CS Veteran Photos in 1950's

[DougCooper]

Re: CS Veteran Photos in 1950's

There was an excellent article a few years back in one of the CW mags about the last few supposed surviving CS vets, all of whose claims have been discredited over the years, among them Walter Washington Williams (nice memorial at Gettysburg on the southern end of the Emmittsburg Road). Woolson is the last confirmed vet.

As David says, a number of these men altered birthdates and claimed pensions at advanced ages. The system was greatly imperfect and a few slipped through the cracks...and since most comrades were gone and the records scarce, few wanted to discredit nice old gentlemen while they were still alive.

[David Fox]

Re: CS Veteran Photos in 1950's

This whole area of counterfeit warriors is interesting and sometimes claimants border on the pathological. A couple years ago a sheriff's detective in my judicial district retired after long, honorable service. He was interviewed by a local newspaper in his office amid the welter of his Green Beret memorabilia. He often alluded to his Special Forces career in Nam. The article fell into the hands of a Green Beret fact-finding group at Ft. Bragg. They shredded him. He'd never gotten close to Viet Nam nor issue of the coveted Green Beanie. Re-interviewed, he pitifully wailed "there must be some mistake" when confronted by his service records. His entire reputation is in ruins. I once had an acquaintance who lived in Ashevile, N.C., having blown in w/ the crew filming "Last of the Mohicans". His Medal of Honour, allegedly earned in Nam, was framed on his wall. As a combat vet of that SNAFU myself, it never occurred to me to question him about it. He made a local enemy who did, and the bogus soldier (he'd never even been in the military) eventually hanged himself. A thread common amongst 'most all such claimants (including and especially the faux Rebs, at least those who didn't tack their alleged military service onto that of a father, elder sibling, or the like) is: the unit to which they were allegedly attached is exotic and hard to pin down...detached service with a roving commission in the Green Berets, or, as in the case of Mr. Lundy, a home guard assignment. The official Last Confederate, Walter Williams, puzzled me even when I was a teenager before his death in 1959 with his claim to be "a forager with Hood's Brigade". Huh? In the "for what it's worth" department, for my (Confederate) money an infantryman with the extraordinarily euphonious name of Pleasant Crump currently qualifies as the Last Verifiable Reb. He served with the 10th Alabama, a unit, you'll note, of the sort that kept real rosters. Private Crump died the last day of 1951, eight days into his 105th year. R.I.P.

[kevin]

Re: CS Veteran Photos in 1950's

Hello,
First: those are really cool pics even if the ol' fella's claim is a bit muddled. I have to say that I agree with the sentiment that by someone claiming they were part of something they were not to get attention( or a pension) really cheapens the sacrifice of those who fought.
But it is cool to think of the contrast in those pics when you see an obviously old man who grew up before electricity, running water and gas heat were common conveniences posed before "rocket science".
In an above reply someone said that he has lived through radical changes that will never be repeated. To that I say In my birthyear (1979) the average person did not have cable TV, a home computer (let alone internet), a cell phone, GPS, ipods.....you get the point. I have often thought about the advances that have changed human existence in the last 150 years and its kinda cool to think that we are living the same kinds of changes in our own lives. Being fairly young myself, I can still honestly tell "when I was your age" stories to kids that were born 10 or 20 years after me. Imagine what radical changes we'll see in the next 30 years.