I don't care who's grave it is, civilized people don't do that! People in a civil society shouldn't act that way! We are talking about tombstones in a cemetery, and some thug(s) thought it appropriate to go in with a can of spray paint to deface them!
This was not the post I had planned as the first for the new year, but here we are.
I have a proposal for how to deal with anyone caught, charged, and prosecuted for vandalizing any monuments & graves, particularly those for Confederate veterans. They should be sentenced to probation with community service, which would include (but not be limited to):
- cleaning up the monument(s) that they vandalized
- maintaining the site for a period of no less than 4 years
- paying a fine of at least, but not limited to, the amount estimated for repair of said vandalized monuments
- attend history classes taught by a member of a Confederate Heritage organization, using the curriculum provided by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
If they violate the probation through failure to comply with any of the above, then they should have to do some jail time along with paying the aforementioned fine.
If anyone reading this blog can provide any information that could help lead to the arrest of the vandal(s) in the story above, contact the Raleigh, NC Police Department using the information at the following link: Raleigh, NC Police Dept.
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
Monday, December 28, 2015
Small Business, Confederate Merchandise Under Fire Near Grand Rapids, MI
A "pop-up holiday shop" at the RiverTown Crossings mall in Grandville, MI (a suburb of Grand Rapids) has been selling Confederate Battle Flags & t-shirts with the flag's imagery prominently displayed on them, but a couple of local public-school teachers (who also happen to be husband & wife) didn't like seeing the flag there and announced a protest to be held the day after Christmas.
Jon Jaco, owner of the temporary store called '3rd Dimension,' respectfully heard the unfounded complaints against the flag from Jim & Sonja Schultz-Fryer, both long-time teachers in Grand Rapids Public Schools who are currently teaching at Burton Middle School. The two then complained to mall management over the flag imagery, which resulted in the mall asking Mr. Jaco to not display the shirts with the flag near the entrance to his shop, so as to keep it out of view for passers-by. The Fryers, however, are not satisfied by simply moving the flag from sight; they want it taken off of the shelves!
Mr. Jaco, to his credit, has been unwilling to cease sales of the flag and merchandise with it's imagery. Aside from these items being quite popular among shoppers, Mr. Jaco is more educated about history than the two public school teachers and knows the flag is a symbol of resistance to tyranny. He also sells other such merchandise items, such as pro-Second Amendment shirts and Gadsden flags ("Don't Tread On Me").
The Fryers announced, via a Christmas Day news article on MLive.com, that they would be holding a protest outside of the shoppe on the day after Christmas.
The Michigan Camps of the SCV were on top of this about two hours after the story broke. Cmdr. James Perkins, Commander of the 'MajGen. Patrick R. Cleburne' SCV Camp #2257 out of Grand Rapids, was immediately notified. Cmdr. Perkins personally paid a visit to the '3rd Dimension' store at RiverTown Crossings the next day to support Mr. Jon Jaco and his business in the face of any protest that might materialize.
The Fryers cancelled their planned protest early that morning, citing prior commitments during the holiday weekend as the reason. Cmdr. Perkins reported back that no other protesters ever materialized either, but a little lady did make an appearance outside of the store wearing a hat with the Confederate Battle Flag on it and she proceeded to unfurl a Third National Flag of the Confederacy in support of Mr. Jaco and his store. Cmdr. Perkins also said he had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Jaco, who he described as "an impressive gentleman and entrepreneur who knows his U.S. history."
We here at the Michigan Camps of the Sons of Confederate Veterans would like to salute you, Mr. Jon Jaco, for your commitment to spreading a true history of the Confederacy through your business, and we support your stand against those (especially these two mis-educators) who would seek to revise and distort history in the minds of the public!
We are also very grateful to Cmdr. Perkins for taking the time out of his Christmas weekend to respond to the situation on such short notice.
If you'd like to support Mr. Jaco's business ('3rd Dimension') by purchasing one (or more) of the fine shirts or flags he sells, his temporary store at RiverTown Crossings is scheduled to be open through December 31st. You can get more information about RiverTown Crossings, including it's location and hours of operation, by clicking *HERE*.
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
Jon Jaco, owner of the temporary store called '3rd Dimension,' respectfully heard the unfounded complaints against the flag from Jim & Sonja Schultz-Fryer, both long-time teachers in Grand Rapids Public Schools who are currently teaching at Burton Middle School. The two then complained to mall management over the flag imagery, which resulted in the mall asking Mr. Jaco to not display the shirts with the flag near the entrance to his shop, so as to keep it out of view for passers-by. The Fryers, however, are not satisfied by simply moving the flag from sight; they want it taken off of the shelves!
Mr. Jaco, to his credit, has been unwilling to cease sales of the flag and merchandise with it's imagery. Aside from these items being quite popular among shoppers, Mr. Jaco is more educated about history than the two public school teachers and knows the flag is a symbol of resistance to tyranny. He also sells other such merchandise items, such as pro-Second Amendment shirts and Gadsden flags ("Don't Tread On Me").
The Fryers announced, via a Christmas Day news article on MLive.com, that they would be holding a protest outside of the shoppe on the day after Christmas.
The Michigan Camps of the SCV were on top of this about two hours after the story broke. Cmdr. James Perkins, Commander of the 'MajGen. Patrick R. Cleburne' SCV Camp #2257 out of Grand Rapids, was immediately notified. Cmdr. Perkins personally paid a visit to the '3rd Dimension' store at RiverTown Crossings the next day to support Mr. Jon Jaco and his business in the face of any protest that might materialize.
The Fryers cancelled their planned protest early that morning, citing prior commitments during the holiday weekend as the reason. Cmdr. Perkins reported back that no other protesters ever materialized either, but a little lady did make an appearance outside of the store wearing a hat with the Confederate Battle Flag on it and she proceeded to unfurl a Third National Flag of the Confederacy in support of Mr. Jaco and his store. Cmdr. Perkins also said he had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Jaco, who he described as "an impressive gentleman and entrepreneur who knows his U.S. history."
We here at the Michigan Camps of the Sons of Confederate Veterans would like to salute you, Mr. Jon Jaco, for your commitment to spreading a true history of the Confederacy through your business, and we support your stand against those (especially these two mis-educators) who would seek to revise and distort history in the minds of the public!
We are also very grateful to Cmdr. Perkins for taking the time out of his Christmas weekend to respond to the situation on such short notice.
If you'd like to support Mr. Jaco's business ('3rd Dimension') by purchasing one (or more) of the fine shirts or flags he sells, his temporary store at RiverTown Crossings is scheduled to be open through December 31st. You can get more information about RiverTown Crossings, including it's location and hours of operation, by clicking *HERE*.
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
Saturday, December 19, 2015
A SPECIAL MESSAGE: The Situation in New Orleans
[FRIENDS & COMPATRIOTS -- The following is a special message from the SCV's Louisiana Division Commander, Thomas E. Taylor; the message has been authorized and endorsed by Charles Kelly Barrow, SCV Commander-in-Chief. PLEASE READ!]
==================================================================
Fellow Southerners,
As you all know by now, the City of New Orleans voted to remove the Confederate monuments from the city on a "nuisance complaint." This isn't over, so do not overreact to the situation.
A lawsuit seeking to permanently enjoin and prevent the removal of the Confederate monuments was filed in federal court only hours after the vote was taken in the city council. The federal judge has let everyone know to cool it for now. There will be a hearing in January with the New Orleans City Attorney and the attorney for the plaintiffs present and an injunction will be decided after that.
For now, what we need to do is let the legal system work. We have a very strong case that has been in the making for months now. We all knew that this day was coming, so preparations were made and have now been implemented. The time for phone calls and writing has passed. The judge wants all sides to calm down and that is what I am asking all of you to do. It will do no good to aggravate the legal system when we aren't losing anything. The monuments still are where they have always been.
What we will need is financial help. Like the doctor said when Lincoln was born, "This is gonna get ugly." It is also going to be expensive. The plaintiffs, of which the Beauregard Camp No.130 is one, have raised money for legal fees and the Heritage Defense Fund has helped so that we are even money with the attorneys for now. That won't last. Please send whatever you can because come January the fight will be on.
The address to send to is:
Beauregard Camp 130
P.O. Box 145
Arabi, LA. 70032
Please put in the memo line of your check "Monument Defense"
Gentlemen, I know that you all want to storm the gates but please let the people who have handled this awful situation since August continue to do so. They have all proven to be quite competent. I want to thank the P.G.T. Beauregard camp for taking the lead in this. I also thank CIC Kelly Barrow and the GEC for their leadership and support.
Thanks to all of you. Keep praying for justice.
Thomas E. Taylor
Commander, Louisiana Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
==================================================================
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
==================================================================
Fellow Southerners,
As you all know by now, the City of New Orleans voted to remove the Confederate monuments from the city on a "nuisance complaint." This isn't over, so do not overreact to the situation.
A lawsuit seeking to permanently enjoin and prevent the removal of the Confederate monuments was filed in federal court only hours after the vote was taken in the city council. The federal judge has let everyone know to cool it for now. There will be a hearing in January with the New Orleans City Attorney and the attorney for the plaintiffs present and an injunction will be decided after that.
For now, what we need to do is let the legal system work. We have a very strong case that has been in the making for months now. We all knew that this day was coming, so preparations were made and have now been implemented. The time for phone calls and writing has passed. The judge wants all sides to calm down and that is what I am asking all of you to do. It will do no good to aggravate the legal system when we aren't losing anything. The monuments still are where they have always been.
What we will need is financial help. Like the doctor said when Lincoln was born, "This is gonna get ugly." It is also going to be expensive. The plaintiffs, of which the Beauregard Camp No.130 is one, have raised money for legal fees and the Heritage Defense Fund has helped so that we are even money with the attorneys for now. That won't last. Please send whatever you can because come January the fight will be on.
The address to send to is:
Beauregard Camp 130
P.O. Box 145
Arabi, LA. 70032
Please put in the memo line of your check "Monument Defense"
Gentlemen, I know that you all want to storm the gates but please let the people who have handled this awful situation since August continue to do so. They have all proven to be quite competent. I want to thank the P.G.T. Beauregard camp for taking the lead in this. I also thank CIC Kelly Barrow and the GEC for their leadership and support.
Thanks to all of you. Keep praying for justice.
Thomas E. Taylor
Commander, Louisiana Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
==================================================================
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
Friday, November 6, 2015
UPDATE: Confederate Veterans Will Be Honored At Veterans Day Parade In Texas, BUT...
One week ago yesterday this blog reported about the attempts of a Travis County, TX judge, Sarah Eckhardt, threatening to get county officials to pull support for the Veterans Day parade in the city of Austin if parade organizers did not force Confederate heritage groups to leave their Battle Flags at home when marching in the parade.
This past Tuesday, county officials met to decide the matter. Also involved in the meeting were representatives of a Texas-based Confederate heritage group (The Descendants of Confederate Veterans), the NAACP, and the chairman of the independent committee in charge of the parade.
After hearing from those representing all sides of the issue, the county commission decided that this year Confederate heritage groups will be permitted to fly the flag during the parade, but that the county will seek for ways to limit it's administrative support without adversely affecting the event.
This sounds to me like a temporary retreat, where our opposition plans to run and regroup before launching an all out assault. If permitted, those who seek to revise history will seek to change perceptions in the minds of the people and attempt to swindle them into believing lies about us, our ancestors, and the cause our ancestors fought for. Those of us who support using Confederate flags and symbols in honoring our brave Confederate ancestors must continue to stay on the offense!
Unfortunately this is not the only Veterans Day celebration where our ancestors face being discriminated against. In Florissant, MO, a suburb of St. Louis, city "leaders" are barring the local Sons of Confederate Veterans from flying the flag at their town's Veterans Day parade.
So, my fellow Compatriots, the war of ideas rages on! Now is the time to harden our resolve & make a firm stand against those who would seek to revise history into a perversion, and unjustly tarnish the heroic military service of our Confederate ancestors in the War Between the States!
In closing, I'd like to say thanks to all who are reading this blog! If you like what is being published here, feel free to share this on social media so we can spread the truth of history to as large an audience as possible. Also, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the field below.
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
This past Tuesday, county officials met to decide the matter. Also involved in the meeting were representatives of a Texas-based Confederate heritage group (The Descendants of Confederate Veterans), the NAACP, and the chairman of the independent committee in charge of the parade.
After hearing from those representing all sides of the issue, the county commission decided that this year Confederate heritage groups will be permitted to fly the flag during the parade, but that the county will seek for ways to limit it's administrative support without adversely affecting the event.
This sounds to me like a temporary retreat, where our opposition plans to run and regroup before launching an all out assault. If permitted, those who seek to revise history will seek to change perceptions in the minds of the people and attempt to swindle them into believing lies about us, our ancestors, and the cause our ancestors fought for. Those of us who support using Confederate flags and symbols in honoring our brave Confederate ancestors must continue to stay on the offense!
Unfortunately this is not the only Veterans Day celebration where our ancestors face being discriminated against. In Florissant, MO, a suburb of St. Louis, city "leaders" are barring the local Sons of Confederate Veterans from flying the flag at their town's Veterans Day parade.
So, my fellow Compatriots, the war of ideas rages on! Now is the time to harden our resolve & make a firm stand against those who would seek to revise history into a perversion, and unjustly tarnish the heroic military service of our Confederate ancestors in the War Between the States!
In closing, I'd like to say thanks to all who are reading this blog! If you like what is being published here, feel free to share this on social media so we can spread the truth of history to as large an audience as possible. Also, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the field below.
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Potential Discrimination Against American Veterans in Travis County, TX
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| [Copyright: Jonathan McCleese, 2015] |
A Travis County judge, Sarah Eckhardt, is looking to convince the parade organizers to not allow groups honoring their Confederate veteran ancestors to fly the Confederate Battle Flag under which many Texans served! Parade organizers have already unanimously rejected her request once, but now Eckhardt is also threatening to drag other elected county officials into the matter, and will possibly seek to get city & county support for the parade pulled if she doesn't get her way.
Marshall Davis, Public Relations Officer for the Sons of Confederate Veterans' Texas Division, released the following statement:
"The Travis County Veterans Association has voted twice to allow us to fly our battle flag as part of our multi flag displays. A flag under which our ancestors fought and died. Over a million Texans are descendant from Confederate Veterans and we intend to honor those Veteran's service by displaying many flags of the Confederacy."The Michigan Camps of the Sons of Confederate Veterans wholly support our fellow compatriots in the Texas Division.
It is very important to remember the following:
- An act of the United States Congress in 1958 says that all honorable Confederate veterans are officially recognized as honorable veterans of the United States, BY LAW.
- Millions of dollars in veterans' benefits have been paid to the descendants of Confederate veterans by the United States government in the 150 years since the war's end.
- The United States government provides unique headstones to specifically mark the graves of Confederate veterans.
- Confederate veterans are buried in multiple U.S. National Cemeteries (including Arlington), several of which are specifically set aside to honor the Confederate dead, and others having large monuments in place to honor the fallen sons of The South.
- In 1905, the United States Congress authorized the creation of The Civil War Campaign Medal. It was established by the U.S. War Department in 1907, and all veterans of the War Between The States, Union & Confederate, were eligible to receive it.
Make no mistake about it, what this county judge is attempting to do is shut down a parade that honors ALL American veterans if she cannot convince parade organizers to discriminate against the American veterans she doesn't like!
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
Friday, October 9, 2015
HERITAGE VIOLATION: Hillsdale, MI (October 2015)
Here are the facts that we know at this time, based on reports by the local media:
- A young man named Wesley Rogers of Hillsdale, MI was fired from his job at Bob Evans' production facilities in Hillsdale. Mr. Rogers was flying a rectangular Confederate Battle Flag from his truck.
- His employer claimed to have received an "anonymous complaint" about his flag.
- Last Friday (2 Oct 2015), Rogers' supervisors informed him of the complaint, and asked him to remove the flag from his truck while on company property, or park somewhere else, but no resolution was reached regarding the matter on that day.
- His supervisors met with him again on Tuesday (6 Oct 2015) and again made the same request. When he refused to comply, Rogers was terminated on the spot.
- Regarding his flag and it's display, Rogers made it clear to news organizations that "[a] lot of people think that it’s racist. It’s not racist; it’s my heritage. I grew up in the south, in Virginia." ... "I’m [hanging] it because I’m a southerner."
- Another employee at the plant spoke to one of the news organizations on the condition of anonymity, and said that on Wednesday (7 Oct 2015; the day after Rogers was fired), corporate representatives from Bob Evans held a meeting with the employees there to inform them of a policy change. The anonymous employee says "They made it clear... whoever flies [the Confederate flag] will face termination."If you are interested in reading more about this story, you can do so at the following links:
- BOB EVANS EMPLOYEES CLAIM CONFEDERATE FLAG COST ONE HIS JOB
(Hillsdale Daily News)
- MAN OUT AT BOB EVANS FACTORY OVER CONFEDERATE FLAG
(Fox 19 - Newport, KY)
- MAN OUT AT BOB EVANS FACTORY OVER CONFEDERATE FLAG
(The Blade - Toledo, OH)
More will be posted here in the coming days regarding this matter, but I would ask everyone to pray for Mr. Rogers and his family as they go through this unnecessary period of discrimination & hardship. Also keep praying for our nation, as such discriminatory acts will almost certainly continue popping up all over our country.
DEO VINDICE!
- Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms, SCV Camp #1321
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