{"id":15197,"date":"2020-07-02T16:20:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T16:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/07\/02\/neller-regrets-failure-to-ban-confederate-battle-flag-during-his-time-as-commandant\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:37:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:37:29","slug":"neller-regrets-failure-to-ban-confederate-battle-flag-during-his-time-as-commandant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/recruiting\/2020\/07\/02\/neller-regrets-failure-to-ban-confederate-battle-flag-during-his-time-as-commandant\/","title":{"rendered":"Neller regrets failure to ban Confederate battle flag during his time as commandant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The previous Commandant of the Marine Corps, retired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/05\/14\/outgoing-commandant-reflects-on-marine-corps-identity-exceptional-ground-combat-marines\/\" target=_blank>Gen. Robert Neller<\/a>, said that his failure to ban the Confederate flag while he was the top Marine was one he will regret for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The article, posted on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/confederate-flag-taking-stand-robert-b-neller\/\" target=_blank> LinkedIn<\/a> on Sunday, is the third post in June by the former commandant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first called on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/06\/04\/neller-latest-military-notable-to-address-racism-in-the-us-things-will-not-go-backwards-in-this-country\/\" target=_blank>nation\u2019s leaders to address racism in the U.S<\/a>., while the second re-imagined policing in America in the wake of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/2020\/06\/03\/army-navy-leaders-latest-to-speak-out-about-racism-in-wake-of-george-floyds-death-in-police-custody\/\" target=_blank>George Floyd\u2019s death<\/a> by a Minneapolis police officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/06\/30\/i-cant-breathe-this-is-the-marine-who-protested-outside-the-utah-capitol-in-uniform-for-racial-equality\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20158062419031.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">\u2018I can\u2019t breathe\u2019: This is the Marine who protested outside the Utah Capitol in uniform for racial equality<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">With George Floyd\u2019s last words \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d emblazoned on black tape covering his mouth, Winn stood in his dress blues outside the Utah Capitol for three hours, despite the nearly 100 degree Fahrenheit heat that melted his shoes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Neller\u2019s latest letter on the social media site called on Americans to examine why they feel the need to display the \u201cdivisive\u201d flag, especially while serving in America\u2019s military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Confederacy fought with \u201ccourage and tactical skill,\u201d Neller wrote, but what it fought for was slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe stars and bars. It represents a group of states that seceded from our Union in order to preserve the institution of slavery,\u201d Neller wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNot to protect states\u2019 rights or an economically based culture of a different region and its\u2019 people, but quite simply the right to own another human being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier in June, current Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger issued an order<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/06\/06\/marine-corps-bars-public-display-of-confederate-flag-on-installations\/\" target=_blank> banning the public display of the Confederate battle flag<\/a> on Marine Corps installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Army is currently debating if it should<a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2020\/06\/08\/army-secretary-is-now-open-renaming-posts-named-for-confederate-generals\/\" target=_blank> rename bases named after Confederate generals. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former commandant said he considered banning the public display of the flag during his time as the top Marine, but failed to do so for reasons he did not describe in the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI failed to take this stand the reasons for which is another story but in reality, I failed,\u201d Neller wrote. \u201cI will regret that failure to act for as long as I live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor those Americans not serving in the military who persist in flying this flag for whatever misguided reason, I will continue to support your right to do so on your property,\u201d Neller said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut do not expect me to see you for anything else but someone who still supports the bondage and oppression of another human being who does not look like you,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jf9WrL13jS8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen title=\"Commandant Wants to Remove all \"Confederate-related Paraphernalia\" | Newsbreak\"><\/iframe>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I will regret that failure to act for as long as I live.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":34195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["news","your-military","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[101,68,12,25,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3097],"class_list":["post-15197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-recruiting","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UAS3L2H36RFARA7TATRNLOPYOU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/recruiting\/2020\/07\/02\/neller-regrets-failure-to-ban-confederate-battle-flag-during-his-time-as-commandant\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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