Green Hill Cemetery & Why We Flag There

Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have long taken an interest in the preservation of Green Hill Cemetery of Elizabethton, TN. Some have did this while members of the Watauga Historial Asssociation and its ad hoc committee, Green Hill Cemetery Preservation Committee, as well as after leaving the organization. One article in the Elizabethton Star dated August 15, 2006 attests to this;

http://archives.starhq.com/PDF/2006/August/081506.pdf.

It was after Memorial Day of 2011, actually the day after, Confederate flags were found pushed into the ground. The Wednesday, June 1 edition of the Elizabethton Star shows a Boy Scout setting a U.S. flag on a Confederate grave, the Confederate flag already pushed into the ground. A caption under the photo has mention of Dawn Peters of the Watauga Historical Association. In a complaint filed over the flags being pushed into the ground, Peters, in an E.P.D. Police report admitted to doing it. See:

http://archives.starhq.com/PDF/2011/June/060111.pdf.

S.C.V. members purchased flag stands, only to have W.H.A. push them into the ground. In order to stop this, the stands were cemented into the ground. Note that after doing this, W.H.A. set rods into the ground and taped U.S. flags to them--an ugly mess!The next set of 4 photos shows their neglect in mowing the Confederate graves. This is not caretaker-like behavior.In the spring of 2012, W.H.A. had a "geological survey" done on the Confederate graves and Tipton plots. Why only the Confederate graves?!! For approximately 6 months the survey tape and flags were left on the graves until it was removed by those fed up with the litter. Again, not a good attribute of a caretaker!Despite their malicious and outrageous behavior directed toward the graves of the Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery, they keep receiving grants from the Elizabethton/Carter County Community Foundation and East Tennessee Foundation while still proclaiming they are caretakers.

Bill Hicks
SCV & Tennessee Confederate Flaggers

A CONFEDERATE CHRISTMAS REMEMBERED

December 15th 2:00 p.m. at Green Hill Cemetery in Elizabethton Tennessee.

This Event is sponsored by the Lt. Robert J. Tipton Camp #2083 of Elizabethton, TN.

Invocation: The Rev. Rick Morrell, Commander, Vaughn’s Brigade, Tennessee Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Salute to the Confederate Flag.

Commemoration of the Confederate Veterans Interred in Green Hill Cemetery: Bill Hicks, Aide- de-Camp, Vaughn’s Brigade, Tennessee Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Commemoration of the 123 Anniversary of the Death of Confederate States President Jefferson Davis: Bill Dennison, Guest Speaker, Walker Terry Camp #1758, Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Wreath Laying at the Memorial to Confederate Veterans of Carter County, Tennessee: Order of Confederate Rose, Chapter #11 Wild Mountain Roses of Elizabethton, Order of the Black Rose, Mrs. Clara Ingram Craft and Mrs. Jackie Weaver Dennison.

Benediction: The Rev. Rick Morrell, Commander, Vaughn’s Brigade, Tennessee Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Members of The Tennessee Confederate Flaggers will be there showing support for Lt. Robert J. Tipton Camp #2083 and our Confederate heroes.

Join with us.

Brother's love and blessings,

PoP Aaron
southernamerican@comcast.net

Tennessee Flagging Coordinator:
Col Mike Shaffer (Doc)
bigmikeshff@yahoo.com or (423)652-0213

Brother Bill Hicks, TFG Sergeant of The Line.
billyboyandpam@embarqmail.com

I Am Your Confederate Ancestor

By Trooper Jim DeArman, CSA

CO. B, 37th Texas Calvary(Terrell's)

I am your Confederate ancestor.

Remember me?
When our country needed me,
I answered the call.

Do not forget me!

I was willing and did give up everything,
Sacrificed all, for country and you.
I faced deprivation, starvation,
faced the winter in tattered uniforms,
marched for miles with no shoes.

In Northern POW camps,
ill treatment was the norm,
intentionally withheld medical treatment,festering wounds,
allowed to freeze in the winter, and forced to endure sickness,
with hopes we would die.

I proudly fought under our flag,
for the constitutional republic we desired.
I rallied and faced an army that most of the time,
outnumbered us and was better equipped.

I gave my all and did my best,no sacrifice was to great.
No duty to small.

It was for you I did this,Without expecting any reward.
I suffered horrible wounds,and watched the angle of death,
cut vast lines of men down.

I bled for you,soaking the earth,I died for you.

Our families heeded the call,
they suffered under the boot of the Union army,
sacrificing farms, homes, possessions,
years of hardships we endured.

Will our self-sacrifices and heroic deeds,
be forgotten and perish from your memory?
My blood consecrated the ground of our country.
I gave my life for our people and it's land.

I died a heroic death for our independence,
on the battlefields of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Gettysburg.

Behold our bodies laid out in long lines,
the indignity of buried like garbage in mass trenches.
Our faces changed, death reflected in our eyes,
we breathe not, forevermore.

Behold, our mothers, wives, family,
heads bowed down,
silently grieving us who will never return.

Some buried forever in Yankee soil.
Our friends choked with tears.
The burden of losing us, having to bury us, to entomb us.

We did not betray you!

Our muskets still by our side,
ammo pouches empty,
We fought till the last man.

Just as our blood spilled out step by step,
We did all we could, every last man, never to rise.

Only when you forget us, do we truly die.
Only when you turn your back on us, are we truly gone.

Stand up for us!
Fight for us now!

For we carried your name, till death closed our eyes.
Do not let our sacrifice, die with us, our memory!

Raise the flag we fought for, wave it proudly from on high!

Are you ashamed of us, or to weak of heart to carry on?

The banner has been passed to you,
do not let it fall or falter,
the battle is now yours.

Remember me, I did not shirk my duty,
remember me, our bodies laid out in long lines,
But I can arise and live again,

But only through you!

Eileen Parker Zoellner