Old Times Are Not Forgotten –  - Essay by Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.

It was with great pride that I gave my first Confederate Memorial Day address on Sunday April 23 (2006), at 2:00PM at the Redwine Methodist Church in Gainesville, Georgia located on Poplar Springs Road.

Thursday, April 26, is Confederate Memorial Day in Dixie!

For over 100 years the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Ladies Memorial Association, Sons of Confederate Veterans and people of the South have kept the memory of the Confederate soldiers eternal.

Today, we still keep the memory alive of our Confederate Dead!

April, our Confederate Memorial Month of Remembrance, is significant as it was the month that the War Between the States began (1861) and ended (1865.)

The State of Georgia has officially recognized April 26th as Confederate Memorial Day since 1874....And proclamations have been signed by three Georgia governors, commemorating April as Confederate History Month, since 1995. Many cities and counties throughout our nation have also followed this wonderful tradition.

Southern newspapers once reported Confederate soldiers marching in Confederate Memorial Day parades and sounding off with a husky Rebel Yell of "Yip, yip, yip, which turned the tides of many battles.

Ask your grandfather to tell you a story of the "Heroes of Gray."

Tennessee Senator Edward Ward Carmack said in 1903, "These Confederate soldiers were our kinfolk and our heroes." He also said, "The people of the South have the right to teach their children the true history of the War Between the States, the causes that led to it and the principles involved."

There was once a time when businesses and schools closed on Confederate Memorial Day. Thousands of people would congregate at the Confederate cemetery for the days events that included: a parade, memorial speeches, military salute and children laying flowers on the soldiers' graves. The band also played "Dixie" and the soldier played taps.

During April 2006, Confederate soldiers will also be remembered in such Northern states as Illinois, Ohio and New York and as far west as California.

John W. Jones was a runaway slave who made his new home in Elmira, New York. For many years he took care of the Confederate graves at Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmira, New York. The Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy are sponsoring a Confederate Memorial Day service there this month.

Please get involved and take part in your communities events for Confederate Memorial Day during April. Go to: www.georgiascv.com and find posted many memorial services planned in Georgia. You may also want to contact your local United Daughters of the Confederacy about memorials planned.

Lest we forget the soldiers on Confederate Memorial Day!

A native of Georgia, Calvin Johnson lives near the historic town of Kennesaw, home of the locomotive "The General" from the War Between the States. He is the author of the book "When America Stood for God, Family and Country." His email is: cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net.