What Happened on August 28, 2015 that The Virginia Division is Not Telling us?

On August 28, 2015, the Virginia Division got the answer to Their Appeal over The Veteran's Administration earlier decision to NOT provide Upright Markers at the Confederate Section at Oakwood Cemetery.  They said,"No." AGAIN!  Well that settles that! So why is The Virginia Division sitting on this very important news that SCV members have been waiting on for five years?
Below is part of that notice:

 Department of Veterans Affairs Memorandum
Date August 28, 2015 VAOPGCPREC 3-2015
From: General Counsel (02)
Subj:
Whether Graves of Civil War-Era Soldiers Currently Identified with Marble Stones with To: Numerical Inscriptions Constitute "Unmarked Graves" for Purposes of VA Furnishing a Headstone or Marker Under 38 U.S.C. § 2306
Executive-in-Charge, Board of Veterans' Appeals (01)
QUESTIONS PRESENTED:
1. Is the designated cemetery official a proper applicant for a government-furnished headstone or marker under 38 C.F.R. § 38.632(b)(1 )?
2. Do Civil-War era graves currently identified with marble stones that do not show the names of each soldier constitute "unmarked graves" for purposes of VA furnishing a headstone or marker under 38 U.S.C. § 2306(a)(3)?
3. Do Civil-War era graves currently identified with marble stones that do not show the names of each soldier constitute "unmarked graves" for purposes of VA furnishing a headstone or marker under 38 U.S.C. § 2306(a)(3) if such stones denote the location of more than one soldier?
CONCLUSIONS:
1 . The designated cemetery official may be a proper applicant for a governmentfurnished headstone or marker under 38 C.F.R. § 38.632(b)(1 ).
2. Assuming the facts as stated in this opinion are accurate, Civil-War era graves at Oakwood Cemetery currently identified with marble stones that do not show the names of each soldier but that have identifying numbers that are tracked in a burial ledger are not "unmarked graves" for purposes of VA furnishing a headstone or marker under section 2306(a)(3).   
3. Assuming the facts as stated in this opinion are accurate, Civil-War era graves at Oakwood Cemetery currently identified with marble stones that do not show the names of each soldier but that have identifying numbers that are tracked in a burial ledger are not "unmarked graves" for purposes of VA furnishing a headstone or marker under section 2306(a}(3) even if such stones denote the location of more than one soldier.

These Fine Christian Gentlemen on the Virginia Division's DEC should be more open, don't Ya'll Agree? Maybe Ya'll should call Them and ask, "Why?"

Thanksgiving?

     In the Fall of 1862 after the Great Battles of The Seven Days that saved the Capital from the the Northern Hoarde, citizens back to a "normal" route noticed a horrible sight at Oakwood Confederate Cemetery.

     Many bodies of our sacred dead were lying in the open!  The buzz of the City was to fix this disgrace.  In the end it was due to lack of resources to bury so many Fallen Heroes; so the City made it right.  In the heat of Battle all around them our Fore-Father's thought enough of Their Dead to do the best They could to remedy the situation.  It was Their Brothers, Sons and Fathers lying naked in the Sun.  

     What has happened to us? Where is our outrage?  How can we just blot out of our minds the current disgrace happening in Oakwood Cemetery?

     We have the resources to fix this outrage of dishonoring our Boys buried without markers, but The Oakwood Restoration Committee of The Virginia Division refuses to respond to their charge to place makers, even when 3 are standing ready to be placed, why?  Why during this Thanksgiving Season we still have men refusing to do the right thing with our scared dead?  

Hearing Cricketts at Oakwood Cemetery

Why do we hear nothing from the Virginia Division's Oakwood Restoration Committee? After all the promises that comes out of the Chairman of The Oakwood Restoration Committee, Commander Mike Pullen; the proof is right in front of us. No Action is his response, silence; not even a call or email to acknowledge the THREE Markers ready to be set over the graves of our Soldiers. This is the norm from him. Of course, we have SCV members ready and competent to properly place these markers. So sad these men of The Oakwood Restoration Committtee treat our sacred dead this way....

Answer from Virginia Division SCV to groups trying to get information on Oakwood Cemetery

                                                  Photo @ Chesterfield Flag raising 2013
                                                    Cliff Troutman(1943-2014) Original
                                                    Member of Virginia Flaggers until his
                                                    death. Sergeant Marine Corp.,Combat
                                                    Veteran, Vietnam, SCV Member.
                                               (Apparently, The Resolution included him too.)
                                                       

      After years of trying to get simple answers to Monies spent at Oakwood Confederate Section of Oakwood Cemetery; this is one of the extremes They went through to silence us:

 RESOLUTION: Adopted Unanimously at the June 14, 2015 Executive Council Meeting of the Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans in Williamsburg, Virginia Whereas the Sons of Confederate Veterans is not affiliated with any organization, and Whereas the Constitution of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Article 3.2 regarding Conduct requires that “Members shall at all times conduct themselves as gentlemen so as to bring credit and respect upon the Sons of Confederate Veterans and upon the memory of our Confederate forebears “, and Whereas the Sons of Confederate Veterans is a gentlemen’s organization charged by our forefathers with, among other things, emulating their virtues, and Whereas, except for Jesus Christ himself, the Son of God, no more perfect examples can be found than Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. Jackson, J. E. B. Stuart, et al, whose virtues of gentlemanly character and behavior should be emulated, now, therefore, be it Resolved that on this 14th day of June 2015, the Executive Council of the Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans does hereby condemn the actions of all other organizations purporting to represent Southern History and the Confederate Soldier, including, but not limited to, the Virginia Flaggers and the Army of Northern Virginia Mechanized Cavalry, which, although they may be well intentioned, nevertheless serve to damage the reputation of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and, indeed, the Confederate Veterans themselves. We, therefore, call on the members of those organizations, especially those who are also members of the SCV, to search their hearts, humble themselves, and cease and desist from all false, negative, petty, rude, damaging, and dishonorable public activities and pronouncements. Tracy Clary, Virginia Division Commander 

***What kind of Leadership is this?

New Alert....What is going On at Oakwood Confederate Section Gentlemen, It is with great grieve I inform you of more SCV monies wasted by The Virginia Division's Oakwood Restoration Committee. The Chairman, Mike Pullen has announced spending $50,000 on the Gate(100% owned by the city of Richmond) entering the Confederate Section of Oakwood Cemetery. Despite the fact that this gate has its own monies set aside by The City of Richmond; specifically to make repairs on their Gate. Mike Pullen & his Committee insist on spending our SCV donations to repair this Gate that has nothing to do with our buried soldiers there at Oakwood Cemetery. WHY? Please call the Chairman Pullen and ask him, WHY? jmpullen1234@aol.com, or (757)-538-8717. That money could be used to buy and set Markers for our Honored Dead there, isn't that what we are giving our donation for? Who has given these people the go ahead to spend this hugeamount of Our SCV monies, not Our Virginia Division Constitution! From Pullen's own email: "As with all work done at Oakwood we will follow the guidelines of the Department of Historic Resources. We will also be replacing the entrance gates and pillars which are in danger of falling off their bases. These pillars were built in the early 1900’s and can no longer handle the width of autos or buses of today. The gates, which were installed as a Memorial to the Confederate soldiers, were so badly damaged from autos and buses running into them that they have been removed and are now missing. Again, we have estimates to replicate and replace these Memorial gates... Donation to the Fence and Gate of the Oakwood Cemetery Confederate Section The Oakwood Restoration Committee is currently raising funds to replace the worn and ill-place fence and the damaged pillars and missing Memorial Gates to the Oakwood Cemetery Confederate Section, Richmond, VA. We currently have $50,000 but need to raise another $125,000 to start and complete our project. We appreciate your consideration to contributing to these final capital improvements. Please fill out the information below and return this page to: Ms. Cathy Bowling, 2720 Rettig Road, Richmond, VA 23225 ( 1-804-339-4242)" Gentlemen, more questions to be asked; but one leaps to mind? Who is "Ms Cathy Bowling"? And why is this Non-SCV member dealing with our SCV monies?

Video GPR

Video of the Ground Penetrating Radar at Oakwood Confederate Section:

Our Letter that Started Our Group

Several members of different SCV Camps concerned about problems at Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Va, came together to try and reverse the things happening in the Confederate Section by reaching out and getting personally involved with Virginia Division's Oakwood Restoration Committee(ORC) and the Division Executive Council(DEC) by going to any meetings these groups would allow.  Unfortunate for us, the only meeting we were allowed to observe was the DEC's Quarterly meetings, but we could only speak or ask questions they allowed.

So we were not allowed to attend the secret meetings of the ORC, or ask any "deemed inappropriate" questions at the DEC quarterly meeting.   The corruption is so apparent even at these controlled DEC quarterly meetings.

Example; Division Commander, "Please, give us the report for the ORC."  Chairman, "Things are going according to our plans, blah, blah, blah, etc." Never any specifics were given.  When one of us would ask to ask a question, like; "What is the current donations collected?" or "When are the upright markers coming in?"or "Why isn't the Third National Flag being flown?" So many questions we would try to ask just to get a hint of what they were doing with our monies; but always the same: either vague answers(that usually contradicted their last quarters report), or shouted down by one of the DEC members as inappropriate. 

Time and time again at these DEC quarterly meetings we could never get straight answers, and then the next meeting a different answer than the time before.  Their circle of lies kept spinning.  Finally, those of us who just wanted honest answers decided to appeal to a higher body. The letter below was sent to the SCV National Officers(GEC) & the Army Commanders and Councilmen.  It was meant to get their attention to our problems here.  But it failed completely, Silence from them.  Our only instructions were "To bring it up with the Virginia DEC!" and "Chain of Command" were the words used by CIC Barrow to me on a voice mail.  We had sent the letter also to Division Commander Pullen as well.  Nothing from him either.  Read for yourself our letter:

Friends of Oakwood Cemetery

8/30/14 Findings & Resolution

Whereas The Virginia Division's 'Oakwood Committee', currently chaired by

Commander Mike Pullen, has repeatedly dishonored Our Soldiers by Out

of control spending on boondoggles and white elephant projects,

Whereas Oakwood Committee has no idea of how many burials, or names,

or location plots of Soldiers, or true History of Oakwood Cemetery,

Whereas Oakwood Committee has no public oversight of monies, or actuate

reporting through Va Division DEC publications/meetings, taken in or

spent since July 8, 2012,

Whereas Oakwood Committee is planning on capital spending project on an

entrance gate, solely owned by city of Richmond with monies from

Sons of Confederate Veteran's coffers,

Whereas Oakwood Committee is currently planning on another capital

spending project in the hundreds of thousands dollars on a totally

unnecessary fence, part of which is built on top of Soldier's graves,

Whereas Oakwood Committee has constantly lied to Friends of Oakwood

Cemetery about cost of capital projects, placement of Gazebo, fund

-raising projects, agreements with City of Richmond and Virginia Dept.

of Historical Research,

Whereas there are too many more misjudgments of Oakwood Committee to

continue to list here in these findings,

Therefore The Friends of Oakwood Cemetery demand an immediate stop to

any further capital spending at Oakwood Cemetery, by this Oakwood

Committee

And Further an immediate Third Party audit of money ledgers of Oakwood

Committee,

And Further an immediate new committee convened, made up of Friends of

Oakwood Cemetery and Oakwood Committee to settle upon a Blueprint

of plans to complete Va Division's Charge in The Va Division's

Constitution to the Oakwood Committee, because none currently exist.

And Further a non-action, or no immediate response to this grave matter will

force Friends of Oakwood to carry this matter outside the Sons of

Confederate Veterans Leadership to the entire organization through the

Camps. We would prefer to settle this in house between the recipients of

this letter and video.

Do To Current Outrage of The Virginia DEC's Oakwood Restoration Cmte, we are behind in posting articles. Soon we will.

How Out of Control Spending is Dishonoring Our Confederate Dead Buried Here.

Type your copy here.