Rampant rewriting of history took a swing at reconciliation as a lawsuit and congressional letter remained insufficient to slow the Pentagon’s plan to pull a Civil War statue from Arlington National Cemetery.
Days after the public took part in honoring the sacrifice of those interred via Wreaths Across America, the Department of Defense has scheduled the removal of a statue that has stood at the cemetery for more than a century marking efforts to heal the once divided nation.
Though they did not report on the Reconciliation Monument by name, the Associated Press detailed that “Safety fencing has been installed around the memorial, and officials anticipate completing the removal by Dec. 22, the Arlington National Cemetery said in an email.”
The Arlington Reconciliation Monument will be removed likely in 5 days from now. I still hope for Congress to step in, but I don’t see it happening to be honest. Do you guys remember when they said monuments in cemeteries would remain untouched? They were lying. pic.twitter.com/iNE3wVomiX
— Blue and Butternut (@BlueandGray1864) December 13, 2023
Part of a broader move initiated when President Joe Biden entered the White House aimed specifically at renaming things associated with the Confederacy, 44 House Republicans had demanded Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cease the removal of the statue asserting the Naming Commission had overstepped its purview.
“Despite bipartisan support for this monument, the Naming Commission, established by the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, clearly overstepped its legislative authority when it recommended that the Department of the Army remove the Reconciliation Monument from Arlington National Cemetery,” the letter led by U.S. Navy veteran and Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde.
New: 44 House Republicans led by Rep. Andrew Clyde are calling on the Pentagon to pause removal of the Confederate memorial in Arlington Nat’l Cemetery, at least until end of FY24 appropriations process
(Clyde has amdmt in defense $ bill to stop removal altogether) pic.twitter.com/BLsHHsXVfq
— Liz Elkind (@liz_elkind) December 11, 2023
Joined by members like Texas Reps. Keith Self and Wesley Hunt, both graduates of the United States Military Academy who served with special forces and as a helicopter pilot respectively, the letter made clear that the monument unveiled in 1914 did not honor the Confederacy, but rather the effort to restore “national unity.”
“[T]he Reconciliation Monument does not honor nor commemorate the Confederacy; the memorial commemorates reconciliation and national unity,” the GOP lawmakers wrote and added, “Furthermore, the Naming Commission’s authority explicitly prohibits the desecration of grave sites. Considering the hundreds of gravestones encircling the monument, it would be impossible for these graves to remain untouched if the Department of the Army proceeds with its proposed removal of the monument — both being a clear violation of Congress’ enacted statute and legislative intent.”
In addition to the challenge from Congress, the DoD faced a lawsuit from a group dubbed Defend Arlington which had filed a request for an injunction in a Washington, D.C. court on Nov. 21. Previously reported, a description of the monument detailed, “A statue of a woman representing the ‘American South’ holds a laurel wreath, plow stock and pruning hook encircled by 14 shields representing the 11 Confederate states and border states Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. Of the 32 figures engraved into the pedestal, two appear as slaves and an inscription pays tribute to the idea of the Southern states’ war as a ‘lost cause.'”
Unlike with the renaming of military bases, the legislators asserted authority over the DoD with regard to the monument and added, “The Department of Defense must respect Congress’ clear legislative intentions regarding the Naming Commission’s legislative authority, and to move forward with removal of the Reconciliation Monument would be a clear affront to the separation of powers principle outlined by our Founding Fathers in our Constitution.”
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) spokeswoman Macaulay Porter stated his disagreement with the decision from the Biden administration to advance the removal and his intention to relocate the monument to New Market Battlefield State Historical Park in the Shenandoah Valley if they proceed.
Reactions from those who recognized the historic significance were notably disgusted by the “shameful” move from the federal government.
How shameful, this administration is lawless and wicked.
— Robert Hughes (@RunningBehind) December 16, 2023
You can’t make history go away just by destroying it, or removing it. Good or bad America needs to know its history.
— jojomarks81 (@JoJoMarks4) December 17, 2023
This is the modern version of book burnings
— Yanny (@yanikmtandere) December 17, 2023
In the meantime, we have white people being banned from Christmas parties in Boston by Chinese mayors and gay men having sex in the Senate hearing chambers on videotape what a great country let’s get rid of those confederate memorials that are destroying the good morals and…
— USMC Lady Vet (@Arkypatriot) December 16, 2023
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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