Editor, The Smithfield Times:

During our drive home from Dairy Queen on Sunday afternoon, we stopped at the courthouse to get a closeup look at the Confederate monument.

My wife’s initial reaction was that the monument wasn’t very glorious as the statue at the top was of a foot soldier, not a general on horseback. Just then, I read one of the inscriptions. The first word I saw was “Glorious.” There are other inscriptions on the monument with phrases such as “bravely fought,” “true honor” and “true glory.” There is an inscription on the back with a Confederate flag.

The folks who erected the monument in 1905 knew that future generations would find it controversial.  They thumbed their noses at us with deed restrictions to create legal hurdles for removing the monument.

As we were about to leave, a gentleman in a pickup truck parked near us and said to take a good look at the monument now as it will be gone soon due to socialism.

Greg Vassilakos

Smithfield