Readers Write: June 7

We must remember Confederate soldiers

Professor Burns gave us a meritorious commentary on the cost of war (“Some gave all: Cost of war measured in sacrifice,” Editorial, May 28). He urged us not to forget the price we paid at so many levels, especially of human lives. I am a descendant of one such man who fought for his home on the land where he had lived all his life. He would lay down his life for his friends if necessary and fight for that which he treasured. He was a teenage Confederate soldier. He survived, made it home — a destroyed home after a bloody and horrible war. His first wife and two children died of “fever.” Later, he married again and raised a family of doctors, engineers, soldiers in other wars and responsible citizens such as he was, always loyal to what his good character approved. He remained a loyal citizen of America and the people with whom he lived, a man of merit all his life.

I am greatly offended that the flags under which he served cannot be displayed. That the war in which he served with many killed in record numbers at that time is urged to be forgotten by those who live 150 years later. Are we to forget those who fought so desperately for what they considered their right? Who lost a war but survived to become a thriving part of America?