Dear Mr. Gillespie: It never ceases to amaze me how the news media continues to find ways to discredit our Confederate heritage and history. In your recent article entitled, “Let’s give Confederate Memorial Day a makeover,” it is obvious you don’t know your history concerning this holiday or the national one.

The first official Memorial Day, May 30, 1868, may have been the first for the nation, but it was definitely not the first. The ladies of the South began in 1865, immediately following the end of hostilities, to honor these Confederate soldiers. They marked graves with flowers and flags and began to bring home ones buried in shallow or mass graves at far-off battlefields for re-interment near their homes. These ladies did this in spite of being harassed by the Yankee soldiers stationed in the Military Districts set-up by the Federal Government. They set aside one day each year to honor these men, our Confederate Memorial Day.

Due to Reconstruction and the devastated condition of their Southland, grave markers and monuments were not able to be placed until years later. Benevolent Societies sprang up to raise money for artificial limbs and to open homes for the soldiers. The year following the war, your State of Mississippi allocated one-fifth of its revenues for the purchase of artificial arms and legs for its many wounded soldiers!

The nation’s Memorial Day, as stated earlier, grew from the ladies of the South honoring their veterans. We must continue to hold ceremonies for these men on their day to ensure they continue to receive the honor they deserve in this PC world!



Lorraine G. Ennis

Huntsville, Ala.