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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that “The Reconciliation Monument,” a Confederate memorial, will be returning to Arlington National Cemetery.
“I’m proud to announce that Moses Ezekiel’s beautiful and historic sculpture — often referred to as “The Reconciliation Monument” — will be rightfully returned to Arlington National Cemetery near his burial site,” Hegseth wrote on X.
The Reconciliation Monument, a Confederate Memorial, at Arlington National Cemetery is photographed on Aug. 17, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia. The monument is being moved back to the cemetery after it was removed during the Biden administration. (Calla Kessler/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The monument was removed in 2023 amid moves by the Pentagon to remove statues and rename military installations honoring Confederate figures and moved into a Defense Department storage facility in Virginia.
“It never should have been taken down by woke lemmings. Unlike the Left, we don’t believe in erasing American history—we honor it,” Hegseth said.
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Soldier pays respects at Arlington National Cemetery. (Vera Mandel via Shield Communications)
At the time the monument was removed, GOP lawmakers said it does not honor the Confederacy, but instead, commemorates reconciliation and national unity.
The memorial was unveiled in 1914 by then-President Woodrow Wilson, after being commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Congress had authorized the reinternment of Confederate remains to Arlington National Cemetery just 14 years prior.
Ezekiel was a Jewish American sculptor who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. After the war, General Robert E. Lee encouraged him to become a sculptor, and he attended the Virginia Military College and studied anatomy, according to the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
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He is also buried with honors at Arlington.
