WhatFinger


Calvin E. Johnson Jr.

A native of Georgia, Calvin Johnson, Chairman of the National and Georgia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Confederate Veterans Confederate History and Heritage Month Program

He is the author of the book "When America Stood for God, Family and Country."

Most Recent Articles by Calvin E. Johnson Jr.:

Save the Arlington Confederate Monument

History is being erased throughout the USA. Monuments to our American Heroes are being removed or under threat of being removed like the Reconciliation Memorial in the Confederate Section of Arlington National Cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery is located in the shadow of the Custis-Lee Mansion (Arlington House) that was home to General Robert E. Lee and his family until 1861, and the beginning of the War Between the States. This cemetery was first used in 1864, for the burial of Union soldiers.

Tours, through this famous burial place of President Kennedy, General Wainwright and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, are conducted.

- Monday, February 20, 2023

The Spirit of John B. Gordon

President Theodore Roosevelt said of John B. Gordon, "A more gallant, generous, and fearless gentlemen and soldier has not been seen in this country."

February is Black History Month and it is also the birthday month of George Washington, America’s first president. February is also the birthday month of John Brown Gordon of Georgia.

John B. Gordon, born February 6, 1832, was an orator, lawyer, statesman, soldier, publisher and governor of the State of Georgia. He is best known as one of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s generals. At Appomattox, Gordon’s corps encounter with the soldiers under Gen. Joshua Chamberlain is a classic story. Gordon would always remember Chamberlain for the courtesy and respect shown he and his men.

- Sunday, February 5, 2023

Happy birthday Robert E. Lee

Happy birthday Robert E. LeeSir Winston Churchill called General Robert E. Lee, “one of the noblest Americans who ever lived.” Children will get a school holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday but do young people know that January is also the birthday month for General Robert E. Lee? Please let me call to your attention that Thursday, January 19, 2023, is the 216th birthday of Robert E. Lee, whose memory is still dear in the hearts of many Americans.
- Thursday, January 19, 2023

Happy Birthday Robert E. Lee

Happy Birthday Robert E. LeeSir Winston Churchill called General Robert E. Lee, “one of the noblest Americans who ever lived.” Please let me call to your attention that Tuesday, January 19, 2021, is the 214th birthday of Robert E. Lee, whose memory is still dear in the hearts of many Southerners. Why is this man so honored in the South and respected in the North? Lee was even respected by the soldiers of Union blue who fought against him during the War Between the States.
- Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Happy Birthday Robert E. Lee

Happy Birthday Robert E. LeeDuring a tour through the South in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt told the aged Confederate veterans in Richmond, Virginia, “Here I greet you in the shadow of the statue of your commander, General Robert E. Lee. You and he left us memories which are part of the memories bequeathed to the entire nation by all the Americans who fought in the War Between the States.” January 19, 2020, is the 213th birthday of Robert E. Lee. During Robert E. Lee’s 100th birthday in 1907, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., a former Union Commander and grandson of US President John Quincy Adams, spoke in tribute to Robert E. Lee at Washington and Lee College’s Lee Chapel in Lexington, Virginia. His speech was printed in both Northern and Southern newspapers and is said to had lifted Lee to a renewed respect among the American people.
- Saturday, January 18, 2020

80th Anniversary of the movie “Gone with the Wind”

80th Anniversary of the movie Gone with the WindThe clock was turned back in Atlanta, Georgia for the World Premiere of Gone with the Wind at the Loews Grand Theater on Peachtree Street. The beautiful theater was sadly destroyed by fire in 1978, but many folks still remember when Hollywood came to Atlanta to celebrate that wonderful movie and Atlanta’s own author Margaret Mitchell whose book about Scarlett O’Hara, the Southern people and the War Between the States would be read by millions around the world and be made into an exciting motion picture that has become a great classic.
- Saturday, December 14, 2019

Remembering Gen. John B. Gordon

Gen. John B. Gordon and General J. L. Chamberlain, Appomattox Courthouse, April 9th, 1865An ex-Confederate soldier said about Gen. John B. Gordon: "He was a devout and humble Christian Gentleman. I know of no man more beloved in the South, and he was probably the most popular Southern man among the people of the North." -----Stephen D. Lee, Commander-in-Chief, United Confederate Veterans February is Black History Month. It is also the birthday month of George Washington, our first president and father of our country... And it is the birthday month of Gen. John B. Gordon of Georgia.
- Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Happy birthday Robert E. Lee

Happy birthday Robert E. Lee During a tour through the South in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt told the aged Confederate veterans in Richmond, Virginia, "Here I greet you in the shadow of the statue of your commander, General Robert E. Lee. You and he left us memories which are part of the memories bequeathed to the entire nation by all the Americans who fought in the War Between the States."
- Thursday, January 17, 2019

Happy Birthday General Robert E. Lee

ROBERT E LEE Sir Winston Churchill once said, ‘Lee was the noblest American who had ever lived and one of the greatest commanders known to the annals of war.’ Do young people still hear stories about George Washington, Booker T. Washington and Robert E. Lee? There was a time when schools and businesses closed in respect for the birthday of one of the South’s favorite sons--Robert E. Lee.
- Thursday, January 18, 2018

78th Anniversary of 'Gone with the Wind' premiere

78th Anniversary of 'Gone with the Wind' premiere The clock was turned back in Atlanta, Georgia for the World Premiere of Gone with the Wind at the Loews Grand Theater on Peachtree Street. The beautiful theater was sadly destroyed by fire in 1978 but many folks still remember when Hollywood came to Atlanta to celebrate that wonderful movie and Atlanta's own author Margaret Mitchell whose book about Scarlett O'Hara, the Southern people and the War Between the States would be read by millions around the world and be made into an exciting motion picture that has become a great classic.
- Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Jefferson Davis ‘Memorial Day’ Funeral Train

Don’t let the memory of our Southern men and women of the Old Confederacy ever die! The birthday of Jefferson Davis is June 3rd. Davis served as President of the Confederate States of America, United States Senator and Secretary of War under United States President Franklin Pierce.
- Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Remembering Mary Surratt; Marylander and Southerner

The first woman to be executed in America took place on July 7, 1865. Her name was Mary Surratt. President Jefferson Davis said;
"I love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it."
America had not yet celebrated her 85th birthday when the South seceded from the Union in the year of our Lord 1861. Secession was recognized as a God given right that was also exercised by the 13 American Colonies in their separation from Great Britain in 1776 to form the United States of America.
- Thursday, July 7, 2016

The Jefferson Davis ‘Memorial Day’ Funeral Train

June 3rd was the 208th birthday of Jefferson Davis who served in the United States House and Senate, 23rd United States Secretary of War and President of the Confederate States of America. If you listened closely, and the wind was blowing in the right direction, you may have heard a train whistle in the distance. As a youngster near Atlanta, this and the sound of "taps" from nearby Fort McPherson were special sounds. Today, air conditioners and closed windows segregate the sounds of trains, owls and all the wonderful sounds of the symphony of the night. We do not hear our community's soul; we hear only its machines.
- Sunday, June 5, 2016

Confederate Memorial Day in Dixie

Tuesday, April 26th, is Confederate Memorial Day in Georgia when the Constitution of the Confederate States of America will be placed on display in Athens, Georgia. Confederate Memorial Day became a legal holiday in Georgia in 1874 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly and bill signed by then Governor James Smith, who also served as Confederate Colonel, Lawyer and Congressman.
- Monday, April 18, 2016

Happy birthday Robert E. Lee

Sir Winston Churchill called General Robert E. Lee, “one of the noblest Americans who ever lived.” Do young people still hear stories about George Washington, Booker T. Washington and Robert E. Lee? There was a time when schools and businesses closed in respect for the birthday of one of the South's favorite sons -Robert E. Lee. Tuesday, January 19, 2016, is the 209th birthday of Robert E. Lee, whose memory is still dear in the hearts of many Americans and people throughout God’s good earth. During Robert E. Lee’s 100th birthday in 1907, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., a former Union Army Commander and grandson of United States President John Quincy Adams, spoke in tribute to Robert E. Lee at Washington and Lee College’s Lee Chapel in Lexington, Virginia. His speech was printed in both Northern and Southern newspapers and is said to had lifted Lee to a renewed respect among the American people.
- Saturday, January 16, 2016

76th Anniversary of “Gone With The Wind”

The clock was turned back in Atlanta, Georgia, for the World Premiere of 'Gone with the Wind' at the Loews Grand Theater on Peachtree Street. The beautiful theater was sadly destroyed by fire in 1978 but many folks still remember when Hollywood came to Atlanta to celebrate that wonderful movie and Atlanta’s own author Margaret Mitchell, whose book about Scarlett O’Hara, the Southern people and the War Between the States would be read by millions around the world and be made into this exciting motion picture that has become a classic. Do you remember when a movie premiere was a red carpet affair of excitement when you could take your family to the picture show without worrying about the language or sexual content of the film?
- Monday, December 14, 2015


Confederate Memorial Day in the South

Tennessee Senator Edward Ward Carmack said it best in 1903:
“The Confederate Soldiers were our kinfolk and our heroes. We testify to the country our enduring fidelity to their memory. We commemorate their valor and devotion. There were some things that were not surrendered at Appomattox. We did not surrender our rights and history; nor was it one of the conditions of surrender that unfriendly lips should be suffered to tell the story of that war or that unfriendly hands should write the epitaphs of the Confederate dead. We have the right to teach our children the true history of the war, the causes that led up to it and the principles involved.”
- Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The Great Locomotive Chase in Georgia

The Sesquicentennial of the War Between the States concludes this year but Confederate Heritage events will continue in Dixie for many years to come.
- Saturday, April 11, 2015

Old Times are not forgotten in the South

Some folks call the Confederate flag and United States flag racist. Sir Winston Churchill said it best when he said:
"The flags of the Confederate States of America were very important and a matter of great pride to those citizens living in the Confederacy. They are also a matter of great pride for their descendants as part of their heritage and history.'
- Wednesday, April 1, 2015

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