Hegseth to Return Memorial Biden Tore Down in Arlington National Cemetery

Always in His Presence · Thursday at 11:30 AM

Hegseth* to Return Memorial Biden Tore Down in Arlington National Cemetery

It’s official — the Biden administration’s historic eraser just hit a major snag.

In a move that’s already got progressives clutching their pearls and composing angry Twitter threads, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Confederate Memorial — yep, that one — is heading back to Arlington National Cemetery.

The very same monument that was yanked out of the ground under Biden’s watch, boxed up like unwanted furniture, and banished to a Defense Department storage facility in Virginia? Yeah, it’s coming home. And not quietly, either.

You probably remember the removal last December. Tucked neatly between headlines about inflation, border chaos, and the latest round of DEI appointments, the Pentagon quietly took down the Reconciliation Monument — a 109-year-old sculpture commissioned in an era of healing, built by Moses Ezekiel, a Jewish-American Civil War veteran who also happened to be buried nearby.

No debate. No vote. Just poof — gone.

Why? Because the monument dared to acknowledge that, after the bloodiest war in American history, some people believed in moving forward. Because it honored Confederate dead not as heroes, but as fellow Americans buried on U.S. soil. Because it referenced reconciliation — something that apparently doesn’t fit in today’s progressive glossary.

This was not a monument celebrating slavery, or glorifying rebellion. This was a tribute to lives lost. A monument built at the direct approval of a future U.S. president — William Howard Taft — placed beside the graves of over 400 Confederate soldiers, meant to symbolize national healing.

*The reports of Hegseth's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

essentialsaltes · Thursday at 12:27 PM

The elaborately designed monument offers a nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery.

Two of these figures are portrayed as African American: an enslaved woman depicted as a “Mammy,” holding the infant child of a white officer, and an enslaved man following his owner to war. An inscription of the Latin phrase “Victrix causa diis placuit sed victa Caton” (“The victorious cause was pleasing to the gods, but the lost cause to Cato”) construes the South’s secession as a noble “Lost Cause.”

Those who enjoy this "own the libs" moment should consider that the cause this celebrates was met with divine displeasure as stated on the monument itself. It was pleasing only to Men.

GoldenBoy89 · Thursday at 12:42 PM

Good ol’ culture war... That should distract them from the president’s scandals for another couple days or so.

Fantine · Thursday at 3:33 PM

Always in His Presence said:
Hegseth* to Return Memorial Biden Tore Down in Arlington National Cemetery

It’s official — the Biden administration’s historic eraser just hit a major snag.

In a move that’s already got progressives clutching their pearls and composing angry Twitter threads, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Confederate Memorial — yep, that one — is heading back to Arlington National Cemetery.

The very same monument that was yanked out of the ground under Biden’s watch, boxed up like unwanted furniture, and banished to a Defense Department storage facility in Virginia? Yeah, it’s coming home. And not quietly, either.

You probably remember the removal last December. Tucked neatly between headlines about inflation, border chaos, and the latest round of DEI appointments, the Pentagon quietly took down the Reconciliation Monument — a 109-year-old sculpture commissioned in an era of healing, built by Moses Ezekiel, a Jewish-American Civil War veteran who also happened to be buried nearby.

No debate. No vote. Just poof — gone.

Why? Because the monument dared to acknowledge that, after the bloodiest war in American history, some people believed in moving forward. Because it honored Confederate dead not as heroes, but as fellow Americans buried on U.S. soil. Because it referenced reconciliation — something that apparently doesn’t fit in today’s progressive glossary.

This was not a monument celebrating slavery, or glorifying rebellion. This was a tribute to lives lost. A monument built at the direct approval of a future U.S. president — William Howard Taft — placed beside the graves of over 400 Confederate soldiers, meant to symbolize national healing.

*The reports of Hegseth's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Remembering they were the Cause of so many American deaths, their monuments should be in museums, helping future generations learn from past mistakes.

iluvatar5150 · Thursday at 3:43 PM

Ah yes, Trump acolytes, champions of reconciliation.

DaisyDay · Thursday at 4:02 PM

Hurrah for the traitors!

Always in His Presence · Thursday at 4:09 PM

Fantine said:
Remembering they were the Cause of so many American deaths, their monuments should be in museums, helping future generations learn from past mistakes.

That is why it was in Arlington - until Joe Biden had it removed.

It was a message of healing.

Confederate_Monument_-_S_face_tight_-_Arlington_National_Cemetery_-_20111.jpg

It honors both sides and both races and was dedicated as a monument for bringing two warring sides together.

Always in His Presence · Thursday at 4:10 PM

iluvatar5150 said:
Ah yes, Trump acolytes, champions of reconciliation.

Ah yes, Biden acolytes, champions of division.

Desk trauma · Thursday at 4:13 PM

They put the participation trophy back.

Akita Suggagaki · Thursday at 4:22 PM

Always in His Presence said:
It honors both sides

Why should pro-slavery rebels be honored?

essentialsaltes · Thursday at 4:38 PM

Always in His Presence said:
It honors both sides and both races

Some black people might forgo the 'honor' the UDC was conferring upon them in the statue they commissioned:

"And there is another story told here, illustrating the kindly relations that existed all over the South between the master and the slave — a story that can not be too often repeated to generations in which “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” survives and is still manufacturing false ideas as to the South and slavery in the “fifties.” The astonishing fidelity of the slaves everywhere during the war to the wives and children of those who were absent in the army was convincing proof of the kindly relations between master and slave in the old South. One leading purpose of the U. D. C. is to correct history. Ezekiel is here writing it for them, in characters that will tell their story to generation after generation. Still to the right of the young soldier and his body-servant is an officer, kissing his child in the arms of an old negro “mammy.”"

FAITH-IN-HIM · Thursday at 5:59 PM

Always in His Presence said:
Hegseth* to Return Memorial Biden Tore Down in Arlington National Cemetery

It’s official — the Biden administration’s historic eraser just hit a major snag.

In a move that’s already got progressives clutching their pearls and composing angry Twitter threads, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Confederate Memorial — yep, that one — is heading back to Arlington National Cemetery.

The very same monument that was yanked out of the ground under Biden’s watch, boxed up like unwanted furniture, and banished to a Defense Department storage facility in Virginia? Yeah, it’s coming home. And not quietly, either.

You probably remember the removal last December. Tucked neatly between headlines about inflation, border chaos, and the latest round of DEI appointments, the Pentagon quietly took down the Reconciliation Monument — a 109-year-old sculpture commissioned in an era of healing, built by Moses Ezekiel, a Jewish-American Civil War veteran who also happened to be buried nearby.

No debate. No vote. Just poof — gone.

Why? Because the monument dared to acknowledge that, after the bloodiest war in American history, some people believed in moving forward. Because it honored Confederate dead not as heroes, but as fellow Americans buried on U.S. soil. Because it referenced reconciliation — something that apparently doesn’t fit in today’s progressive glossary.

This was not a monument celebrating slavery, or glorifying rebellion. This was a tribute to lives lost. A monument built at the direct approval of a future U.S. president — William Howard Taft — placed beside the graves of over 400 Confederate soldiers, meant to symbolize national healing.

*The reports of Hegseth's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

This is one aspect of the GOP and southern culture that puzzles me: why do we celebrate or honor Confederate soldiers?

If national healing involves honoring those who fought against the USA and the Union in a war that killed 700,000 Americans, would it also be appropriate to place statues of Martin James Monti at Arlington Cemetery to symbolize reconciliation between Germans and Americans, or John Philip Walker Lindh, who fought against the US in Afghanistan?

I know the answer, Monti and John Walker should not be interred at Arlington Cemetery, similar to the many German-Americans who left the United States to join Hitler’s army during World War II. So , what makes confederate army different?

FAITH-IN-HIM · Thursday at 6:10 PM

essentialsaltes said:
Some black people might forgo the 'honor' the UDC was conferring upon them in the statue they commissioned:

"And there is another story told here, illustrating the kindly relations that existed all over the South between the master and the slave — a story that can not be too often repeated to generations in which “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” survives and is still manufacturing false ideas as to the South and slavery in the “fifties.” The astonishing fidelity of the slaves everywhere during the war to the wives and children of those who were absent in the army was convincing proof of the kindly relations between master and slave in the old South. One leading purpose of the U. D. C. is to correct history. Ezekiel is here writing it for them, in characters that will tell their story to generation after generation. Still to the right of the young soldier and his body-servant is an officer, kissing his child in the arms of an old negro “mammy.”"

View attachment 368259

Describing slavery as a "kind relationship" is misleading and distorts history. While not all slave owners were as cruel as depicted in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," suggesting that slave owners and enslaved individuals shared a benevolent relationship is inaccurate.

Akita Suggagaki · Thursday at 6:30 PM

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
Describing slavery as a "kind relationship" is misleading and distorts history.

That is the real agenda.

Always in His Presence · Thursday at 8:20 PM

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
So , what makes confederate army different?

They were our brothers and sisters. Yes they were at war with the North, but read the history and why the President of the United States and Congress at the time felt it was important and right.

ozso · Thursday at 8:35 PM

Good to see the Democrats tearing down historical monuments is being undone.

Waiting for it and others to be vandalized after being put back.

iluvatar5150 · Thursday at 8:39 PM

Always in His Presence said:
They were our brothers and sisters. Yes they were at war with the North, but read the history and why the President of the United States and Congress at the time felt it was important and right.

We're all aware of the intent of the gesture - and we're all aware of how that played out - how they didn't reciprocate the gesture to their newly-freed slaves by trying to reconcile with them. No, they tried to skirt these new laws and find new, more creative ways of subjugating them and denying them an equal share of society. "A lot of good it did 'em", as some would say.

So please, explain to me, what unity and reconciliation is achieved today by keeping these monuments to failed gestures and failed insurrections? To whom are we extending an olive branch?

MotoToTheMax · Thursday at 8:53 PM

Always in His Presence said:
They were our brothers and sisters. Yes they were at war with the North, but read the history and why the President of the United States and Congress at the time felt it was important and right.

Anyone who engaged in slavery and defended it's use is no brother or sister of mine. That some would consider them family in 2025 is vile. Statues commemorating Confederates should have no place on any government owned land.

Aldebaran · Thursday at 9:00 PM

GoldenBoy89 said:
Good ol’ culture war... That should distract them from the president’s scandals for another couple days or so.

It's removal certainly accomplished that goal.

GoldenBoy89 · Thursday at 9:03 PM

Always in His Presence said:
They were our brothers and sisters.

Maybe your brothers and sisters. Not mine.

Always in His Presence said:
Yes they were at war with the North,

They were at war with and wanted to secede from the United States.

Always in His Presence said:
but read the history and why the President of the United States and Congress at the time felt it was important and right.

Then another president felt it was important and right to bring the statue down and now another president thinks it’s important and right for it to come back up.

Maybe these decisions should be left to someone other than the current president?

Hegseth to Return Memorial Biden Tore Down in Arlington National Cemetery

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