Crestview resurrects Confederate flag — for now (FL)

[struggle4progress]

By THOMAS BONI | News Bulletin
Published: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 at 10:18 AM.

CRESTVIEW — The city will temporarily reinstall the Confederate battle flag at the William "Bill" Lundy Memorial.

The City Council on Monday voted 2-1 to raise the flag at its former East First Avenue location ...

In addition, the council unanimously set an Aug. 6 special meeting to discuss the monument and rebel flag. The Crestview Lions Club established the memorial in 1958 to honor Bill Lundy, whom many people believe was Florida's last surviving Confederate soldier. However, some people, citing census records, dispute the claim and say he was just 5 years old at the end of the Civil War ...

Since 1996, the City Council has heard numerous requests — particularly from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Okaloosa County branch — to have the flag removed from public property. The challenge, Cadle said, was, "How do we address this situation that polarizes our city every other year? There's no end in sight to it, as everybody knows" ...

http://www.crestviewbulletin.com/news/government/crestview-resurrects-confederate-flag-for-now-1.498444?tc=cr

[spanone]

1. are they resurrecting slavery too?

[struggle4progress]

2. Who was 'Uncle Bill' Lundy? The man behind the debated Crestview monument

... "The census of Walton County, Fla., shows he was not born until May 1860," the article states. "In 1910, he made no mention of having been a Civil War soldier."

The 1910 U.S. census provided opportunity for Civil War veterans to identify themselves, Marvel's article stated.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, people started to claim Civil War veteran status so they could qualify for pensions ...

"By the late 1920s and early 1930s, actual veterans were getting scarce," Curenton said. "Old men would get together and swear to each other's pension application in order to qualify for the money. There were not any real soldiers left at that time to dispute their claim" ...

http://www.crestviewbulletin.com/news/government/special-report-who-was-uncle-bill-lundy-the-man-behind-the-debated-crestview-monument-1.234624?page=0