Times change. Back in 1973 I joinded the Civil War Round Table of Wilmington Del. Since that time I have visited may dozens of Civil War battlefields, and some like Antietam and Gettysburg many times over. I went on to write a number of Civil War books and articles. During the period between 1973 and 1995 I used to fly the Confederate battle flag under the American flag at our Jersey Shore summer place, seeing it as nothing more than a part of the history I loved to study.

But times change. No way would I fly a Confederate flag for any reason today. Now as a good Yankee boy I was always partial to the Union cause and certainly flying the Confederate battle flag wasn’t meant to exhibit some sort of contemporary political statement. But like I say times have changed.

To fly a Confederate battle flag today would, indeed, be making, for me, a bad political statement pure and simple. I understand that a lot of young folks might find this hard to square. But in the end it always comes down to where one’s heart is more than anything.