Posted on 05/04/2009 11:12:18 AM PDT by Publius804
Actor Duvall enters battle to save Va. battlefield
By STEVE SZKOTAK
LOCUST GROVE, Va. (AP) - Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall has fired a verbal salvo against plans to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter near a Virginia Civil War battlefield where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee first fought the Union's Ulysses S. Grant.
Duvall, who is a descendant of Lee, said he will help preservationists in "chasing out" the retailer from a site near the Wilderness Battlefield.
At a news conference on Monday, Duvall said he has no grudge against Wal-Mart but believes in capitalism coupled with sensitivity.
Duvall was joined by Congressmen Peter Welch of Vermont and Ted Poe of Texas, representing states that lost many lives at the Wilderness battle 145 years ago.
The Wal-Mart proposal must first be approved by Orange County supervisors.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning!!”
BTTT
I support any effort to maintain historical battlefields in the U.S.
Yankees don’t surf.
LOL!
Now you’ve got me imagining him calling in the Confederate Air Force for a napalm strike.
The right approach.
On this, I agree with Mr Duvall. Preserve the serenity of the battlefield's region.
Because if you start seizing peoples' property without adequately compensating them for their loss, then - well, the whole shebang is simply meaningless.
You might as well build a time machine and set it for "Moscow, 1917".
Some folks hold that the field of battle is hallowed ground (and I am one of them). I like Wal-mart but there are other, more suitable locations.
Sounds like the proposed retail site is not actually on the battlefield.
Ditto. Historical preservation is about as close to a liberal position as I get. We are frequently too cavalier when we abandon historical sites in favor of quick, cheap economic development.
Isn’t the Walmart site something like two miles from the battlefield?
Good for him. To even think about putting a walmart near that location is sacriligeous! There needs to be a line between business and common sense and if Walmart doesn’t have the common sense to know this is not right...then Duvall and others will have it for them. We were successful in keeping a Walmart out of one particular area that we didn’t want. They had two options and chose the WRONG ONE. There was always someone out there with a petition to sign and the people gathered together and stood tall in their convictions. So, the little guy CAN defeat a big guy as long as they stand together. Walmart has other options I am sure and for them to even consider this is beyond words. Go Robert Duvall. Make it happen somewhere else!!! All battlefields should be respected and preserved. Too many died on both sides in that senseless war and so they should be fought for whenever anyone like Walmart comes in to do their thing. Capitalism is one thing but this is GREED in my opinion!!
I hope we are valiant in efforts to preserve the battlefield for future generations. Mr. Duvall is a welcome addition to the fight.
Whoa, there.
I never said anything about taking people’s existing property.
I’m simply talking about areas that have long been established to be part of the historical record of battle and that do not currently belong to someone else.
I’m not in favor of this government or any government forcing a person to do something with their property.
I’m talking about an educated campaign of facts and appreciation for our country’s history that strikes a reasonable balance.
That works both ways. It is very common, especially with the last SCOTUS ruling that people's property can be commandeered, not just for public works projects like roads or railways, but for economic development reasons, like Walmart. When people are forced to sell their property so it can be used by another private entity, that is wrong, IMHO.
I bet that if Wal-Mart management is made keenly aware of the situation, and the public feeling behind it, they will lead the effort to preserve the battlefield.
This article doesn’t have that information. Maybe someone who lives locally could enlighten us on that?
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