A death in the family

Dear Editor,

To all true Southerners, seeing our sacred banner come down was like a death in the family. Sen. Larry Martin, in his quest to vindicate himself on the issue of the Confederate Flag, used the names of two of our great Confederate heroes — Gen. Wade Hampton and Gen. Robert E. Lee.

He insinuated that both men would approve of what he did, but he did not give any quotes to prove it. I have never seen any quotes that these brave Southern men would sell out their heritage like our present-day politicians. Lee and Hampton did their duty and never apologized for it. Unlike Larry, I will give some quotes from our heroes.

General Hampton said, “If we were wrong in our contest, then the Declaration of Independence of 1776 was a grave mistake and the revolution to which it led to was a crime. If Washington was a Patriot, Lee cannot have been a rebel.”

That doesn’t sound very apologetic to me.

General Lee in 1870 said, and I quote, “If I had foreseen the use these people desired to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox; no Sir; not by me. Had I seen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in my right hand.”

That doesn’t sound very apologetic to me.

Larry didn’t mention President Jefferson Davis, but I will, because he said something that applies directly to Sen. Martin.

Davis said, “Nothing fills me with deeper sadness than to see a Southern man apologize for the defense we made of our own inheritance. Our cause was so just, so sacred, that had I known all that has come to pass, had I known what was to be inflicted upon me, all that my country was to suffer, all that our prosperity was to endure, I would do it all over again.”

This is definitely not apologetic.

There is a Confederate soldier buried at Secona Baptist Church in Pickens, who went off to war to defend his home, family and country. His last request was that the Confederate soldiers be his pallbearers. He did his duty. His name is James Martin, and it’s a tragedy that his great-great-grandson Larry Martin failed to do his duty.

Sen. Martin represents special interests, and not the people of Pickens County. He has given up his Southern birthright on the altar of political correctness.

All we want is to be left alone to honor our ancestors, but that isn’t going to happen, is it, Larry? You voted to take the flag off the Capitol and move it to the monument. You said that was the end, and you lied. You then voted to take it off the monument.

What is the next thing on your list, Larry; that you and your politically correct Scalawags are going to take from us?

Jim Bay

Six Mile