To those Mainers flying the Confederate Battle Flag from the backs of trucks and porches or sporting patches and T-shirts emblazoned with the flag, I ask this:

What would you say to Joshua Chamberlain if he walked up to you and asked what’s up with this flag you so proudly display?

Being that you live in Maine, I would hope that you know who General Chamberlain is.  And if you don’t recognize the name, don’t worry – he’s not going to say anything to you as he’s been dead for over 100 years.

But his deeds and that of the fellow Mainers of his generation do live on and speak to us over 150 years after the end of the Civil War.  And they’re telling us that while you have the first amendment right to fly the flag, it is distasteful and disrespectful.

You see, flying that flag doesn’t make you Redneck Cool and it doesn’t make you a rebel.   It does show that you either are unaware of the history, sympathize with the hate groups that have adopted it…or you do not care.

A sad thought because thousands of Mainers fought in the Civil War against an army and a philosophy under that banner.  Thousands of these soldiers and sailors were killed in action.  Thousands more were wounded with physical and psychological wounds that they would carry for the rest of their lives.

Let’s look at a couple of days in July, 1863.  Take the story of the Bowdoin professor turned soldier who found himself on the far left of the union line with just over 380 Mainers on July 2, 1863 in Gettysburg Pennsylvania.

Joshua  Chamberlain and the men of the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment  – for those of you that need a history refresher – defended a height  called Little Round Top against some of the fiercest units in the Confederate Army.  When the Mainers ran out of bullets, they fixed bayonets and charged the oncoming rebels.  Twenty-nine members of the 20th Maine lost their lives at Gettysburg and over 90 were wounded.  Chamberlain and Sgt. Andrew Tozier were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions on that hot July day.

Need more?  

Consider the men of the 17th Maine regiment who found themselves just down the hill from the 20th Maine fighting in the Wheatfield on the very same day against Longstreet’s lean and determined veterans charging under that very same Rebel Battle Flag. 

Eighteen Mainers in that regiment were killed that day and over one-hundred wounded in some of the fiercest fighting of the war.  

What would you say to one of those men? 

That you fly the flag because it’s cool?  Because it goes with your loud truck?  Because you want everyone to know what a rebel you are?

Or how about the men of the 16th Maine – a regiment that was nearly decimated on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg.  These were Mainers who made a desperate stand against a Confederate onslaught.  Their sacrifice helped provide precious time as disorganized units of the Army of the Potomac retreated through Gettysburg and set up a defensive line beyond the town.  They lost 11men killed, dozens more were wounded, and over 150 were taken prisoner. This is just one battle in a war that lasted over four years.  Mainers fought and fought bravely in actions on land and sea throughout the war.

Make you think twice about flying that flag maybe? 

It should and it shouldn’t stop there.  Those who use the flag as a symbol of divisive hate have a long and shameful history in this country.  The Confederate Battle Flag is and always has been a powerful symbol of racism, hatred, and bigotry.  It was the battle flag of a country that championed an economic system based on the enslavement of millions of people.  Don’t let revisionist historians fool you – the Civil War wasn’t a disagreement over state’s rights.  It was a bloody showdown over slavery and the economic rewards of that system which enriched a priveleged, landed, white gentry.

In the 150 years following the war, the flag has been a powerful symbol of groups like the Klu Klux Klan and others who created terror and oppression through lynchings and burning crosses.  It flew over uniformed men who used water hoses, clubs and dogs on those who would be free.  And now it’s flying with men who drive cars into crowds of people.

So let’s take a page from our own history with our own symbols because many Mainers stood and died on the right side of history and so should we.

 Jonathan Stimmell lives in Sanford.