ANDERSON, Texas - The Grimes County Greys Camp No. 924 dedicated a new life-bronze statue of a Confederate soldier in a new Confederate Memorial Plaza in Anderson 28 April, which is about 70 miles north of Houston.
The camp spent seven years raising funds to have the statue created by sculptor J. Payne Lara and the memorial plaza. It also plans to break ground for a new Confederate Museum at the site later this year.
A number of members from Captain James W. Bryan Camp, Major Jesse M. Cooper Camp and Emma Sansom Chapter of the OCR attended the ceremony.
If you would like to contribute to this ongoing project, the camp has memorial paving stones to honour Confederate soldiers available for a $100 donation. For more information contact Grimes County Greys Camp No. 924, Sons of Confederate Veterans, P.O. Box 166, Anderson, Texas 77830.
Support the efforts of the SCV to make a stand on this issue by attending a ball scheduled for May 19, 2001. See below of details.
On May 19, 2001, an 1860s Period Ball will be convened at 9:00 PM. This event is to be held at Sheraton Hotel, 6401 Veterans Blvd. , I-10, Metairie, LA. The ball will be in the hotel's Grand Ballroom from 9 PM until --. The cost is $15 for one ticket or 2 tickets for $25. Music will be provided by the Twelfth Louisiana String Band. Many choices of attire are acceptable: period clothing, both civilian and military, modern evening, or coat and ties for men are all welcome. A large percent of the net profit is dedicated to the SCV Camp 130's Confederate Memorial Hall Fund and Camp Moore Fund. Make checks payable to the SCV Convention Corporation, PO Box 6035; Metairie, LA 70009-6035.
For More Information contact:
Wayne Alligood
Home Phone 504-341-0064
Office Phone 504-392-9552
Fax 504-392-9567
DIGEST
Scalise, et al. HB No. 1941
Abstract: Enacts the Louisiana War Monuments and Memorials Protection Act. Provides that memorials, plaques, markers, or historic flag displays on public property dedicated to or memorializing specified wars shall not be relocated, removed, disturbed, or altered, unless such action has been previously approved by a concurrent resolution adopted by the legislature. Requires the secretary of state to establish and maintain a registry of all such monuments, memorials, plaques, markers, or historic flag displays.
Proposed law provides that no monument, memorial, plaque, marker, or historic flag display on public property of the state or any of its political subdivisions dedicated to or memorializing the Native-American Wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the War Between the States, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Conflict, or the Persian Gulf War may be relocated, removed, disturbed, or altered, unless previously approved by a concurrent resolution adopted by the legislature.
(Adds R.S. 25:1251-1253)
Project manager Bob Neyland said that scientists were methodically cataloging the latest two skulls found and removing bones of the crew found earlier in the excavation.
Officials are treating the Hunley as a war grave and will not permit photographs of the sailors' remains. Cameras that provide pictures on the Internet and on closed-circuit television for visitors to the conservation lab have been turned off while the remains are removed. About 40 bones have now been removed from the hand-cranked sub, the first in history to sink an enemy warship, Neyland said.
Remains of eight of the nine crewmen have been located. The only one unaccounted for is Lt. George Dixon, the sub's commander, and scientists expect to find his remains in the front of the crew compartment, where Dixon would have been piloting the submarine.
The Hunley sank the night of Feb. 17, 1864, shortly after ramming an explosive charge at the end of a spar into the Union blockade ship Housatonic. The sub was raised last year and brought to the conservation lab.
In the base of the monument is the following inscription:
"To the memory of the Confederate soldiers who fought in the siege of Port Hudson 1863 Dedicated May 1930 By Louisiana Division United Daughters of the Confederacy."
For many years, the landowners and their heirs allowed access to the monument for maintenance and cleaning. This is no longer the case, however, as unauthorized trespassing (on this, as well as other private property in the area) has undoubtedly caused many owners to prevent access of any kind whatsoever, regardless of intent. It is now feared that, partly because of the property's location and total inaccessibility (on the old Port Hudson-Pride Road, aka Port Hickey Road), the monument's foundation has experienced significant deterioration and 'undercutting' and the monument itself will soon be lost forever without timely intervention and preservation. For all practical purposes, the monument has been 'abandoned,' and can only be seen from the road.
The Port Hudson SCA is visited by tens of thousands of tourists each year, each wanting to learn more about the men of Port Hudson and the longest true siege in US military history - 48 days.- As the ONLY monument ever erected to the honor and memory of those who served here, it is a fitting and proper remembrance of that sanguinary period.
The current owners will allow access to the monument so that it can be moved to a more suitable and safe location.- Members and friends of the SCV, MOS & B, and the UDC will furnish all the labor, materials and equipment to reinstall the monument at the Port Hudson SCA. In addition we, along with the UDC, will provide year-round maintenance and caretaking of the monument, much as we do at other locations including Camp Moore in Tangipahoa Parish and a number of public and private cemeteries across Louisiana where Confederate soldiers are buried. In other words, there would be no cost whatsoever to the State of Louisiana. Indeed, such a singular monument would attract tourists who otherwise have no access to it at all in its present location. We, of course, would also propose to conduct a re-dedication ceremony befitting the men this monument commemorates.
By this memorandum, I am respectfully requesting those who wish to contribute to the relocation and preservation effort of the monument at Port Hudson, please forward your contributions to our camp adjutant...
Mark Conger, 38016 Therese Court West, Prairieville, LA 70769
Please mark your check 'Port Hudson Monument Fund'.-- The total estimated cost for this relocation is between $2500 and $3000.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely, Robert W. Crook Commander; Brig. Gen. Henry Watkins Allen #133; Sons of Confederate Veterans, Baton Rouge Adjutant; CSS Arkansas Chapter; MOS & B
The message they sent to Anti-Southern bigots everywhere was, "We don't buy your trashing of Southern heritage and the vast majority of Southerners will never willingly give up our beloved Confederate battleflag."
The state banner, first adopted in 1894, with its proud Confederate imagery won the election with a landslide 65 percent of the vote to 35 percent for the shameful proposed new banner of Neo-Yankees, Neo-Scalawags and Neo-Carpetbaggers.
This victory can be attributed to the unselfish work of all Compatriots of the Mississippi Division. On behalf of all 30,000 members of the SCV I extend to the division our most heartfelt congratulations for a job well done.
Deo Vindice,
Confederately,
Ed L. Deason
Commander-in-Chief
Thank God for Mississippi! Her citizens stood solidly behind the 1894 State flag, with its Confederate emblem, and rejected the proposed new flag by a landslide margin of 2 to 1 in Tuesday's (17 April) election. Not the perceived power of the media, the big business community, the educational establishment, the liberal churches, the NAACP, nor all the forces of anti-Southern, liberal bigotry could intimidate these brave and resolute Mississippians. Your Southern neighbors salute you.
The Mississippi flag victory laurel wreath should be laid on the brow of one man in particular - Rev. John Thomas Cripps, who has already declared his intent to seek the office of Governor in Mississippi in 2003. This victory lays a firm foundation on which Rev. Cripps can make his case for the highest office in the State, and if the election were held today, I think he would win. Such is the exuberant attitude that permeates Mississippi in the wake of this victory. It is time that all patriotic Southerners get on the "Cripps for Governor" campaign wagon. And let's not just provide moral support; rather, let us give tangible financial support while the "iron is hot" and he has momentum. To contribute, call (601) 528-9219 or 528-9681.
On another front, the popular vote in support of the State flag in Mississippi has raised eyebrows and a burning question among Alabamians, South Carolinians, Georgians, and Floridians in particular: "If we had been allowed to vote, as the citizens of Mississippi did, would we not have done the same as they." And indeed, this is the issue that ought to be shouted from every hilltop and through every holler in Dixie.
Do Governor Hodges and the Turncoats in the South Carolina legislature really believe that the people of the Palmetto State, if given a chance to cast their votes, would have brought the Confederate battleflag down from atop the Statehouse in Columbia? The vote would likely have mirrored that of Mississippi on 18 April. But it is not too late for the people of South Carolina to have their say. All it would take is a grassroots effort to mobilize South Carolinians to pressure the legislature in Columbia to allow a popular vote. The League of the South pledges its support in that effort. Do "King Roy" Barnes and his court in Atlanta really believe that ugly new flag would have been approved by the good folks of Georgia in a statewide popular vote? The vote in Georgia would probably have gone down much as it did in Mississippi on 18 April. But all is not lost. By applying the proper pressure on their legislators, the people of Georgia could at last have their say on this matter. And again, The League of the South promises to be there to help.
Do Governor Jeb Bush and his Republican henchmen in Tallahassee really think that the good people of Florida would approve by popular vote his removing the Confederate flag in the dark of night to placate Jesse Jackson and the NAACP? The vote in Florida would perhaps be similar to that in Mississippi on 18 April. But cheer up, Floridians; if you emulate the good folks in the Magnolia State and force this issue to a popular referendum, you can win. The League of the South will be there to help you.
Do Governor Don Siegelman and Alabama legislature really believe that the people in the Heart of Dixie would have voted to remove the Confederate battleflag from atop the State Capitol in 1993? The good folks of Alabama would have done precisely what Mississippians did on 18 April, if given the chance. But the situation is not beyond repair. All that is necessary is for the citizens of Alabama to force their legislators on Goat Hill to permit them to vote on a constitutional amendment to return the battleflag to its proper place. The League of the South will do its duty here as well.
Simply put, until Tuesday, 18 April, and the Mississippi flag victory, the opponents of the South thought that they could destroy our heritage with impunity by cutting political deals behind the people's backs. Now, however, all that has changed. The people of the sovereign States of the South understand that the enemy is only a paper tiger. For all his bluff and bluster, he cannot defeat the will of the people, fairly expressed, at the voting booth. This is why we must force all such issues into the election arena. No more dictates from King Roy of Atlanta; no more buying the votes of corrupt legislators with the people's money; no more kow-towing to the epithets of a biased, liberal media.
My point here is not to praise participatory democracy over a republican form of government. But the sad fact is that our elected representatives that currently sit in legislative assemblies across the South have failed to speak for the people they represent. Instead, once arriving in Jackson, Columbia, Montgomery, and other State capitols across the South, they have succumbed to the allurement of cutting deals (often very lucrative, financially speaking) and have cowered before the chain-owned media (Gannett, Knight-Ridder, New York Times, etc.) for fear of being branded as reactionary (e.g. racist, sexist, xenophobe, homophobe, etc.). Simply put, until this sorry lot can be cleaned out, we must rely on the superior wisdom and morality of the common citizens on important issues of all sorts.
The issue of the Confederate battleflag, in its many manifestations, is about more than Southern heritage. That flag represents today what remains of traditional, Western Christian culture. It says "NO" to gun control, abortion, Third World immigration, moral deviancy, feminism, paganism, radical environmentalism, exorbitant taxation, globalism, crass consumerism, and big government. For these reasons, the enemies of our flag have made its destruction a high priority. And once they have removed the flag, they will not stop there. Ultimately, they will come after us because our way of life is what the flag symbolizes.
Providence, working through the exercise of the will of the people of Mississippi, has given us a wonderful opportunity that we dare not squander. Let us fan the spark that began in Mississippi into a firestorm of popular sentiment all across Dixie. After all, we in the League of the South represent the "silenced majority" of Southerners who heretofore have had no means of expressing their views publicly. That majority has been told by the liberal establishment to pay its taxes, keep its "racist" opinions to itself, and consent to governance by its betters. Now, emboldened by the courage of common, hard-working Mississippians, other Southerners are realizing the power that lies within their own hands. And woe be unto anyone - politician or otherwise - who dares to cross this awakening giant. Let our flag fly above every Southern State capitol in defense of Christian civilization and in defiance of those who would destroy it. Deo Vindice!