THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9409090018
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
In ``Honor dictates that we not offend with hallowed flag'' (Aug. 31), columnist Larry Maddry refers to ``a phony South'' represented by the Confederate Battle flag.
Does he mean the South as represented by Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. ``Stonewall'' Jackson or Jefferson Davis?
Does he mean the thousands upon thousands of Confederate soldiers who defended the South?
Does he mean the brave women of the Confederate South who served in hospitals and factories throughout the war?
Possibly he means the black people who also served the Confederate South as plantation workers, factory workers and, yes, even as soldiers?
As for the ``louts'' of the South Carolina legislature, I quote one of its members, Harry Hallman of Charleston:
"I recently visited a cemetery full of Confederate soldiers who had died in battle. I subtracted their birth dates from the final year engraved in stone and kept coming up with such small numbers as 17, 16, 18. I lost my son at age 17, and I could not allow myself to vote to bring that flag down with the knowledge that so many parents had lost their young boys under such tragic conditions."
It is the ill-mannered Maddry who doesn't get the point. He should look to his own ``pettiness'' in this matter. Harry Hallman speaks for all us ``bubbas'' and ``rednecks'' who are proud to be Southern and accept our heritage, warts and all, without denial, shame or reservation.
CHARLES EDWARD FOILES
Chesapeake, Sept. 2, 1994 by CNB