Monday, June 30, 2014

Different Strokes, --

One of the things that separates Us from Them is our conduct.

Three days after First Manassas, T J Jackson was nursing a wound to his hand rinsing it in cool spring water. He was approached by Captain J. D. Imboden who three days before had been upset with Jackson and uttered some profanity on the battle field.
Attempting to give an apology he was stopped short by Jackson who said.
" Nothing can justify profanity"
________________________________________________________________________________

I'm not saying all folks from the south adhere to Jackson's statement.
Even I have been known to let a cuss word fly out. Usually it has something to do with  traffic in my case.
And I am in the confines of my car. No one can hear me.
But as a general rule I and many others refrain from public displays of profanity.
In a back room poker game profanity is expected and used as a bluff many times.
But in a public setting I find it unacceptable / unnecessary.

I do see, more times than I should, Southern folks in comments sections on line using inappropriate language.
My buddy John Stone's put it this way -- " Cursing is the result of a weak mind, trying to be forceful"
I wish all Southerner's would take to heart General Jackson's statement " Nothing can justify profanity."
( yes even in poker games) The same applies to the northern friendly folks.

I was going to shine the light on one northern fellow in particular, but he would just love more attention, so I decided against it. 

So what I'm saying is -- "let's all try to be a bit more respectful in our conduct and use something other than profanity". I'll do my part !

Friday, June 27, 2014

"It's the little things" ----


It's the little things that start to add up, 
and after a while you start to get annoyed and actually consider the conspiracy thing.

I sent some ribbons to the VA Flaggers, look what happened --

OK OK it was an accident, a mechanical snafu.
( Yea Right ! )



Meanwhile at The Old Lee County Courthouse
a historic site in Fort Myers Fla.

This oversight was spotted.

Reportedly the portrait of Robert E Lee was left covered by mistake,
Robert Jackson asked the folks in charge about the screen.

"I talked to them and they claim it was down for a meeting and they usually keep it up.
 I told them it was a crying shame and I hope it wasn't trying to be politically correct."


Well it took a few minutes and four people and a key to get the screen raised.

Thank you Mr. Jackson we all should be so attentive.

It's the little things that go unnoticed or unmentioned that are choking out our Southern Heritage.

That's why things like this --
The removal of the flags at the Chapel 
Are being responded to this way --
 

Sadly it's never gonna stop

Things like this --- 
       Change the names of Petersburg schools named after Confederate generals.                                         click here 

---- are gonna continue to happen.

But fortunately folks like this --
    are growing in numbers .
And will not look the other way.



So I guess you will continue to see more of this --


                                  and this --                                           

And as long as people like this --
 (yep that's me)
are willing to take a stand,

 folks like this--
Will have a hard Row to Hoe !

Andy, Al, Brooks and Kevin--


Monday, June 23, 2014

Heritage and History !

I went over to Simpson's trough, blog.

Sure enough the typical trash talking in the comment's section


Mark Curran on June 21, 2014 at 3:58 pm said:

IN September 64, Jeff Davis was in Macon explaining that 2/3 of the soldiers were awol, from desertion or whatever, not just around GA, but he said the Army of Virginia had the same problem. Im always surprised this is not mentioned more. Davis said specifically that if just half those guys returned, the South could not lose.

Was he right? Apparently. If half of them returned, that would about double the men in the field! Hard to see how Grant gets through double the men, who would be man the earth works. — the slave built earth works, that for some reason, is also not talked about. According to Virginia newspapers in 1862, slaves were building the earthworks, each county had to send so many slaves to Richmond to build the earthworks. If you think the white soldiers dug them too, you don’t know much about black white relations, and what whites would do to avoid working along side a black man, or do the work of a black man While “historians” have tried to pass off Lee’s nick name “King of Spades” as jocular soldier thing — wrong, it was from NEWSPAPERS. Read Douglass Freeman carefully slippery language about this

Well my Great Grandfather built earthworks !
The last paragraph in this letter from William H Tatum proves it !


 Heritage and History !




Yankee's at the Post Office ?

Dog Gone Yankee's, they are everywhere. 

I sent a batch of ribbons to the VA Flaggers.

This is how they arrived ---

 


I sent another batch today, I insured the package !

Saturday, June 21, 2014

A moral conundrum.

What to do, what to do ?

People love my home made ribbons ---

They are made out of clay, they are a copy of this coin.



I make a clay impression
This is my mold.



I put clay in the mold and add a safety pin
then put it under a small fan.

After an hour or so they pop out--
They turn out like this --


Then I paint Em !

Then I design a ribbon,
 I use double stick tape and place blank ribbon on the print out--

after all is said and done I put em together
with tape.

To mail them is about $1.50 / Envelope (padded) .65.

So coming up with a fair price is kinda hard.

People want them, but I want people to know exactly what they are getting.

I make em one at a time and it's labor intensive.

YEEEEEESH !!!!


UPDATE !!

This is my latest Batch of Ribbons.

The only way to get one is to Contact the VA Flaggers
Donations will be accepted.

Va Flaggers
P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150

Please be mindful of shipping costs when you donate.

Include a note that states you would like a ribbon.

Thanks to all who complimented my ribbons and requested one.

NOW YA KNOW HOW TO GET ONE !


Monday, June 16, 2014

Treasure is in the eye of the beholder.

My Brother is in from the west coast.
He visited Gettysburg, and snagged me a few gift shop Items --

Cool stuff. 
The New Battle Flag is proudly Flying from my front Porch !

UPDATE !

I was given 2 small rocks from Gettysburg, A few folks contacted me and told me it was illegal.

Soooooo-


Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Stampede !!!



A Ray Of Sunshine.


( from the VA Flaggers Web Page)

HERITAGE VICTORY AT THE CITADEL! 
Confederate flag at Citadel protected under state law, AG says
The Post & Courier, Charleston June 10 2014
"The Confederate Naval Jack flag in Summerall Chapel at The Citadel is allowed under state law, the Attorney General's Office announced today.
"In our opinion, this flag would be protected in its present location by the Heritage Act as a 'monument' or 'memorial' erected on public property of the state," Solicitor General Robert D. Cook states in a letter to the two senators requesting the ruling.
"The General Assembly has mandated, by virtue of the Heritage Act, that monuments and memorials honoring the gallantry and sacrifice of this state's various wars are protected," Cook says.
"It is thus our opinion that the Flag referenced in your letter, the Confederate Battle Flag, placed in Summerall Hall in 1939 is protected by the Heritage Act," Cook says.
Charleston County Council member Henry Darby raised questions about the appropriateness of the flag in a house of worship on The Citadel campus.
Last week, County Council voted to delay disbursement of $975,000 in funding for the debt on Johnson Hagood Stadium renovations pending the outcome of the AG's opinion.
"It's time for us to move on. It's not a battle between the county and The Citadel. It's not our fight," said County Council Chairman Teddie Pryor.
Darby raised the issue at the request of constituents, Pryor said. Darby was not immediately available for comment.
Pryor said the college will receive the check for stadium renovations in the new budget starting in July."
The Citadel Veterans will not be dishonored! We join citizens across the country in thanking God for this key, decisive victory, but can't help but assume that the Confederate Battle flags at the Confederate Memorial Chapel in Richmond would have been protected, and the Battle Flags at General Lee's mausoleum at Washington & Lee University would not be in danger...if Virginia had a similar law...
Let's make a Virginia Heritage Act a priority for the next legislative session...and protect ALL of Virginia's history!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

For My Flagger Friends.

I can't be on the Blvd. With my Flagger Friends.
So I do little things to show my thanks.
This is my latest batch of Flagger Ribbons.



Sunday, June 1, 2014

A WONDERFUL DAY IN VIRGINIA !




                         Wow it don't get much better than yesterday ( 5/31/14 )
                               About 10:00 am the VA Flagger's put up Flag # 2


                                                 About 1 hour north of Richmond !

                                                         ( No tree problem )

                                         This is just a few of the folks who share the credit.
                                                     Thanks FLAGGER'S

                                          And at at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond

 I got to Hollywood early and visited my ancestor William Henry Tatum
First Company Richmond Howitzers.

 I spoke to him and thanked him for all he had done,
 I also mentioned that many people were reading his letters and were learning from them.
A warm feeling came over me, as if he understood what I was saying.

I left him a Token of thanks and a new flag.

At 3:00 pm the Finest Ceremony I have ever attended began.


The wind presented a minor problem, but
Kelly Atkins Hinson who put the program together
Handled the situation with grace and diginity.
A true Southern Belle, God Bless Her.


My good friend John Stones also handled a situation with cool dedication.
Filling in for the preacher who was called away.
"What does it mean when a Baptist Preacher takes his watch off, looks at it and places it on the podium" ?
( ABSOLUTELY NOTHING  )
All kidding aside Thank You John, you did a flawless job.
The Eulogy is at the bottom of this page **

Over 100 new Markers were dedicated.
This was one, John Stones G.G Grandfather

As the names were read a small bell was sounded.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.
I was happy to be there.

God bless all who put in so much effort to honor our ancestors.

**Eulogy from May 31, 2014 at Hollywood Cemetery dedication: Mark 14: 3-9
We gather today as friends, compatriots, and descendants of Confederate soldiers, My Great,Great Grandfather - Private Thomas P. Darnall, Company F, Third SC Infantry - was thefirst to be located, this past Thanksgiving season, by the revitalized Southern Soldier Remembrance Foundation. My family had been searching for his burial place for years but had met nothing but frustration in our search because of a gross misspelling in the existing documentation after the War. Thank you Southern Soldiers Remembrance Foundation for bringing our search to an end and filling our hearts with joy after 151 years of my ancestor lying in an unmarked grave!

The Scripture I chose for this occasion reminds us of the importance of memorials. The woman that anointed our Lord with the expensive oil will be remembered forever because of her actions in showing her reverence to our Lord. Without memorials we would never be reminded of the debt of gratitude we owe to those that stood for truth and went before us. Folks, it's up to us to make sure the next generation knows the truth! We cannot leave it to government schools because,all too often, "truth" to them changes with the political winds of the times.

 Gen. Patrick Cleburne stated it best on January 2, 1864: 
 
Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it is too late... It means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern schoolbooks their version of the War: will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit objects of derision.
The task is ours to see to it that the truth of our heritage gets passed on to the generations that follow us! 

The soldiers we gather to honour today fought for various reasons but the greatest among them was to defend hearth and home from a ruthless invader. They stood, 150 years ago, to defend the very principles their fathers had fought for in the American Revolution. They stood ready to give their all that those principles might be passed on to us and we must be willing - today - to stand and pass those truths on to those that come after us!

Allow me to close with the words of another South Carolinian, those of General Wade Hampton, 

spoken by him in Warrenton, VA on June 12, 1873:
 
But while we accept our defeat with the consequences that legitimately follow it, it is our right to justify our cause, to vindicate our motives, to honour our dead. This is not only a right, but a sacred duty. We owe it to ourselves, our children, to those that died in the effort to keep us free, that we should cling with unshaken fidelity to these principles which we believe to be true!

May we NEVER forget or grow tired of proclaiming that truth!