"Rally To The Colours!" Confederate Heritage And Flag Rally In York, SC 08-01-2015

On Saturday, August 1st, I had the honored to attend the "Rally To The Colours" gathering of fellow Pro-Confederate heritage defenders at a gathering of supporters at Rose Hill Cemetery in beautiful York, South Carolina. The event was hosted by the Private Thomas Caldwell Camp #31 (SCV) Clover, S.C.

Recently, small Confederate flags placed on the graves of Confederate soldiers inside Rose Hill Cemetery and the Confederate Soldiers Monument just outside the gates were removed. The current board of the cemetery recently surrendered to pro-racist, anti-Southern heritage views of the Dixie Cross. These anti-Southern heritage reactionaries who control the cemetery itself and somehow declared a public cemetery "private property" removed both Confederate and US flags from the graves of recognized American Veterans, declaring that they should not be displayed.

The rally on the first of August was done in support of Southern heritage and individual liberty and partly to protest of the desecration of Confederate monuments and flags. The rally itself was just one of about 50 known Confederate heritage rallies across the American Southland the same day. 

I was one of approximately 343 (official count) individuals from South and North Carolina who attended this event; all of us proudly standing in solidarity with the tens of thousands across the South who stood up for our shared Confederate historical heritage against assaults on our individual identity and against the wrongful mislabeling of the symbols of Southern identity - particularly the Dixie Cross banner.

The rally also served to honor the memory of fallen Confederate heritage activist and defender of the South, Mr. Anthony Hervey, who would be lain to rest the next day.

The following are photos I took of the event in York. We let the enemies of Southern heritage know - I certainly did with the last photo - that we do not need their approval to honor our Southern and American dead, nor their approval to be proud of who we are as their descendants, and certainly not their approval to openly honor the historical and cultural heritage all Southern people share - Confederate descendants or otherwise. 

It was also a wonderful sight to see so many flags there, and not just the traditional Dixie Cross, but the historical ones too of various Confederate units - as well as other American banners including Old Glory.

God Bless those who attended the event, braving the 98F summer heat, to come together as brothers and sisters of the Southland, united in support of our common Confederate heritage, and defending it against anti-Southern heritage reactionary intolerance.

Black Ribbon In Memory Of Mr. Anthony Hervey - RIP!

Kirk Michael Carter,
The Coordinator Of The Rally At Rose Hill Cemetery.

Mr. H.K. Edgerton Of Asheville, NC.
Keynote Speaker For The Event.

My Dixie Cross Banner At The York Confederate Soldiers
Monument - The Same Flag The Current Pro-Racist Rose Hill
Cemetery Board And Current Mayor Of York Decreed Should
No Longer Be Placed At The Base Of The Monument -
Or On the Graves Of Confederate Soldiers Buried
In Rose Hill Cemetery.

Yep, That's Yours Truly, Your Humble Blogger
Sporting My Ulster Red Modern Tartan Kilt For The Event
In Honor Of My Ulster Irish Roots - And
In Memory Of Professional Wrestler And Childhood Hero
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper Who Died Tragically The Day Before
Of A Heart Attack In His Sleep. RIP.

Two Friends Of Mine: Mr. Jimmy Owens And Mr. Don Rayborn.

Mr. H.K. Edgerton Giving The Keynote Address.

Pastor Creighton Lovelace Delivers The Final Speech
And Prayer Of The Event.

Whoa Careful There Pastor, You Can Put An
Eye Out With That Thing! LOL!

View Of The Rally From Inside Rose Hill Cemetery.

Beautiful Celtic Cross Headstone At Rose Hill Cemetery.
A Wonderful Example Of The Scotch-Irish & Celtic Cultural
Heritage Of Upstate South Carolina.

The Grave Of Confederate Soldier And American Veteran
Colonel Asbury Coward, 5th South Carolina Regiment. CSA.
This Soldier - This Man, This Father, This Husband, This Brother,
This Son - And Hundreds Of Thousands Of Other Sons Of Dixie
Are The Reason The Confederate Heritage Of Our Shared Southern
Identity Exists Today. This Is Why We As Their Proud
Descendants Are Willing To Stand For The Flag They
Fought Under And The Monuments That Represent Them,
As Well As Our Rights As Individuals To Honor Them As We See Fit. 

RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper (1954 - 2015)

Roderick "Roddy" George Toombs (aka. Rowdy Roddy Piper)
April 17, 1954 - July 30, 2015

On Friday, July 30th of this year, legendary professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (born Roderick George Toombs) died in his sleep after a fatal heart attack, at the age of 61, in his home in Hollywood, California.

Born on April 17, 1954 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Toombs began his career as an amateur wrestler, a boxer winning the Golden Gloves boxing championship, and awarded a black belt in Judo. His first professional wrestling match took place in Winnipeg at the age of 15 against professional wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig. When Roddy made his way to the ring playing the bagpipes (which Toombs became proficient at as a kid), the ring-announcer introduced him as "Roddy the Piper", the fans in attendance heard it as "Roddy Piper" and the name stuck. 

Piper's in-ring persona as a brash, trash-talking "heel" (bad guy wrestler) wearing a kilt in honor of his Scottish heritage, defined him as one of the iconic wrestlers of the 1980s and 90s. 

The Rowdy One, Rowdy Roddy Piper.

On November 24, 1983 Piper took part in the first NWA Starrcade pay per view wrestling in front of a crowd of 16,000 people in the Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina) in a memorable and brutal dog collar match with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. During the match Piper was struck in the ear with the heavy chain used, damaged his eardrum and lost most of his hearing as a result. 

Two years later, Piper would star in the main event of the very first WWF/WWE Westlemania pay per view on March 31, 1985 in front of 19,121 fans in Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York) when he teamed with "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndoff against wrestling legend Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea and Mr. T.

Roddy Piper Vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine At Starrcade 83
in front of 16,000 fans at the Greensboro Coliseum, NC.

Piper Squares Off Against Mr. T. And Hulk Hogan At Wrestlemania I
In Madison Square Garden, NY.

Piper would go on to have a memorial feuds with Hogan for much of the 1980s in the WWF/WWE and the late 90s in WCW. Piper is also noted for his rivalry and friendship with wrestling legend "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

Piper is considered one of the greatest talkers and heels in wrestling history. His Piper's Pit interview segments were considered innovative, especially in an atmosphere where only the people like the world champion got to talk, and the wrestlers were the interviewees - but never the interviewers.

Piper Interviews Wrestler Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka In Piper's Pit.

Piper is also well known as an actor in several cult-classic films such as the John Carpernter film They Live (1988) and Hell Comes To Frogtown (1988) - both are among this blogger's favorite 80s films.

Piper's Famous Line From The John Carpenter Cult Classic Film
They Live (1988) And One Of My All-Time Favorite Movie Quotes.

In 2005, Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

News of his death broke minutes before the Hall of Heroes dinner to cap off the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Legends FanFest in Charlotte, North Carolina, where about 600 current and former wrestling personalities and fans had gathered. He received a ten-bell salute after the planned salute to fellow former professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, who had died in June 2015. Another ten-bell salute was given at the beginning of the August 3, 2015, episode of WWE Raw and a video was shown honoring his professional career and life. 

Piper's ashes were sprinkled onto his ranch in Gaston, Oregon. He is survived by his wife Kitty and their four children. 

Roddy Piper With Fellow WWE Hall Of Famer "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes
Who Died In June Of This Year. RIP.

On a personal note, back when wrestling was still wrestling - before the era of "sports entertainment" and the end of professional wrestling's territory days - Rowdy Roddy Piper (aka "Hot Rod") was one of my all-time favorite wrestlers and heroes as a child of the 80s, even though he was mostly a "bad guy" through his run. His personality and his character just rubbed off on me.

He was one of the first wrestlers my dad took me to see and I enjoyed his matches and films. I also respected the man, Roderick Toombs for who he was beyond his wrestling persona. His pride in his Scottish and Irish heritage largely inspired my own sense of pride in that heritage, and ironically in kilt wearing. Also of note, like me he was also a Confederate descendant. His great-great grandfather was Robert Augustus Toombs (July 2, 1810 - December 15, 1885), the first Confederate States Secretary of State. 

Thank you for the memories and the inspiration, Hot Rod. Your memory and legacy will never be forgotten. I look forward to meeting you in Heaven someday.

RIP Roddy Piper. Thank You For The Memories. God Rest Your Soul.