Dear Editor:

What a sad and profound insult to the glorious history of Maine and this county that one can see Confederate flags flying in the Boothbay region. It is neither a symbol for patriotic Americans nor representative of individual rights. It was merely the symbol flown by traitors to this country who sought to tear asunder the Constitutional rights upon which this country was founded.

Have these flag wavers forgotten of the incredible contributions and sacrifices to the preservation of the highest ideals of  this country made by the men of Maine in the Civil War? Have they forgotten the heroic Colonel Joshua Chamberlain as he led the 20^th Maine Regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg  or that he accepted the surrender of arms carried under that very flag at Appomattox at the conclusion of the war?

The fitting and appropriate and patriotic symbol from the Civil War is already on display at the entrance to Boothbay. There, a statute depicts a Union soldier as leans on his long rifle with a distant stare – perhaps looking forward to the day that he can return to his native Boothbay secure in the belief in his contribution to the preservation of his county and the defeat of those who sought to destroy it. Imagine his utter shock if came home to see the enemy’s flag flying next to the Stars and Stripes.

In Europe, countries have imposed laws to ban the display of hate symbols regardless of their historic relevance. Alas, the Bill of Rights for which the patriotic Union soldiers fought and died, permits such display. How confused and turned around some Americans have become?

Douglas Louison

Boothbay