[Tamaroa]

Lest there be a misunderstanding here, lets get a couple of things straight. the Confederate battleflag also known as the CBF was a blue cross of St. Andrew on a red field with thirteen stars. It was known as the battle flag for a reason. The Confederate first national was the Stars and Bars, i.e. a blue canton with three broad stripes, red, white and red. At rest the first national looked like the American flag. Hence much confusion reigned in battle in the early part of the war. Following the First national, was the Second National or stainless banner as it is sometimes called. The Stainless Banner's first official use was as the coffin drape for Stonewall Jackson. This flag was a solid white field with the canton being the CBF to honor the Confederate soldier. Then there was the Third National which was the Second National with a broad red vertical stripe on the fly end. This was adopted in 1865 because the Second National at rest looked like a flag of surrender.

Now the point of the descriptions just enumerated is twofold, one to point out that the Stars and Bars and the CBF are not the same flag which many people mistake them for. Secondly, the battleflag is just that, it was the soldier's flag of the Confederate Army. Generally speaking the Army of Northern Virginia's flag was square while the CBF for the Army of Tennessee was rectangular in shape. These flags did not represent the government. They represented the armies. If any of the PC crowd be they black, white or green have a problem with any flag, it should be the First National AKA Stars and Bars, not the CBF. The First National represented the Nation and its constitution which allowed slavery to exist. And before anyone yells at me for splitting hairs, I want to point out one more thing.

There are a lot of you on this board who served in Viet Nam with honor. You went because it was your duty. I am sure that not all of you wanted to go. I am equally sure that some of you were against the war period, BUT you went anyway. You fought under the U.S. banner because it was your duty. You may not have agreed with our government's policies but you went. Now tell me what the US flag meant to soldiers (no qualifiers) in Viet Nam. You can't do it can you? Because it means something different for everybody.

The same holds true for the Confederate soldier. Slapping a racist label on him sickens me. He fought like a hell cat for that flag, BUT what did it mean for him? Was he a proponent of slavery or was he simply protecting his home and family from an invader. Did he have a higher regard for states rights than federalism?

We are one country now, but the Confederate flag, LIKE the Flag of the Republic of Texas was a piece of our history. 250,000 Southern American soldiers died defending that flag therefore it deserves a place of honor with our other flags. It deserves nothing more and nothing less.


Bill