By Public Law 85-425, May 23, 1958 (H.R. 358) 72 Statute 133 states – “(3) (e) for the purpose of this section, and section 433, the term ‘veteran’ includes a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, and the term ‘active, military or naval service’ includes active service in such forces.”

As a result of this law the last surviving Confederate Veteran received a U.S. Military pension until his death in 1959, and from that day until present, descendants of Confederate veterans have been able to receive military monuments to place on graves from the Veteran’s Administration for their ancestors. A Confederate Veteran should therefore be treated with the same honor and dignity of any other American veteran. 

source: http://drx.typepad.com/psychotherapyblog/2009/11/veterans-1938.html

 

Civil War Veteran, Pennsylvania, 1935, To have had a seat at the foot of this man…

The Civil War proved divisive long after the last drop of blood was shed. By 1890 all of the northern states celebrated the holiday at the end of May, but southerners honored their dead on different dates until after World War I—when the holiday lost its connection to Civil War soldiers only and became a way to honor all military lives lost.

The Civil War veteran above wears the cap of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)—the largest Union veterans’ organization—founded in 1866. The number on his cap signals that his post was 139, located in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

This prize-winning amateur photograph from the 1935 Newspaper National Snapshot Awards was taken by Mrs. Nathan Klein of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. The note on the back reads: “Old soldier talking to bootblacks.”

Credit to —Johnna Rizzo

From The Civil War Parlor

Source National Geographic

 

 

When the Purple Heart was reauthorized in 1932, the award was made retroactive for an living U.S. veteran that had been wounded in battle. There were still a number of Union veterans alive in 1932, and over the next few years a number of them that had been wounded did indeed apply for and receive the Purple Heart. The photo is N. Benton Yackey proudly wearing his GAR medal and his purple heart. Yackey served in the 2nd Missouri Cavalry (U.S.) and was wounded in a skirmish near Memphis, Missouri, in August 1862.

From Civil War Talk

 

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Captain Montgomery G. Cooper and Union Civil War Vets

 

For many veterans, their participation in the Civil War was the most important period of their lives. As they aged, many joined veterans’ organizations, where they could meet with old friends and share memories of their service. The two main veterans’ organizations were the United Confederate Veterans (U.C.V.) for southern veterans, and the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) for veterans of the Union army. Annual reunions and parades were among the popular events held by these groups, who were active mainly between the 1890s and 1920s.

This December 1877 column from the National Tribune, a veterans’ publication, illustrates the troubling perception of memories fading – not the memories of those who fought and bled for Union, but those of the citizenry in general:

The events of the war, and the men of the war, are fast fading from the public attention. Its history is growing to be an “Old, Old Story.” Public interest is weakening day by day. The memory of march, and camp, and battle-field, of the long and manly endurance, of the superb and uncomplaining courage, of the mass of sacrifice that redeemed the Nation, is fast dying out. Those who rejoice in the liberty and peace secured by the soldier’s suffering and privation, accept the benefits, but deny or forget the benefactor.

Reflections such as these were typical; veterans seized the initiative and launched a number of campaigns to ensure that what they saw happening was corrected. Sources: Cosmic America and the National Tribune,http://www.museumoffloridahistory.com/exhibits/permanent/civilwar/20.cfm

From The Civil War Parlor on Tumblr

Juanita Tudor Lowrey received government benefits tied to her father, a Civil War veteran. (Charlie Riedel/AP)

By Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow 

A surprising report shows that nearly 150 years after the Civil War's conclusion, the U.S. government is still paying relatives of veterans.

There are only two recipients of Civil War benefits, both children of veterans and receiving $876 per year.

Although their names are being kept private, the AP estimates that they were both born between 1920 and 1930, meaning their parents were themselves upward of 80 when their children were born.

Juanita Tudor Lowrey, 86, received Civil War benefits tied to her late father from the age of 2 until her 18^th birthday.

Read the full article at Yahoo! News

 

A reader sent in this photo of a flag. He believes it was given to his Great Grandfather at a Confederate Veteran's reunion. The flag is machine sewn so it could not have been a battle flag, but it is typical of the hand made mementos of the time. 

Read more about the 34th Georgia:  usgawar and gagenweb

Under current U.S. Federal Code, Confederate Veterans are equivalent to Union Veterans.

U.S. Code Title 38 – Veterans’ Benefits, Part II – General Benefits, Chapter 15 – Pension for Non-Service-Connected Disability or Death or for Service, Subchapter I – General, § 1501. Definitions: (3) The term “Civil War veteran” includes a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, and the term “active military or naval service” includes active service in those forces.

 Photo taken May 26, 2012 at the Mound City National Cemetery, Mound City Illinois. 

From Ken Burns' epic mini series. 

"Seeing these old soldiers and imagining what horrors they had lived through, and seeing them make the extraordinary effort to attend and shake hands with men who had once been their mortal enemies, make one forget for a few moments the stresses of today. "   From National Parks Traveler