As President of Virginia Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy, I am requesting that the mural portrait of Robert E. Lee be returned to Richmond's Canal Walk floodwall. As one of the Confederacy's best-known and most revered leaders, General Lee was and continues to be a vital part of both Richmond's history and Virginia's heritage.

Rather than trying to erase this gallant general from its collective memory, the City of Richmond should be proud to claim him as a part of its storied past. Visitors to the city should not be denied the opportunity to learn about one of Virginia's most famous sons and his connections to the Confederacy, the Old Dominion, and the United States of America. Robert E. Lee is an integral part of our shared past as Virginians and as Americans.

As the General himself said, "The gentleman...strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past." Let us cherish his memory.