State Sen. Butler opposes defunding Confederate Memorial Park — ‘I quickly think of Normandy … I’d hate to think that people in France would want to remove that cemetery’

Last week, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) called allocating state monies for the Confederate Memorial Park near Marbury in Chilton County “not appropriate” and called the park “something that brings a lot of pain back to Alabamians.”

The park includes two cemeteries where roughly 300 Confederate veterans are buried, which according to State Sen. Tom Butler (R-Madison) is justification not to cease state funding for the park.

During an interview with Huntsville radio’s WVNN on Monday, Butler explained his opposition to Daniels’ call. He pointed out there were American soldiers buried overseas and wondered what the reaction might be if the nations where those remains are located decided to remove them from their lands.

“One thing that did concern me was one of my colleagues here — the House minority leader — wants to do away with the Confederate veterans’ cemetery that is down in Chilton County near Clanton,” Butler said. “It does receive some state funding to maintain that cemetery. I would disagree that needs to go away. We’ve got American soldiers buried overseas. I quickly think of Normandy. I’ve been to Normandy, and I’ve seen the American cemetery there. We’ve got soldiers over there, and I’d hate to think that people in France would want to remove that cemetery.”

“And I’m reminded that a few years ago, the U.S. Congress passed an act that essentially made the Confederate veterans U.S. veterans,” he continued. “And we should preserve those cemetery plots as they are right now and know those people were in the military, and Confederacy, obviously. Those are bodies that are not concrete statues, and obviously, you want to maintain that cemetery where those folks are interred.”

According to a report from AL.com’s Mike Cason, the Alabama Historical Commission receives about $600,000 a year to maintain the park. However, Butler estimates the number to be closer to $400,000.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.