2nd Letter to reporter concerning Ft. Pulaski News Coverage:

From: Gary Ursrey
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 08:22 AM
To: Shane, Brittany L.

Subject: Ft. Pulaski and WSAV

Ms. Shane,

I watched your interview and the footage from Ft. Pulaski on WSAV. I was hoping for a honest and educational piece on an important event in Georgia history. Sadly, I was disappointed with the inaccuracies in your video article.

First, Ft. Pulaski was taken over by the Georgia Militia and not 'drunk guys from the local tavern'. The Georgia Militia Troops that took control of Ft. Pulaski on that fateful day were well trained, armed citizen soldiers. They were under the direct orders of Georgia Governor Brown.

Secondly, Ft. Pulaski was held by those same Georgia Militia troops for more than 15 months before being forced to surrender by superior Union rifled weapons vs. the forts smooth bore weapons (cannons; different kinds and sizes). That is considerably more time than the three months that was reported. I understand that you did not make the above statements. However, you are the reporter; a professional in this situation and I expected your work to show such professionalism.

I hope you take this as constructive criticism, but a simple call to any number of local historians or perhaps contactjng the Sons of Confederate Veterans (www.scv.org), national, divisional (www.georgiascv.org), or locally. Savannah has several local chapters, known as camps, in the your area. Any of the membership could have given you the correct information or directed you to someone who could, and saved everyone from embarrassment.

Also, Ft. Pulaski was the prison for 600 Confederate officers that were used as human shields by the Union during the War Between the States. Several of those men are buried outside of Ft. Pulaski and the National Park Service will not allow a marker or headstone to mark the site of these mens' final resting place. In fact, automobiles can park on top of these men's graves; where did you park your WSAV van??

I ask you to make the corrections and inform the public of the true history. Too many times the truth is left out, and the public remains ignorant and/or misinformed. It is the mark of a true and exceptional reporter that will correct any misinformation and keep the general public informed of the truth, at any cost.


Gary Ursrey
Moultrie, GA

In response to a letter from Lt. Commander, South - Gary Ursrey the video was pulled from their website:

Subject: Re: Ft. Pulaski and WSAV
To: Gary Ursrey
Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011, 10:47 AM

Thank you very much for your email, I want to apologize for my irresponsibility. I realize that even though I asked that gentleman what he had learned, that in fact he had things mixed up. I have since removed the video, and changed the web article to exclude his comments. I apologize and assure you that it will not happen again, and it is not an issue I take lightly.

Sincerely,

Brittany Shane