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Aug. 11, 2023 Editor, The News-Gazette: Arlington National Cemetery is soliciting comments about its plan to remove the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Created by Confederate veteran Moses Jacob Ezekiel, a VMI New Market cadet, “The 32-foottall monument,” according to the cemetery’s website, “features a large bronze statue of a woman holding a laurel wreath, a plow stock and a pruning hook, representing ‘the South,’ atop a granite base. On that base is the Biblical verse, ‘And they shall beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks.’ It also features images from both mythology and those of Southern soldiers and civilians. These include a Black slave woman holding a white soldier’s baby, along with a life-size image of an enslaved man following his owner off to war, among others.”
I wrote the following to the cemetery, which I want to share with your readers: “I believe the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery should remain. The soldiers who fought for the Confederacy were still Americans. Many of their ancestors fought in the American Revolution. They fought as soldiers and did the bidding of their elected politicians. Many who served, fought, and died in the U.S. Army after the war are buried in Arlington. The war was a terrible American tragedy as was slavery. We had more Americans killed, soldier, civilian, slave and free, than all other wars combined. The soldiers on both sides died because of their civilian politicians’ failure to do their job to avert war and work out a compromise. The politicians should have been on the front lines. I am not in favor of tearing down any statue or monument which commemorated the bravery, sacrifice, and devotion to duty no matter on which side they fought.” I hope you will take the time to answer the survey and remember elected politicians send soldiers to fight the wars. Soldiers perform their duties and give their lives. Let’s stop blaming the soldier for the failure of our elected politicians and respect the sacrifice of our dead.”
Comments can be submitted before Sept. 2 to Arlington National Cemetery on the Public Comment Form - Arlington National Cemetery: Confederate Memorial Removal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (anmc-confederatememorialpubliccomments. com). WOODY SADLER USMC (retired)
