For those who don't know, the USS Kidd, the "Pirate of the Pacific" is a Fletcher class Destroyer (DD-661) launched in February 1943. It was named after Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd, Sr. who was killed aboard his flagship, USS ARIZONA (BB-39) during the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. She was the only ship, as I understand, to have the right to fly the Jolly Roger. The old skull and crossbones still flies above her. This ship served in WWII and Korea and recieved 12 Battle Stars. She survived a deadly Kamikaze attact that killed 38 crew members. For more info on this ship and her crew visit her home site at...
Here is how this all ties to the topic of this forum and maybe even the recent excitement over the causes of the war. Just as you enter the Fletcher Museum that features the USS Kidd there is a memorial with an eternal flame and a Vietnam War Memorial type wall. The wall list the names of the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who have been killed in action in the different wars in which Louisiana has been involved. The Revolutionary War, the Mexican War, Korea, Vietnam, World War I, World War II and so on. All have the list of those who gave the supreme sacrifice. My wife showed my son and his friend the name Frank Nolan Holsomback, KIA in Vietnam. This young man lived with us for a long time and Mom and Dad considered him a son and I considered him a brother.
I then showed them the name of Herman Hazelton, killed by a sniper in Saigon attempting to board a plane for his trip home. He was the son of a dear friend of my Dad's I showed them the name of Frank Cheek. My mother's first cousin whose mother died young and whom was raised as a brother to my Mom. He was in 116th Battalion of the 29th Infantry Division on June 6, 1944. Need I say his body was recovered off the beach at Normandy and lies in the American Cemetery. By the way, his grandfather Frank N. Cheek served under Nathan Bedford Forrest.
The Louisiana Civil War list... there is none. On the space designated for the list there is a message that states due to the number of KIA it was not possible to list them all. I may be wrong but perhaps somebody somewhere was "cutting corners"?
How does all that make me feel. Here is the answer. The men from Louisiana and Mississippi, in my case, weren't slave owners. They aren't some distant statistic but are members of my family and community. It may seem important to some to spend their time in an effort to make monsters and pirates out of them. But on a personal level, I don't care one little whit.
I don't believe the average Confederate soldier was fighting to protect slavery anymore than I believe the soldiers of World War II were fighting to protect the Jim Crowe laws. Believe it or not, sometimes men actually serve in the armed forces to defend their hearth and home and I believe this was the cause of the Confederate soldier. Feel free to think different, it's no hide off my noggin'. I could go on in defense of why the Southern man fought. But...
I only want to say this. Even if they were fighting for slavery it does not take away our rights to honor their courage and valor. Try reading Gen. Joshua Chamberlain's account of his emotions at Appomattox sometime for his view point. In other words, we will will always remember our honored dead and the generation that bred them. If that pains anyone they should ignore us, most people, even our own already ignore us. But know this, we aren't gonna go "gently into that good night". We will continue to honor their memories and so will our children. My human weakness wishes me to add that "If you ain't down with that you can kiss our Rebel..." But I, in an effort to be a good Christian I won't actually say it ;-)