Va Flaggers Update: Charlottesville Braces for a Confederate Flag/Smoke & Mirrors Continues at W&L

"News" report on proposed Memorial Battle Flag in Charlottesville

http://www.c-ville.com/red-flag-group-plans-hoist-confederate-flag/#.VR0_1uHYo4O

"City Councilor Kristin Szakos, who has suggested it might be time to get rid of statues of Lee and Jackson in downtown parks, said she finds it "petty" that the Flaggers want to put up a flagpole here "because they're not from Charlottesville. Why they care, I don't know."

Because WE (the Va Flaggers) are not "from Charlottesville"????...says the woman who is FROM....Long Island, NEW YORK.

Meanwhile, back in Lexington, we wanted to share this photo of the new I-81 flag majestic in splendor in our Shenandoah Valley with the Blue Ridge as a backdrop!

...and this video of the flag on the day of the raising, with photography from Judy Smith Photography and Tredegar DroneWorks.  Absolutely breathtaking...! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfToh0yB3mU&feature=youtu.be

...and a few photos from the ceremony, with special thanks to the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Herman White, who came from North Carolina to join us and speak to those gathered. 

 

When we arrived, skies were gray, temperatures were in the 30's and, snow actually began to fall just as we started the dedication.  However, just a few minutes after the flag was raised, the snow stopped, the clouds moved out, and bright sunshine filled the sky, allowing us the opportunity to take the wonderful photographs we have shared with you.

 

Thanks to all who gathered to attend the ceremony, and to each of the hundreds of supporters who made it possible.

Never passing up an opportunity to forward the colors in Lexington, the Va Flaggers headed to Washington & Lee University after raising the I-81 Battle Flag.

Although the weather was cold and blustery, foot traffic was brisk, and we had many opportunities to talk with students, alumni, and parents.

A perfect ending to a GLORIOUS and very Confederate day in Lexington.

More smoke and mirrors out of Washington & Lee University: 

http://www.roanoke.com/news/virginia/lee-chapel-to-reopen-next-week-at-w-l/article_0327e865-df3d-5581-a996-0d18bb510b9f.html

In the article,

"The flag display is in keeping with actions taken by W&L last year after a group of law students complained that such tributes to the Confederacy were offensive to minority students. At the time, university President Kenneth Ruscio said replica flags in the building were being removed because they were not presented in an educational matter.

But Ruscio's announcement left room for displays of genuinely historic flags such as the one to be included in the "Lee in the Field" exhibit. For years, that flag was one of the originals that hung near the "Recumbent Lee" statue in the chapel.

Other battle flags, particularly those with historic connections to W&L and the Lexington area, are planned for future exhibits."

Once again, W&L would have the public, students, and alumni believe that the decision to forcibly remove the replica ANV Battle Flags from the LEE Chapel mausoleum was somehow related to the project to restore and display the original battle flags and that President Ruscio was involved in that project.  This is blatantly FALSE.

The restoration project was part of an agreement between the UDC, The Museum formerly known as the Museum of the Confederacy, and the University. We have been able to secure a copy of this agreement, and while it does call for the removal of the original battle flags for restoration, and for the flags to be properly displayed in glass cases in the museum in the basement of the Chapel, it in NO WAY dictates that the reproduction flags, provided by the SCV as a replacement for the originals, must be removed from the Chapel.

The referenced agreement was made in 1997, long before Mr. Ruscio became President of the University, and yet they expect us to believe that it just so happens that they decided to take the reproduction flags out of the Chapel in July of 2014, as part of a new agreement with the Museum formerly known as the Museum of the Confederacy, not to appease "The Committee".  Do not be fooled by this nonsense.  The authentic flags were removed for restoration and proper display, as they should have been, and special replica flags were made to be displayed in their place. 

The replica flags were removed in July of 2014 for ONE REASON...to appease the demands of SIX agitators from the W&L Law School.

Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers

Va Flaggers Lee-Jackson Weekend Report Part II -- Washington & Lee University

Saturday morning, we gathered at Stonewall Jackson cemetery for a memorial service for General Jackson. Once again, God smiled on the Confederates gathered to honor Lee & Jackson with beautiful weather…sunny, breezy, and temperatures near 50 degrees!  A large crowd was on hand for the service, and those in attendance paid respects to the General through prayer, singing hymns, and laying memorial wreaths.

Immediately following the service, we formed up for a parade through Lexington.  Our unit was led by Generals Lee and Jackson, a Flagger color guard, and followed by the largest group of flaggers we have ever had attend the event including SCV, UDC, OCR and Mechanized Cavalry members from across the Commonwealth and the country!  It seemed to us that there were about twice as many folks gathered to watch the parade as there had been last year as well.  It was truly a glorious site, to see the parade stretched down main street, and the street filled with flags and supporters of Confederate heritage. Along the route, we sang Dixie, handed out stick flags, and received the support and well wishes of all who had gathered. 

At the end of the route, the parade took a detour from its normal path.  Instead of heading to Washington and Lee University, we were directed the opposite way, and into the municipal parking deck.  At this point, we turned and our entire unit headed over to Letcher Ave., to make our way to VMI to pay our respects to General Jackson before the Memorial Service, as has been our custom for the past several years.

As most of you know, a group of 6 students who attend Washington and LEE university's school of law wrote a letter in April of 2014 to Washington & LEE officials (copy attached) which demanded that the university €œhold itself responsible for the racist and dishonorable conduct of Robert E. Lee.€  Specifically, these agitators demanded the following mandates be implemented, threatening €œcivil disobedience€ if the administration failed to comply tot their demands:

1)  We demand that the University fully recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the undergraduate campus.

2)  We demand the University stop allowing €œNeo-Confederates€ (i.e.SCV, UDC, re-enactors) to march on campus with confederate flags on Lee-Jackson Day and to stop allowing these groups to hold programs in Lee Chapel.

3)  We demand that the University remove all confederate flags from its property, including those flags located within LEE Chapel.

4)  We demand that the University issue and official apology for the University's participation in chattel slavery and a denunciation of Robert E. Lee's participation in slavery.

In July, W&L President Ruscio began the systematic capitulation to these demands when he stripped the replica memorial Army of Northern Virginia Battle Flags from the chamber which holds the "Recumbent Lee" statue in the LEE Chapel.  Shortly thereafter, Confederate Flags were prohibited on the grounds, and those wishing to visit the Chapel were not allowed to carry a Confederate flag and were made to remove apparel that had a Confederate flag on it.  Recently, W&L officials announced that classes would be canceled next school year in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and this year, the LEE Chapel was not available to the SCV and UDC for their annual Lee-Jackson Day memorial service, reportedly (and conveniently) due to renovations.

Throughout the weekend, we had Flaggers stationed at Washington & Lee, and Campus Security was right there to make sure none of "those flags" were allowed on the property.  One of our flaggers, speaking of his conversation with one of the security officers, remarked,  "I told him it was a sad day in America when the borders of W&L are more secure than those of the United States."

As our group walked up Letcher Avenue after the parade, we stopped for a photo, unveiling the 20' x 30' flag that will soon be raised on I-81 in Lexington.

Security guards rush to ensure an education did not break out at Washington & Lee University.

At this point, those who still wanted to make the trip to VMI, including our own Robert E. Lee, portrayed by an elderly Vietnam Vet, were forced to walk back down Letcher Ave, cross busy traffic twice, and climb a very steep, difficult to navigate entrance, in order to access the VMI parade grounds.

For those who were not keeping track, this means that officials at Washington & Lee have already capitulated to THREE of the FOUR ludicrous demands made by the agitators, in effect giving full credence and agreement to their assertion as to the €œracist and dishonorable conduct of Robert E. Lee.

SHAME ON WASHINGTON & LEE UNIVERSITY FOR FORSAKING THE HONOR, MEMORY AND LEGACY OF ROBERT E LEE...AND SHAME ON THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE ADMINISTRATION AND THEIR COWARDLY ATTEMPTS TO APPEASE.

"Obstacles may retard, but they cannot long prevent the progress of a movement sanctified by its justice, and sustained by a virtuous people."-President Jefferson Davis

Despite the obstacles presented, we made it to VMI to pay our respects, although the hassle, delays, difficult hike, and lost time meant that many did not make it back in time for the Noon service at Lexington Presbyterian.

Our next and final report  will share our experience at VMI and the final hours of flagging Lexington that afternoon.

 Grayson Jennings

Virginia Flaggers

P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150
info@vaflaggers.com

MEMORIAL BATTLE FLAG RAISED IN LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA

This afternoon, during the Lee-Jackson State holiday in Virginia, the Virginia Flaggers took a break from flagging Lexington and Washington & Lee University, just long enough to raise a 10 x 15 Battle Flag on a 50 foot pole in a small ceremony on private property on Route 60, just outside of Lexington's city limits. 

The flag will fly in honor and memory of all Confederate soldiers, and specifically to remember Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, the great Virginians whose final resting places are within just a few blocks of the memorial.

When we placed an ad a few months ago in the local paper, we were thrilled to receive calls from several citizens who were eager to offer their property for the placement of a memorial flag.  It seems that we are not the only ones who are upset about the way officials in Lexington have turned their backs on Lee, Jackson, and the rich and honorable Confederate history and heritage of Lexington.  This property, with its elevated location and close proximity to town, seemed a perfect location and we were thrilled at the prospect of placing a memorial flag on the hill.   Little did we know that there was even more to this property than we imagined....

In 1859, Thomas J. Jackson took out a $500 note to purchase 13 acres just outside of Lexington, with the intention to farm the land, using the proceeds to pay the note. The War Between the States changed his plans, and in 1862 he wrote J.T.L. Preston and asked him to sell his little farm, which he did.  The Va Flaggers have recently received information that the flag raised today is located either directly on or adjacent to the property owned by General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson.  We are overwhelmed by the knowledge that this Memorial flag, raised in honor and memory of Lee & Jackson, would also have such a profound and personal connection to General Jackson. 

She will be a living, breathing memorial to our Confederate dead, and a beautiful tribute to our gallant ancestors.  But, in the face of constant attacks by those who worship ignorance, historical revisionism, and political correctness, and at a time when officials in Lexington seem determined to completely ignore the sacrifice of her own citizens, and dishonor Lee & Jackson by their words and deeds, she will also be a visible reminder to all who see her that there are still many of us with Confederate blood coursing through our veins, who refuse to allow the ignorance and prejudice of others to force us to relinquish our birthright.

The Lexington Jackson Farm Memorial Battle Flag is the third roadside memorial battle flag erected in Virginia by the Va Flaggers since September of 2013, and part of an ongoing project to promote Confederate history and heritage, and honor Confederate Veterans in the Commonwealth.  These projects, and numerous other heritage defense efforts, are made possible through the generosity of supporters from across America and beyond.

Virginia Flaggers


P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150
info@vaflaggers.com