To all concerned:
I would like to wish all of my friends and my southern Brothers and Sisters a Happy July 4th weekend. See the attached article and great video on the controversy that currently faces our beloved banner the Saint Andrews Battle Flag. This flag more than ever has become a symbol of national hate by the politically correct, white liberals, businesses and the spineless politicians from our own Southland.
Rather than stand on principal, truth, the fact that hundreds of thousands of brave southern soldiers died defending this flag in the War of Northern Aggression and Oppression, our beloved flag has been maliciously attacked, ridiculed, distorted, dishonored, defiled and deemed to be a symbol of racism and divisiveness which is not the case.
It is up to us to set the record straight and never waver in the defense of this flag and of our brave and noble ancestors who died defending it. Our job as a confederation as the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy is to keep the memory of the southern soldier alive. We are to continue to revere the confederate soldier for his impeccable character, honor, bravery, integrity, and the values that made him stand out so differently from his average Yankee counterpart.
The confederate soldier, the flags of the confederacy, the monuments and the symbols of his heroic struggle for southern independence can never be erased from our hearts and minds. Although the politicians and the ignorant and cowardly politically correct may abandon us and call us and our symbols vile names, it's our job to memorialize and protect the memory of our brave boys in gray. We should not and must not cater to the forces of hatred and evil that is attacking us on all fronts.
The odds were long and arduous for our brave and noble soldiers who faced overwhelming numbers and resources. However, they did not cower or waver but carried the fight to the enemy time and time again. They were always out manned, outgunned, out supplied with less adequate food, equipment, weapons and supplies.
Their tenacious spirit and the rights and freedom that each of them fought for runs deeply in our minds, hearts and spirits.
It is what has made us a unique people in the South in cherishing our most honored traditions, history, values, and principals for what our nation was originally founded upon. Our leaders at the National and State levels of the SCV are working arduously behind the scenes in fighting for our confederate ancestors good name, his flags, symbols, etc.; just as he fought so bravely in the defense of his country, way of life, freedom from a foreign power, faith, private property, limited government, etc.
It is our duty to remain supportive of our organization and its leaders, to contact the legislators in our state governments via email and writing to voice our opinions on what our flag and symbols mean to us. If we remain united we may lose a battle or two, but in the long run we will win the war.
Why do I fly the Saint Andrews Battleflag? It's because of the aforementioned and on 3 July 1863, when twelve to fifteen thousand brave and heroic southern soldiers made a mile walk from Seminary Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg, into the jaws of death and dismemberment at the hands of the union soldiers who dealt them a devastating blow on Cemetery Ridge. I fly it in honor of the brave North Carolina troops from my home state that were raked by grape, canister and thousands of aimed muskets that tore holes through their lines, tossing heads, arms, legs and knapsacks into the air. One out of every four confederate soldier who fell on the field during this battle was a North Carolinian.
I fly it in honor of Private William Butler my great-great-great grandfather who was mustered into service in March 1862 with the 46th North Carolina Co I. He left a 600 acre farm in North Carolina, a wife and four children at the age of 38 only to contract pneumonia during the battle of Fredericksburg December 1862, and to die less than a week later. I fly it in honor of his son John W. Butler my great-great grandfather of the 71st North Carolina Regiment Infantry Co A. 2nd Junior Reserves. He at age eighteen surrendered with General Joseph Johnston's troops at the Bennett House in Durham N.C. in late April 1865. He returned home as a farmer to a land that had been devastated and destroyed by the invading Yankee army of General Sherman.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31. Let's all pray and seek the face of Almighty God as we fight the good fight of faith and trust in the Lord's divine providence and power in giving us the victory in this struggle.
Respectfully,
Your Obedient Servant:
Ronald L. Coats
The Immortal 600
Camp #2600
Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans
