Flags and history; defense cuts; look at Greece

Flags and history

What a wonderful display of brotherly love among the people of South Carolina in the dignified way the Confederate battle flag was retired on Friday.

I would encourage anyone who reads this letter to also read the book Faith in God and Generals, compiled by Ted Baehr and Susan Wales.

It pays specific attention to Gen. Robert E. Lee’s General Order No. 73 on his march to Gettysburg, forbidding any officer or soldiers to plunder, rape or destroy private property — under penalty of death.

Another informative read is Let’s Tell Our Side of it For a Change by William W. Taylor Jr., printed by the News-Gazette Print Shop, 109 S. Jefferson St., Lexington, Va.

— Carter Fore, Breckenridge

Why didn’t someone, like a teacher, tell us about William Thompson, a newspaper editor from Savannah, Ga.?

He’s the guy who designed and created not the official Confederate flag but the battle flag. In his own words, it represents “the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race.”

Maybe then we’d all understand why the flag is so offensive to so many.

It’s pretty hard to ignore or deny what’s documented, vetted historical fact. Maybe not.

And why didn’t that teacher require us to simply read the Declaration of Secession, shared and ratified by the governing bodies of the Confederate states. It clearly states that the Civil War was fought first and foremost over slavery?

It’s frighteningly plain and clear. Again, hard to ignore. Maybe not.

— Greg S. Pate, Fort Worth

Why not tell it like it was?

America lost more than 600,000 good men in a war that freed slaves who would have been freed without a war in fewer than 20 years.

The 600,000 lost lives just made the freedom come sooner so that the manufacturers in the North could use those freed slaves in their factories.

No one mentions the sons of federal soldiers who slaughtered American Indians for settlers, miners and railroads. Should these sons be proud, or hang their heads in shame?

The history of our country is what it is. Let’s stop pointing fingers and be happy for the freedom that we all enjoy now.

— Carl Fleece, Fort Worth

Defense cuts

Republicans vote for mindless sequestration spending cuts and then blame President Obama and howl when military spending cuts are included. (See Friday news story, “Texas faces big cuts as Army shrinks.”)

Our military spending is about equal to all the rest of the world’s military spending combined. We should not continue to borrow money to be the world’s policeman.

We spent a trillion dollars and sacrificed 4,400-plus dead patriots on the mistaken invasion of Iraq.

The civil wars between Shiite and Sunni Muslims have been going on for centuries and are not our business. We don’t have a dog in that fight.

— Steve Hadley, Benbrook

Look at Greece

Jack Vaughan, writer of a Friday letter, seems to think that all social programs cost nothing and can only help.

To paraphrase an old saying, “Paying for social programs with other people’s money seems great until you run out of other people’s money.”

The letter came at a great time. Just read all about Greece!

— Brent Beal, Keller

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Flags and history; defense cuts; look at Greece."