Lexington Update

As we prepare to take to the sidewalks of Lexington January 17-18, the local media once again gets it ALL WRONG...

http://m.newsadvance.com/opinion/editorials/battle-flag-still-an-issue-in-lexington/article_84472282-77dd-11e3-93be-0019bb30f31a.html?mode=jqm

“Battle Flag Still an Issue in Lexington

A group that was denied permission to fly the Confederate battle flag from utility poles in Lexington has all but guaranteed that no other flag, aside from the American flag and Virginia flag, will be flown in the city.

It’s one more example of the narrow-minded approach to civic life by the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. They refuse to understand that the battle flag is a polarizing image to many people, including African-Americans for whom it is a symbol of racism and oppression and that it stands for a defense of slavery."

No, this is actually one more example of the ignorance of the editorial board of the News-Advance, since the Confederate Battle Flag WAS NOT among those displayed from City Light Pole flag stands the week leading up to the State Holiday! 

 

(See our LTTE response below)

CALL TO ACTION!

Join the Va Flaggers as we take to the streets of Lexington on the Lee-Jackson Holiday - Friday, January 17th and Lee-Jackson Day, Saturday, January 18th- to celebrate the Lee-Jackson State Holiday, honor our heroes, and protest the Lexington City Council's discriminatory flag ban, which was passed to prohibit the display of Confederate Flags from flag stands on City light poles to honor Lee and Jackson during the Holiday.

We will meet at Stonewall Jackson Cemetery Friday, January 17th at 10:00 a.m. to receive literature, instruction, and maps.  Lunch on your own (OUTSIDE of Lexington*).  Flag all day.  Dinner at 5:30 (Berky's restaurant) and back to town for a Confederate Picture show after dark. ;)  We will be on Main Street  flagging all day, so join us any time you can, for as long as you can. 

Saturday, we will attend the memorial service at Stonewall Jackson Cemetery (meet at Cemetery at 10:00 a.m.) and then march as a unit in the parade (11:15 a.m.), and attend the RE Lee Memorial Service (12:00 p.m.). Lunch (OUTSIDE of Lexington*) on your own,and then back to town for MORE FLAGGING! ALL Confederates are welcome to join us in the parade or ANY or all of the activities! All that is required is a Confederate flag, a desire to honor our ancestors, and a smile!

*We support and a TOTAL BOYCOTT OF LEXINGTON, encourage all to do the same, and ask that everyone let the merchants and civic officials know why you will not be spending a dime while there. 

The countdown is on!  Will you STAND and be counted?!?!?!

RETURN the flags!

RESTORE the honor!

Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers

1-8-2014
Dear Editor,

Three flags were the cause of dispute in Lexington, which resulted in the much contested Flag Ban law instituted on September 1st, 2011:   the General Lee's Headquarters flag, the 2nd National Confederate Banner, and the Virginia State Flag of 1861.

Your editorial incorrectly ascribes the Battle Flag as the sole cause.

The Virginia State flag was born in April, 1861, and her first 4 years were used to guide Virginia troops to defend Virginia soil.

The Lee's HQ flag was used to designate the command center of Lee, and very closely resembles the current Georgia State flag. Washington and Lee University bears his name, as does Lee Chapel.

The 2nd National Banner was first used to drape the casket of General Stonewall Jackson. He made VMI famous.

Lexington was the final home for both Lee and Jackson.  They made Lexington what it is today, and the Commonwealth of Virginia recognizes both of these great men with the annual Lee-Jackson State Holiday. The use of those three flags are most appropriate to celebrate the holiday, as was the original intent in January 2011.

Folks may disagree over the Battle Flag, but it was a great disservice to the readers of your newspaper to attempt to heighten passions where none should exist, by claiming the Battle Flag was an issue in Lexington City Council's flag ban ordinance.  

Thanks and God Bless
Billy Bearden

VaFlaggers: 2013 Year In Review

As we approach the end of 2013, the Virginia Flaggers look back with awe and amazement on what has been a phenomenal year, and with sincerest appreciation for each person whose support and encouragement has made it possible.  Like MANY of you, our folks have been busy, and we want to share just a glimpse of what we have been up to…

For the second year, the Va Flaggers led two days of Flagging in Lexington, VA, in January, to protest the City Council’s discriminatory flag ban, and honor Lee & Jackson on the State holiday.  As in 2012, we sponsored a banner plane, which circled the town during the events on Saturday, and participated in the parade and memorial services.

That same month, Va Flagger TriPp Lewis was arrested for carrying a Confederate Flag on Confederate Memorial Park, on the grounds of the Old Soldiers’ Home in Richmond.  Tripp was carrying the flag as a tribute to his ancestor on the day marking the anniversary of his admittance into the home.  A groundswell of support brought in funds to pay his legal fees, and all criminal charges were dismissed in August.  This laid the groundwork for Civil action, which is currently pending, and will serve to address the ongoing violations of constitutional rights and continued desecration of the Confederate Memorial Chapel and Confederate Memorial Park by the VMFA. 

Throughout the year, our ongoing vigil at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts continued.  EVERY WEEK, TWICE A WEEK, members of the Va Flaggers gathered to forward the colors and protest the forced removal of Confederate Flags from the Confederate Memorial Chapel.  Started in October of 2011, we could never have imagined that what we do there every week would make such a difference.  Each week, we see the fruits of our efforts, as we change hearts and minds, and change the landscape in Richmond.   By our records, our Flaggers logged over 3,000 hours of flagging  at the VMFA alone,  in 2013.  This front, on the sidewalk of the Boulevard, is only one of many which we are pursuing in the battle to RETURN the flags and RESTORE the honor to the Chapel.

In August, news of the sellout of the Museum of the Confederacy meant we added its Richmond location to our flagging schedule, and we have maintained a presence ever since, reminding museum officials that there are those of us who do not take kindly to seeing our heritage and history sold to the highest bidder, and to let visitors and guests know of the shenanigans taking place. 

Susan had the pleasure of speaking at dozens of SCV meetings, and even her first UDC speaking engagement, as she traveled to 9 states during the year, sharing information about heritage defense and encouraging others to take a stand for their ancestors. In April, she was especially honored to speak at the raising of the World’s Largest Third National Flag in Tampa. 

In July, she was pleased to attend the SCV National Reunion in Vicksburg, where she was well received and thrilled to meet so many friends and supporters.  The highlight of the trip was receiving  heritage defense awards on behalf of many of the Va Flaggers, and the news that Susan was awarded the Stephen Dill Lee award, the highest award offered to a non-SCV member by the SCV.

Throughout the year, Flaggers attended dozens of memorial services, including traveling to Point Lookout for the Annual Pilgrimage, and to Sharpsburg for the Memorial Illumination, as well as many, many other local and nearby events.  We saw the formation of other flagging groups across the South, and have assisted with their organization and activities as much as possible, and have lent a hand with other heritage defense issues when help was requested.  We also were and are active in clean-up projects in several local cemeteries, and were proud to facilitate the return of the Robert E. Lee signage to the bridge in Richmond that is named in his honor, which had been missing for some time.

In early August, and in order to raise necessary funds, we announced plans for a Battle Flag Memorial on I-95 near Chester.  Picked up almost immediately by a few liberal news outlets, the intense media publicity and scrutiny that ensued over the next months surprised even the most seasoned heritage defense veterans. 

We unveiled the 15x15 ANV Battle Flag on the steps of the Capitol in Richmond, and the breathtaking photo from that moment, along with the historical information of the birth of the CBF, quickly became viral, and was widely circulated in social media and by news agencies. 

In the end, all of the media attention served to bring us more support than we ever imagined, and on September 28^th, in spite of those who said it would never happen,  a 15x15 ANV Battle Flag was triumphantly raised on I-95 in Chester to a crowd of 300+ with absolutely no protests or problems… and still flies today… a living, breathing memorial to the Confederate Soldier. 

For several months, almost daily, the local paper’s editorial page carried an opinion piece about the flag, one way or the other, and has opened the door for many discussions about our heritage.  There was a GREAT piece published in the Wall Street Journal and we were interviewed by media outlets as far away as Great Britain.  EACH TIME we are able to get such coverage, it is a chance to get OUR MESSAGE out…that of the honor and valor of the Confederate Soldier!  A real, and very unexpected byproduct of this was that with each interview, televised news story, or published  article, the spotlight once again was focused on the VMFA and the desecration of the Confederate Memorial Chapel, giving us new platforms to expose their misconduct,  and new support for our efforts there.

Since the flag was raised, we have been contacted by many people with land adjacent to I-95, and other interstates, who are looking to be a part of future projects.  We are looking forward to seeing these projects continue across Virginia and beyond, as land and funds are made available.

The Va Flaggers look back on 2013 and are overwhelmed at all that was accomplished, and overcome with gratitude for each and every person who gave of their time, talents, and resources to make it happen.  As much as we have to be thankful for, we look forward to 2014 with even more excitement and hope that with the blessings of our Creator, and the cheering on of a great cloud of witnesses, 2014 will be the year that the flags will be returned to the Confederate Memorial Chapel, and that Southerners across Virginia and beyond decided to take a stand for our Confederate Heritage, and push back against those who would desecrate our memorials and dishonor the memory of our Confederate dead. 

We have only just begun to fight…will you join us?

BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE, HAPPY, AND VERY CONFEDERATE NEW YEAR!

Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers

Va Flaggers Museum of the Confederacy Update: New "Temporary" Name

For those of us who have been following the antics of Museum of the Confederacy President and CEO Waite Rawls since he assumed the reins at the museum, and have repeatedly called for his removal, the sell-out of the museum to the ultra PC "American Civil War Center at Tredegar" comes as no surprise.

In 2007, Rawls made it clear that he was willing to sacrifice even the name of the institution when he announced that along with a proposed move, the name "Confederacy" was likely to disappear from the museum's title...  http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/07/museumconfed.htm

"Museum President and CEO S. Waite Rawls III suggested that the name was negotiable. He told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, "The repositioning we've done over the past 30 years is to be more of a modern education institution and less of a memorial to the Confederacy."

Although the name change was delayed a few years, it appears as if he will finally get his wish to change the name...as well as the Museum's original intent... with the recent liquidation. 

From the Museum of the Confederacy's website:


"Civil War Holdings, Inc. is the temporary name of the joint partnership between the American Civil War Center and the Museum of the Confederacy. When the two institutions joined forces in the fall of 2013, a new Board of Directors was created, comprising members of both former boards."  Complete list here:  http://www.moc.org/about-us/board-trustees

Those of us in Richmond easily recognize the name of the Chairman of the new board, Dr. Edward L. Ayers, as one who has, as a close personal friend and associate of Mr. Rawls, been allowed unrestricted access and influence at the museum. 

In November of this year, Dr. Ayers was a featured speaker at the "Loving RVA" gathering in Richmond:

The main focus of this gathering was to introduce a plan to "revitalize RVA".  Details of the plan are available here...  http://lovingrva.com/index.html and include a "slavery and freedom heritage site" http://lovingrva.com/HeritageSite.html , but not surprisingly, NOT ONE MENTION of Richmond's rich Confederate history and heritage:

"The Revitalize RVA Plan includes a very important historical component. The Slavery and Freedom Heritage Site will be on the site of the Lumpkins Slave Jail, which is across the train trestle from the proposed commercial and residential development."

Ayers' public support of this project, which COMPLETELY EXCLUDES any reference to Confederate history and heritage in Richmond, is just ONE example of many, that leaves little doubt as to the direction of this "new museum", under the leadership of Dr. Ayers, Mr. Rawls, and Ms. Coleman.

**Catalog of the Confederate MEMORIAL Literary Society:  http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000889186;view=1up;seq=1  Each item collected and lovingly donated by Veterans and their families "In Memoriam Sempiternam". 

"In Memoriam Sempiternam"...or "In Eternal Memory"    God help us when we stand before these men and women one day and have to explain why WE, their sons and daughters, stood quietly by and let this happen.

LEST WE FORGET!
 








Grayson  Jennings
Va Flaggers

From all of us... to all of you!

"An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." " - Luke 2:9-14

Lee-Jackson Day in Lexington

In September of 2011, the City Council of Lexington, VA voted to ban ALL flags from the flag stands on city light poles, rather than allow the Sons of Confederate Veterans to display the flags of Lee and Jackson on the flag stands for the week leading up to the Virginia State Lee-Jackson Holiday. 

 

As we have done each January since, the Va Flaggers invite ALL to join us as we head to Lexington for the Virginia State Lee-Jackson Holiday, Friday, January 17th, 2014.  We will spend the day on the sidewalks of Lexington, forwarding the colors, honoring our Confederate heroes...and showing town officials that their actions will not be forgotten!

 

Plan to meet at Stonewall Jackson Cemetery Friday, January 17th at 10:00 a.m. to receive literature, instruction, and maps. We will be flagging all day.  Lunch on your own (OUTSIDE of Lexington). Supper together at 5:30 (location TBD - OUTSIDE of Lexington) and back to town for a Confederate Picture show after dark. ;)

Saturday, we will attend the memorial service at Stonewall Jackson Cemetery (meet at Cemetery at 9:30 a.m.) and then march as a unit in the parade (11:15 a.m.), and attend the RE Lee Memorial Service (12:00 p.m.) at Lee Chapel. Lunch (OUTSIDE of Lexington) and then back to town for MORE FLAGGING!

ALL Confederates are welcome to join us in the parade or ANY or all of the activities! All that is required is a Confederate flag, a desire to honor our ancestors... and a smile!

Hotel reservations (OUTSIDE of Lexington) can be made at a discount using the rates negotiated by the Stonewall Brigade.  Reservations need to be made by January 3rd to receive the discount.  Details here:  http://leejacksonday.webs.com/lodgingsponsors.htm

More information available on our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/227559140750614/

RETURN the flags!
RESTORE the honor!
See you in Lexington!

Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers

Contributions to the I-95 Memorial Battle Flag projects may be mailed to:

Va Flaggers
P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150

Payable to Va Flaggers

or through PayPal:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/i95flagdonate.html

A Sunday Flagging at the VMFA

At our CHRISTmas celebration last Friday night, it was decided that due to the VERY rainy forecast for Saturday, we would postpone our weekly Saturday flagging to Sunday instead, and it turned out to be an excellent idea.

The weather was gorgeous Sunday, and over a dozen flaggers gathered on the sidewalk from 2-5 outside of the VMFA and were able to greet visitors attending the museum AND and open house at the Confederate Memorial Chapel.  Once again, we welcomed first time flaggers, several of whom joined us after worship.

We had many conversations with passers-by and distributed literature detailing how the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts desecrated the Confederate Memorial Chapel by forcing the removal of Confederate Battle Flags from the portico.  As is usually the case, most folks agreed that the flags should be returned.


After posing for a few photos at the Chapel, one of our flaggers was approached by VMFA security guards who warned that if he went on the grounds of Confederate Memorial Park carrying a Confederate flag again, he would be arrested for trespassing.

Video here: http://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=d4FLIpgRY-4

More photos from flagging here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.294739223984703.1073741992.186485551476738&type=1

Thursday evening found the weather a bit cooler, but still 7 Flaggers made their way to the Boulevard to stand for the veterans of the Old Soldiers' Home.  Traffic was very light, but there was no shortage of Confederate flags on display.  A few months ago, one of our flaggers designed a 20 foot pole that is portable and secured to automobiles.  Several flaggers now have the set up, and 5x8 flags can be seen all around the VMFA while we are flagging!  ;)

2013 may be winding down, but the Va Flaggers are looking ahead to the New Year with renewed strength and determination to continue this vigil until the flags are returned to their rightful place on the Confederate Memorial Chapel.  Even in our third year of flagging the VMFA, support continues to grow, and as much as you see us on the sidewalk, there is much more going on OFF of the sidewalk in our efforts to continually find new ways to engage the public and fight AND WIN the battle on new fronts.

CALL TO ACTION:
SATURDAY, December 21st:
9:00 a.m. - NOON Flagging the Museum of the Confederacy, 1201 East Clay Street
NOON - 4:00 p.m.:  Flagging the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard

JOIN US...and be a part of those taking a stand for our Confederate heritage!  If you can't be there, please take a few minutes of your time to call in support of the Flaggers.  Call the VMFA at (804) 340-1405 and ask them to return the Confederate Battle flags to the Confederate Memorial Chapel.

RETURN the flags!
RESTORE the honor!













Tommy Clinger
Va Flaggers

Jefferson Davis Memorial Service

This past Saturday, we took a short drive down to Ft. Monroe to attend the Jefferson Davis Memorial Service, held in the Casemate room in which he was imprisoned after the War. The ceremony was held by the Magruder-Ewell Camp #99, and Commander Ken Wood and his men did a wonderful job in conducting a moving and meaningful service.

 

I was honored to be asked to light the memorial candle, and felt humbled to perform the duty in the very room where our President languished so long, unlawfully and unjustly kept shackled and confined under lock and key.

It was my first visit to Ft. Monroe, so we took some time to explore the grounds.

 

After the ceremony, we were pleased to witness the swearing in of officers for the 13th Virginia mechanized cavalry, Camp #9, Sons of Confederate Veterans, who were gracious enough to invite us to lunch with them. It was a pleasure to meet many new friends! Many thanks to Jeff Barbour for his gracious hospitality, and to Ken Wood and the Magruder-Ewell Camp#99 for the warm welcome and all of their hard work! :)

More photos here: https://www.facebook.com/susan.f.hathaway.7/media_set?set=a.10152129973749274.1073741851.698334273&type=3


Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers

Contributions to the I-95 Memorial Battle Flag projects may be mailed to:
Va Flaggers
P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150

Payable to Va Flaggers

or through PayPal:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/i95flagdonate.html