Good Morning, >From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: >Gephardt wants Missouri Confederate flag pulled down > By Scott Charton > Associated Press Writer > 01/14/2003 > > JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Confederate flag should no longer be flown at a Missouri historic > site where Confederate veterans are buried, nor should it fly anywhere else, Democratic presidential > hopeful Dick Gephardt said through a spokesman Tuesday. > > The congressman had not previously called for removing the flag in his home state because he ``did > not know'' about the state-run Confederate Memorial Historic Site, which is on the opposite side of > Missouri from his St. Louis district, said Gephardt spokesman Erik Smith. > > Gephardt said during the weekend after visiting South Carolina that the Confederate flag should no > longer be flown ``anytime, anywhere.'' Of Missouri's decades-old memorial, Smith said: ``He believes > that flag should come down also.'' > > The Confederate battle flag flies every day over the 192-acre state site near Higginsville, about 40 > miles east of Kansas City. The site was the former location of a Confederate veterans home and > includes a cemetery where remains of 694 Confederate veterans and 108 wives are buried. > > The Confederate flag flies on a pole beneath the U.S. and Missouri flags. A plaque at the park entrance > says it is ``dedicated to the valor of the Confederate soldiers.'' > > On Tuesday, the state leader of a Confederate heritage organization criticized Gephardt's blanket call > for removal of the flag, saying the Missouri display is ``historically appropriate, respectful and has > never been controversial.'' > > Gene Dressel of Jonesburg, state commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said his > organization is on record condemning hate groups and what the organization considers the misuse of > the flag by white supremacists. > > ``I'm appalled that someone living off my tax money would be willing to dishonor graves of soldiers by > seeking to remove a flag that has been flying very appropriately for decades and which hasn't been the > slightest bit controversial,'' Dressel said. > > Gephardt was first asked about the flag's display during a campaign trip to South Carolina last week. > > He initially sidestepped the questions, but issued a statement Saturday, saying, ``My own personal > feeling is that the Confederate flag no longer has a place flying anytime, anywhere in our great nation.'' > > Gephardt said the flag that flies at the Confederate Soldier Monument near South Carolina's > Statehouse ``is a hurtful, divisive symbol and in my view has no place flying anywhere, in any state in > this country.'' > > Smith said he didn't know if Gephardt planned to contact Missouri officials to call for the flag's removal. > > Doug Eiken, director of Missouri state parks, said Monday that the display at Higginsville, 40 miles > east of Kansas City, hasn't been controversial. > > Smith said Gephardt had never spoken against the flag's display at Higginsville because ``it's not in > the metropolitan St. Louis area and he wasn't aware of it.'' > > In South Carolina, the flag was removed from the Statehouse dome in July 2000 after a nationwide > economic boycott led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In a > compromise to remove the flag from the dome, it was put up at the Confederate monument that sits in > front of the Statehouse. > > AP-CS-01-14-03 1649EST