Po;itical Correctness Running Amok at Point Lookout

[Tamaroa]

I don't know about you all but this infuriates me. What flag are Confederate POW's supposed to be buried under!

June 06, 2003
Point Lookout Memorial Speech Lines Disapproved by Judge

June 6, 2003--A federal judge has upheld a ruling by the Department of Veterans Affairs that requires several lines to be removed from a speech to be given at a memorial service June 14 at Point Lookout, a holding camp for Confederate prisoners of war in southern Maryland. The service is to be held in the portion of the camp now designated as a national cemetery.

Patrick J. Griffin III, a Maryland resident and past commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, had planned to include four passages in his address in which he opposed the government's decision to allow the Confederate flag to fly at the site only during the annual ceremony. Griffin was required to submit a draft of his planned speech to Veterans Affair officials in advance.

Among the lines the agency found objectionable were: "The government is surely right in allowing our flag to fly here today," and, "Especially in this place, the flag should fly every day, just as it is doing this morning."

Veterans Affairs rules require that public remarks in national military cemeteries must be nonpartisan and "viewpoint neutral," the Washington Post's Eugene Meyers reported. The SCV requested a preliminary injunction barring the VA from forcing Griffin to revise his remarks or from fining him for speech it considered improper.

James J. Schwartz, a Justice Department attorney representing the VA, said in court that regulations banning contentious speech were adopted to ensure that such cemeteries remain tranquil places, free of controversy, where the dead may be honored and remembered with dignity. The VA, he said, "is entitled to determine what is the subject matter and to go forward with its mandate to protect these national shrines."

The SCV's suit did not dispute the department's right to exercise prior restraint over speech on public land, their lawyer said. Michael F. Wright, an attorney on the various challenges, argued yesterday that Griffin and the other plaintiffs were contesting only the removals from the specific speech that Griffin planned to give.

"We're not saying VA has to let Save the Whales in there, for example," Wright said.

District Judge William Nickerson denied the motion for injunction. He said that the regulation's constitutionality had already been settled and that it was up to the plaintiffs to show that the rule "as applied" in this case would cause actual and imminent harm.

"The real harm is very hard to comprehend," the judge said.

Griffin said he would abide by the ruling and delete sections of his speech the VA had found objectionable.

"Today obviously wasn't our day," said "I abide by and respect the law," he said, "even though I may not agree with it."

Point Lookout was established by Union forces after the Battle of Gettysburg. Over the course of its operations the facility housed 52,264 Confederate prisoners, some 14,000 of whom died there and are buried in a mass grave on the grounds.

The camp, much of which is now a Maryland state park, is located at the very tip of the state south of Washington DC where the Potomac River enters Chesapeake Bay.

Until about ten years ago the Confederate battle flag routinely flew over the memorial. After controversies arose in various places over the use of the flag at taxpayer-supported venues, the VA restricted its display, a policy that was challenged and upheld in the courts. Under an agreement reached after another lawsuit, the Confederate flag is flown at the cemetery only on the day of the memorial meeting.

Another lawsuit has been brought by the Confederate groups challenging policies at Point Lookout, but the judge declined to issue a ruling on that matter at the hearing on the injunction over the speech.

In May, the Point Lookout POW group bought two acres near the federal monument where it intends to erect a statue of a Confederate soldier and fly the battle flag along with flags of all the states of the Confederacy.

Bill

[SuperScout]

One might make the accurate assumption that there are many German POW's buried in the US, since many were brought here during WWII. Many of them were committed Nazis, fighting well and hard for the Fatherland until their fate, and the magnaminity of US forces intervened and they began to learn what America was all about. It's just a wild guess, but I assume that some of them died here, either of wounds, old age or whatever, and were buried accordingly. Just what flag should they be buried under? How offensive would some people find it to see a Nazi flag flying in this country? And kindly refrain from making the accusation that I'm equating the Confederacy with Nazi Germany - that dawg won't hunt in Wimberley.

[Tamaroa]

I wouldn't even dream of thinking you equate the two flags. However, these were Americans who fought for a cause they believed in. Many of whom felt that they, not the North were actually upholding the constitution. My point is that the flag of their enemy is flying over the graves.

Moreover, there are German POW's buried here in the states. To my knowledge a German flag does not fly over their graves. The distinction here is that the Germans were foreign belligerants, not Americans. the Confederate flag, like it or not is a piece of our history. 250,000 Americans died under that flag, to relegate it to nothingness to me is a gross insult.

Here is the point, I wish to make. This board laudably wants to record this nation's military history. Many of the notable events not only occured during the War of the Rebellion (Its official government name) but also by necessity it must include the deeds of Confederate as well as Union soldiers. The banner under which the Confederate soldier fought therefore in my opinion deserves a better fate than it is suffering now in this PC world.



Bill

[David]

I agree with you Tamoroa. The flag deserves a better fate. I could argue the issues for days with either side but the fact will always remain that the flag is a very important piece of American History and should be treated as such.

[Gimpy]

I totally agree with you!

Don'tcha be payin no attention to thet thare ole SuperSurly feller. Hell, he's-a frum a dangnabbed FOREIGN country anyways---The Republic of Texas, or Texecans, ere sumthing like thet! I think he's originally an "immigrant" frum thet thare place he's-a hollerin about all the time---LOMA-LINDA, or some kinda weird place anywho!

Respectfully your'n,

General Beauregard "Stonewall" Gimpster

[Jerry D]

DITTO Tamaroa! I also agree with you! I am a SCV member here in SE Georgia and when I go to the Confederate Memorial cemetery in Waynesville,GA on April 26th for Confederate Memorial Day I also return in May for Memorial Day to place a US flag on the WW1 veterans' grave that is also in the cemetery. Because we are all members of the biggest fraternity those who served in the military. Someday we will depend on a stranger to remember to honor our memory and decorate our grave with the proper respect and Flag. God bless the Veteran because he served his country when others wouldn't and protected their rights anyway. So when you hear about someone or some group protesting the St.Andrews Cross (Confederate Battle Flag) remember its the Confederate Veteran they are protesting because it's their flag they carried in battle not the 1st National or later CSA flags to fly over Richmond,VA which flew over the South as Old Glory fly over the US from inception . So truth be known the Old Glory we all love as Americans has flown over Slaves longer then any CSA flag ever did. BTW my Wifes GrGr Uncle John Eason was held as a POW at Point Lookout,MD two months after the War Between the States was over he was released in June 1865.John W Eason of Union Co. NC Pvt, Co D, 37th Reg at age 22 was a Volunteer entered service on Sept 16, 1861.On his Roll of Honor* paperwork it list him being wounded at Chancellorville on May 3 ,1863 .

[Tamaroa]

I have a distant relative William Doherty who was in the 37th North Carolina, He was a 1st Lieutenant, KIA at Gettysburg. I guess that makes you a step brother in solidarity to me

Bill

[chilidog]

JerryD,
What does the "W" stand for in "John W Eason?" Your wife and I may have common relatives. My family history comes through Barnwell county....or was that a "township?"

I agree with David; the flag issue could be argued both ways. Is it possible to separate the political part and simply honor the soldier? Were any Confederate or USA sailors buried in foreign soil? Could we expect our flag to fly there as it does in Normandy? Would you consider the soldiers that Bill is talking about as being buried in foreign soil or homeland?



Chilidog

[Jerry D]

Chilidog: the "W" in John W Eason stood for Wilson and He also had a 2nd Brother in the Co.D,37th Reg NC Inf. Thomas Lee Eason. He had a third brother William S. Eason who served in Co.I, 53 Reg. of NC and was know as one of the two best marksmen in his company.It is interesting how if one looks into their family history you can trace them back to common events if you look for them.Thanks for the Info Bill (Tamaroa)

[chilidog]

Jerry,
I'm going to pass these names on to my dad and see what he has in his notebooks. What is the "S" for in William S. Eason? I have a Seborn Eason that was in King's Btn, LA Inf. We have noticed that over the generations 3 or 4 names kept being repeated throughout the Eason clan.


Chilidog