VIRGINIA-FIRST LEADERS LEE, JACKSON REMEMBERED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 20, 1992                   TAG: 9201200042
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
VIRGINIA-FIRST LEADERS LEE, JACKSON REMEMBERED
Civil War Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were remembered Sunday not only as the architects of Confederate military strategy, but also for their undying loyalty to Virginia.
"They entered the military service . . . for the same reason," said James Robertson, a Virginia Tech professor who spoke at a Lee-Jackson Day ceremony in downtown Roanoke. "Virginia needed them."
About 100 people braved blustery winter weather in Lee Plaza to pay tribute to the two, both buried in Lexington. About two dozen men were dressed in Confederate uniforms Sunday, some firing rifles in a salute after the crowd sang "Dixie." Several women were dressed in fashions of the 1860s; some men simply wore baseball hats with Confederate flag patches on the front. The event was sponsored by the Fincastle Rifles Camp #1326 Sons of Confederate Veterans.
William Adamson, a Lord Botetourt High School student who was one of two winners of an essay contest, said the two men were heroes.
"Young children have no one to model themselves after besides TV and basketball stars," Adamson said. "These `heroes' of today do not merit recognition when compared to the integrity and virtue of Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson."
Adamson acknowledged that others have a different point of view.
"Many people today try to debauch Lee by calling him and his cause racist," he said. "They obviously have little insight into R.E. Lee. Lee believed that secession was the worst thing that could happen to Virginia."
Both men believed that a doctrine of state sovereignty was in the long-term interest of the United States, Robertson said. That sense of patriotism is something that has been lost over time, he said. "Both sides fought for an America as each side saw America at the time."
"Lee fought loyally for the state he loved and not for the purpose for which Virginia seceded," Adamson wrote.
"These two men were great as Americans, and they stood for qualities all Americans should respect," said Charles Grant, essay winner from Cave Spring High School. "Lee and Jackson represented loyalty to their homeland, unsurpassed bravery and honor, and the character that allowed them to become great, even in defeat."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB