Posted on 09/04/2009 1:41:52 PM PDT by kingattax
Despite protests, the city of Homestead said they won't ban the controversial symbol ---
Over a century later, the Confederacy seems to have won.
It's a small battle, of course, but it looks like Homestead's Veteran's Day Parade will happen, and, despite protests by the NAACP, organizers decided they could not ban the displaying of the Confederate flag, according to the Miami Herald.
The controversy over the flag began last November, when black residents became outraged that the city allowed the symbol to fly during Veterans Day events.
"I think the Confederate soldiers have always been in the parade. I've seen them there," Chamber of Commerce chairman Jerome Williams told the South Florida Times back in April. "So, why is it an issue this time? I understand the debate, but I've done my own research and realize there were many black people in the Confederacy."
Tensions further flared when the Human Relations Board, who supported the ban, was dismantled by the city - which is not involved in planning the parade -- insisting that it was because of the desire to take it in a different direction, not because of the flag controversy.
A couple months later, the military affairs committee considered canceling the parade altogether, but ultimately decided to go ahead with the festivities, though, according to military affairs chairman Jeffrey Wander, there's a simple solution to saving the drama. "We can't take a position on this," Wander told the Miami Herald, "but we hope the Sons of Confederate Veterans don't bring the battle flag.''
That scenario doesn't seem likely, though.
``It's hard to march in a parade without our flag," said Gregory Kalof, commander of the Miami chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "It's like going to a rodeo without a horse."
The NAACP did not return calls yesterday for comment.
Do you mean the people who invented landmines and waterborne mines (called torpedoes at the time) and the first operational submarine credited with a sinking? The same people who had an agricultural output that dwarfed that total economy of the North. The same Confederates who drove the Union back to Washington D.C.?
As for Tennessee, anyone who knows her history would realize the Cumberland Gap was not a slave-heavy area, but mostly held by small farms. Now if you are a group of farmers and you have just captured a bunch of neighbors then a Union division with artillery descends on you - what is the smart move to protect your land and family?
FYI, the official definition of the three stars on the Tennessee state flag is due to its geographic divisions. They fail to mention split of the among those same areas during the war between the states.
Stay with the kiddie shows Captain - its more your style.
This was taken from the 11/3/06 issue of the Okinawa Marine, which is published by the Consolidated Public Affairs Office of Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler. It was written by Navy Lt. Cmdr. Joe D. Haines.
How the Confederate Stars and Bars Made its Way to Okinawa
Only the Normandy D-Day invasion surpassed Okinawa in its scope, preparation and forces employed. More than 548,000 Americans participated in the Okinawa invasion. American service members were surprised to find virtually no resistance as they stormed the beaches on Easter 1945. They soon discovered that the Japanese Imperial Army
and Navy had literally gone underground having spent a year forcing Okinawan slaves to dig their underground defenses. It required 83 days of combat to defeat the Japanese.
The invasion of Okinawa was by the newly organized American 10th Army. The 10th, commanded by Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, was composed of the XXIV Corps, made up of veteran Army units including the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th Infantry divisions, and the III Amphibious Corps, with three battle-hardened Marine divisions, the 1st, 2nd, and
6th.
One of the most significant milestones in the Okinawan campaign was the taking of Shuri Castle, the underground headquarters of the Japanese Imperial Army. After two months of fighting the Japanese, the 6th Marines and
the Armys 7th Division were moving south, nearing Shuri Castle. The 6th Marines were commanded by Maj. Gen. Pedro del Valle. Following a hard fight at Dakeshi Town, del Valles Marines engaged in a bloody battle at Wana Draw.
Wana Draw stretched 800 yards and was covered by Japanese guns from its 400-yard entrance to its narrow exit. The exit provided the key to Shuri Castle. The Japanese were holed up in caves the entire length of the gully, and had to be eradicated in man-to-man combat.
While the Marines battled through the mud and blood up the draw, the Armys 77th Division was approaching Shuri from the east. To the west, the 6th Marines were pushing into the capital city of Naha. Faced with this overwhelming force, Japanese Gen. Ushijimas army retreated to the south. On May 29, 1945, A Company, Red Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, commanded by Capt. Julius Dusenberg, approached to within 800 yards of Shuri Castle. The castle lay within the zone of the 77th Infantry Division, known as the Statue of Liberty Boys. However, Gen. Ushijimas rear guard had stalled the 77ths advance.
Impatient, Maj. Gen. del Valle ordered Capt. Dusenberg to take that damned place if you can. Ill make the explanations.
Dusenberg radioed back, Will do!
Dusenbergs Marines stormed the stone fortress, quickly dispatching a detachment of Japanese soldiers who had remained behind. Once the castle had been taken, Dusenberg took off his helmet and removed a flag he had been carrying for just such a special occasion. He raised the flag at the highest point of the castle and let loose with a rebel yell. The flag waving overhead was not the Stars and Stripes, but the Confederate Stars and Bars. Most of the Marines joined in the yell, but a disapproving New Englander supposedly remarked, What does he want now? Should we sing Dixie?
Maj. Gen. Andrew Bruce, the commanding general of the 77th Division, protested to the 10th Army that the Marines had stolen his prize. But Lt. Gen. Buckner only mildly chided Gen. del Valle, saying, How can I be sore at him? My father fought under that flag! Gen. Buckners father was the Confederate Gen. Buckner who had surrendered Fort Donelson to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in 1862. The flag flew only two days over Shuri Castle when it was formally raised on May 31, 1945. Dusenbergs flag was first lowered and presented to Gen. Buckner as a souvenir. Gen. Buckner remarked, OK! Now, lets get on with the war! Tragically, just days before Okinawa fell, Gen. Buckner was killed by an enemy shell on June 18, 1945, on Mezido Ridge while observing a Marine attack.
I'm sure they have. The whole PC name change thing just irks me. I think they've got one of the last 3 P-38's - or 4 now that Glacier Girl has been flying for a couple of years.
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