Confederate Memorial Day justified

Kimberly Turner’s op-ed in Palmetto Opinion on Aug. 29 displays her ignorance of American history. The current U.S. Memorial Day honors only those who died in service to the federal, formerly Northern, government.

Contrary to her assertion that Confederate Memorial Day “honors the Confederacy,” since 1865 it has shown Southerners our respect for the approximately 300,000 men and women, including three of my great-great-uncles, who died for the War for Southern Independence.

Turner and too many others also forget the additional hundreds of thousands of Southerners who were wounded, injured, raped, and burnt out by Northern soldiers between 1861 and 1865. Confederate Memorial Day, May 10 in South Carolina and commemorated in the Beaufort National Cemetery, is a legal and justifiable holiday in the South.

This story was originally published September 23, 2017 at 9:31 AM with the headline "Confederate Memorial Day justified."