I thought our Civil War ended in the 1850s until I joined the Navy in the 1960s. The Midwest cornfields had shielded me from the bitterness of lost battles and from a version of history I hadn’t known had ended.
The Columbian reports that members of the local chapters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have stated that their efforts “defend the Confederate soldiers’ good name, defend our heritage and present the true history of the South.” History is in the mind of the beholder. Dates and names, the memorization drills of old, might easily be identified, while the motivations and processes are layered on by history’s revisionists.
The good name of Confederate soldiers, not unlike others, was sometimes besmirched by their behavior but more commonly by their education and propaganda, their heritage, which they believed in and sought to honor.
My view from the cornfields was quite limited and probably not atypical of most who were actually involved in any action, most of whom went on to become responsible members of families and communities. Consider the Vietnam vets, many of whom were draftees, who were spat upon when they returned home. Was the disgrace truly theirs?
Silos lock out more than they lock in. An empty tile silo, 40-feet tall, makes a great echo chamber.
