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Government Spending Millions To Guard Confederate Cemeteries

Confederate flags fly over the graves of Confederate soldiers buried in Magnolia Cemetery

As the movement to remove Confederate statues across the United States continues to grow, the Department of Veteran Affairs has been spending millions of dollars to ensure that protesters do not disturb the remains of buried Confederate soldiers

The Department of Veteran Affairs has hired round-the-clock security at eight cemeteries across the country, spending over three million dollars since August 2017. The agency has budgeted another $1.6 million to keep the cemeteries secured in 2019. Most of the cemeteries are in the North, where many soldiers who died in captivity during the Civil War were laid to rest. 

Jessica Schiefer, the spokeswoman for the VA’s National Cemetery Administration, explained that private security was necessary “to ensure the safety of staff, property and visitors paying respect to those interred.” 

She pointed out that the agency "has a responsibility to protect the federal property it administers and will continue to monitor and assess the need for enhanced security going forward.”

The enhanced security appears to be working as there has not been a single instance of vandalism at any of the eight cemeteries. 

Photo: Getty Images


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