Huge Confederate flag flying high over I-65

decaturdaily. ^ | 13-June-2005

[stainlessbanner]

VERBENA (AP) — A huge Confederate battle flag flying over Interstate 65 north of Montgomery will become a permanent fixture, according to officials with the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The organization bought land on the side of the interstate near Verbena and put up the flag, which has been flying for several months above the tree lines from the top of a large pole, easily visible from the heavily traveled interstate.

Leonard Wilson, commander of the Alabama division of Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the flag will be dedicated in a ceremony at 5 p.m. on June 26.

The flag is located on a little more than half an acre of land just north of where Autauga County 68 crosses over the interstate, about six miles south of the Verbena exit.

"We put the flag up so people could see it," Wilson said. "We are showing off our heritage. The flag is part of our heritage."

Critics of Confederate flag displays say they are reminders of the slavery era and Alabama's racist past, and can damage Alabama's image when flown beside a busy interstate route to Gulf beaches.

[BnBlFlag]

You think that slavery in the South was bad. Maybe it was but how do you think they made their way to the South? They were brought there on Mass. ships, crewed by Mass. sailors, and paid for by Mass. money.
Try being a little less Holier Than Thou.

[Stonewall Jackson]

If you go to the reenactment at Perryville, the Confederate camps often fly both the Stars and Stripes and the Stars and Bars.

By the way, I love your screen name. When Morgan made his December raid into Kentucky, he captured the town where I live. It was one of the shortest battles in history. His cannon fired a couple of rounds and he led a cavalry charge down main street. The Union garrison's executive officer quickly surrendered the command, as the garrison commander was hiding in a cellar and couldn't be found for several hours. (This is a true story)

[Polybius]

Anyone who shoots or has shot at the AMERICAN flag has earned my contempt.......BootsOnTheGround

The parents of William Tecumseh Sherman would have disagreed with you.....Polybius

Huh?.......Non-Sequitur

The poster had commented that he "had contempt" for anybody that had ever fired at the American flag.

Such a simplistic and hateful notion was not adhered to in the 19th Century. Chief Tecumseh was greatly admired by Americans in his day although he was a foe of the United States who died in battle against the United States.

Tecumseh was so admired that William Tecumseh Sherman was given the middle name Tecumseh in his honor.

Tecumseh was so admired that his name was given to a U.S. Navy Civil War era warship.

USS Tecumseh (1864-1864)

Tecumseh was so admired that his name was given to a U.S. Navy ballistic missile submarine in our time.

USS Tecumseh (SSBN 628)

[catfish1957]

"I will not honor the flag of traitors."

With your stupid flawed logic we'd still be British. Bud, I do not honor the confederacy, but I do honor my 5 ancestors who fought bravely for their cause. I echo another ones upcoming comment around urinating on the flag. I just hope I have an opportunity to wiz on your heritage.

CF 1957

[catfish1957]

I miss Wlat like an enenma., which is about what liberals are worth.

CF1957

[Cagey]

I miss Wlat like an enenma...

A what?

[SwordofTruth]

The confederate battle flag has nothing to do with slavery or racism.

Then what does it have to do with then? If the South won the war, were they planning on keeping their slaves? I think so.

[PhilipFreneau]

>> My Dad died for the US flag and my nephew is fighting for it in Iraq. Bring me your Confederate flags and I will exercise my bladder on them.

I admire three of my ancestors who fought in the Conderate Army, and five of my ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. I also admire your dad and nephew, and my relatives, who fought in Desert Storm or Operation Iraqi Freedom. But I have nothing but contempt for you, you miserable jerk.

[Non-Sequitur]

A what?

Isn't Enenma that white rap artist?

[PhilipFreneau]

>> My nephew could teach Lee a lesson about honor.

General Grant treated Lee with respect at Appomattox. You know nothing about honor, punk.

[Cagey]

Isn't Enenma that white rap artist?

Hahahaha! I think you're on to something.

[catfish1957]

Sorry, I meant Enema*

*for those anal retentive spelling police.

BTW... no one cares that you can cut and paste faster than anyone else. Your arguments have never had merit. I always believed you and Wlat deserved each other

[SwordofTruth]

It is deeply disturbing how many freepers are spouting their "pride" in the confederacy. Honoring a country founded to preserve slavery, and followed by an further hundred years of segregation.

I guess in any forum of this size you will find some people who will have pride in just about anything. This definitely doesn't give Republicans a very good image.

[catfish1957]

His nephew could teach General Lee honor?

This guy says something more incredibly stupid every time he opens his mouth.

CF1957

[Polybius]

The confederate battle flag has nothing to do with slavery or racism.

Then what does it have to do with then? If the South won the war, were they planning on keeping their slaves? I think so.

Battle flags have to do with soldiers who fought in battle.

During the American Revolutionary War, escaped slaves flocked to British lines as a means to escape slavery. That, however, does not mean that the Betsy Ross Flag was the flag of slavery.

In Post 100, x brought up the subject of the "Confederate flag" having been used for political purposes and he does have a point. What was, historically, the (rectangular) Confederate Naval Jack was appropriated, for political purposes, by the Dixiecrats.

That can now legitimately bring into question what hidden political motive the flying of such a flag may have.

I have always defended the honor of the Southern soldier and it is my belief that there should be no question that flying the Confederate Battle Flag should be about honoring them and not a back-door way to express modern day political views.

In events and occasions where Confederate veterans are honored, my solution would be to retire all flying of the rectangular Confederate Naval Jack except for events dealing solely with the Confederate Navy such as the CSS Hunley Funeral

For all other memorials, the square Confederate Battle Flag used by the Army of Northern Virginia should be used.

I realize that in some commands, such as in the Army of Tennessee, the rectangular flag was used but the square Confederate Battle Flag was by far the most common and that flag IMHO is the flag that should be used to honor the Confederate veteran.

It is, after all, the flag on the emblem of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

It is interesting to note that, in the 20th Century, the rectangular flag came into fashion because flag companies, without knowledge of the actual battle flags, simply decided to pattern them after the rectangular shape of Old Glory despite the protest of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The main reason that the flags came rectangular was that the flag makers of the time knew that American flags had always been rectangular and so made these flags according to what they knew from experience. They knew nothing of the various CS battle flag patterns for example other than the ANV flag - and that was square. I have seen letters to the United Daughters of the Confederacy from flag companies that told them "we will make you square flags, but you need to order hundreds of them in order for us to make the patterns or it won't be worth our while to do it - or we can just keep sending you the rectangular flags!" That is a paraphrasing of one letter from the 1930's! There are others from earlier dates than that.

[Leatherneck_MT]

"It is a tragedy he was killed. He might not have fit the idealized conservative mold, but a war was going to happen whether he was in office or not. America is better off because the Union won. I am a Texan born in South Carolina."

I respect your opinion even tho I do not agree with it. I don't think that a war would have happened with or without Lincoln.

If another president had gotten the whitehouse there may have been no war. He was the one who called up the volunteers and it was his presence in the whitehouse that started the sequence of events that led to the war.

Unfortunately we will never know if some other way could have been found to solve the differences between North and South.

[WyCoKsRepublican]

Let er fly proud!

[stainlessbanner]

bttt

[stainlessbanner]

mega-bump