“Lets Stand up for what is Right and Never Back Down”
The Honorable William “Bill” Chumley was the speaker at the Confederate Memorial Day Service at Springwood Cemetery in Greenville, Sunday, May 2nd.
The annual Confederate Memorial Day service is sponsored by the 16th Regiment, SC Volunteers, Camp 36SCV, and the Museum and Library of Confederate History owned and operated by the Camp.
The annual memorial service is part of the obligation of the Sons of Confederate Veterans that was given to the Sons and future generations of their children by Lieutenant General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General , United Confederate Veterans in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1906. The charge stated:
To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought, to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate Soldier’s good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which we also cherish.
Sixteenth Regiment Chaplain Mark Evans introduced Rep. Chumley as a man of integrity with old-fashioned Southern “guts” to stand firm for what he believes.
Representative Chumley was encouraged by the large number of young people attending the memorial service. He said he became interested in Southern History in the seventh grade. He learned to pray for wisdom from the example set by President Jefferson Davis.
Rep. Chumley said recent minor surgery caused him to reflect on the pain and suffering wounded Confederate soldiers experienced. “These men suffered and fought and then came home to their families and went to work to build their lives back.”
Chumley believes in a citizen legislature not professional politicians. “When I went to Columbia, I put my hand on the Bible and swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and South Carolina. Let’s stand up for what is right and hold off this pending tyranny .Never back down and never apologize for our proud heritage. May God Bless the South.”The service was packed with symbolic reinforcements.
Representatives of more than a dozen Southern Heritage organizations from the Upstate participated in the service. More about those organizations will appear in a future issue.