Volunteers placed confederate flags on Civil War veterans’s graves Thursday, May 9.

Several are buried in the cemetery behind Mt. Hebron United Methodist Church.

It was a way to honor those who fought before Confederate Memorial Day.

According to Michael “Ironhorse” Matthews and T. A. Harman of Mt. Hebron, this recognition ceremony started last year when they identified 17 Civil War veterans’ graves in their cemetery.

Boy Scouts for years had placed US flags on the veteran’s graves.

Church leaders agreed it was appropriate to place Confederate flags there, too.

The families of the Confederate soldiers appreciated that their ancestors were being remembered for their sacrifices.

Harman said that some people want to recognize history as it was. But it is important that young people growing up today need to know what their ancestors endured.

Whether you agree with the cause of the war or not, history is history.

If we do not learn the lessons it teaches, we may repeat the mistakes of the past.

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