Editor, Gazette-Journal:

With so many comments about moving or taking down Gloucester’s confederate monument, I wanted to make this point. We have a monument honoring a Gloucester African American Union soldier (James Gardner) who killed Confederates but some are questioning our Gloucester Confederate soldiers who died in that terrible war. I was on the Board of Supervisors that approved the Gardner memorial in courthouse and was pleased to support that effort.

Gloucester lost more soldiers per capita in the Civil War than any other location in Virginia. This memorial is the closest thing to a grave for most of them. These men were young but did what they thought was right. They sacrificed all on the battlefield. They deserve our utmost respect.

We need to move on and learn from the past.

Buddy RileeGloucester, Va.
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