Randolph Harrison McKim enlisted as a Confederate private at the beginning of the Civil War. He rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant. After the war, he became pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., where he served for 32 years.
McKim wrote a book about his experiences in the war, and included these words:
“We would not do aught (anything) to perpetuate the angry passions of the Civil War, or to foster any feeling of hostility to our fellow citizens of other parts of the Union. But we must forevermore do honor to our heroic dead.”
“We must forevermore cherish the sacred memories of those four terrible but glorious years of unequal strife. We must forevermore consecrate in our hearts our old battle flag of the Southern Cross… “
“The people that forgets its heroic dead is already dying at the heart and we believe we shall be truer and better citizens of the United States if we are true to our past.”
Well said, McKim for this message that everyone needs to hear, believe, and be true to.
Many today continue to honor those men and the “old battle flag of the Southern Cross.”
