US vet takes stance against all Confederate monuments

As an American veteran, I am completely against any monument honoring Confederate soldiers. These were people who, for whatever reason, fought to destroy the United States in order to form their own government. I fought people who are trying to destroy countries that we are allied with; we call them terrorists. We should honor those who fought and died for our American values and our allies, but never have a monument that purports to honor U.S. enemies.

Individual families can remember their ancestors in whatever fashion they choose, but our society has no obligation to have such a memorial. Let’s remember the people who bravely disagree yet cooperate with their adversaries. Let’s honor those who worked to change society peacefully and helped fix the mistakes of our ancestors instead.

This story was originally published September 30, 2017 at 12:42 PM with the headline "US vet takes stance against all Confederate monuments."