Confederate Flag Flies At Beaufort County Courthouse



Posted: 8:15 PM May 10, 2007
Last Updated: 11:47 PM May 10, 2007

Some people were surprised by what they saw at the Beaufort County Courthouse
in Washington Thursday.

The Confederate Flag was flying. It’s actually nothing new. It’s part of a
tradition that dates back to 1999. That’s when Joseph Carter Leary, Commander
of the Washington Grays, requested permission from the Beaufort County Commissioners
to fly the Confederate Flag at the courthouse on confederate Memorial Day every
year, which falls on May 10.

The commissioners passed that motion by a vote of five to two.

Carter Leary says "The flag is a tribute for those who served, fought,
suffered and died as soldiers in the Confederate Army. It’s our heritage, it’s
southern heritage. Those opposed don’t know their own history, they’re ignorant
of their own history."

One onlooker, LaMont Flowers of Beaufort County said, "I really don’t
have too much against it, but in a way, I could see how older people would be
hurt by it but its nothing I can change, just have to deal with it."

Carter Leary says he has no plans to stop flying the Confederate Flag every
May 10. Only two of the commissioners who voted in favor of the motion in 1999
still remain on the board.

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