Reply #93: When I was in the Army, I was stationed at Ft. Gordon, Ft. Lee, &

[rasputin1952]

numerous other posts across the country, as well as outside this country. In every assignment that I ever had, I had many Southerners in my unit(s). They fought as bravely as any other soldier, the did what they had to do, and I befriended many of them, (My point of enlistment was NYC, so if these people were going to despise anyone, I figured I was gonna be it).

Many of these soldiers kept the Stars and Bars in their personal belongings, but no one ever said it should take the place of the Stars and Stripes. Just as with state flags, people take pride in their heritage and their history. The CW was a horrible war, but one thing it did was to cement the nation together as a nation comprised of states with a Federal gov't as the final authority. The vast majority of Southerners accept this, and I know of none that would trade off this nation for anything else.

I have no problem w/the Confederate Flag, as long as no one hoists it above the Stars and Stripes. Like any other banner, it depends on how you look at it, if you view it as a banner of hate, that is what it will be; if you view it as a symbol of history and pride, it will appear as such. Many brave Americans died under both banners, but they were all Americans, North and South. While slavery breathed its last, it took many years to do away with Jim Crow laws, and other indignities. I should also say that Reconstruction took far too long and exploited virtually all of the Southerners. I wonder if Booth had any idea that he would be reviled and help to destroy the South even further when he stepped into the box in Ford's Theater; if Lincoln would have lived, things would have been far different during the immediate antebellum period.