During a Sunday memorial service, members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ Nathan Bedford Forrest Camp 469 remembered those who fought with gun and cannon fire.

“These soldiers — mostly young men — walked away from their homes and their families to die by the thousands,” said keynote speaker Mike Ragland, former camp commander. “That’s what got me here — their sacrifices.”

Ragland encouraged listeners to “do their research” because “the war was not about slavery. ... Most of them didn’t have money and they didn’t own slaves. Their opinion was that the Union army would burn their homes, kill their stock and rape their women. To them, they were defending what was theirs.”

Camp Commander Hugh Durden said the War Between the States was not a civil war, but a second American Revolution. “It was about governing themselves and having their own country,” he said. “It wasn’t a civil war, because at that time the South was a republic in its own.”

The service — the 101st for the group — is intended to preserve the memory and history of Rome’s connection to the Civil War, said SCV 1st Lt. Tommy Smith. “We’re here to keep alive the soldiers’ memory so future generations will not forget. Many died in the hospitals in Rome during that time,” he said.

For Alberta, Canada, native Cailey Fowler, the memorial was inspirational. “It’s old-fashioned and a whole different world from modern life,” she said. “In Canada, honoring war veterans was instilled in me at a young age, so this appeals to me.”

Sunday wasn’t the last that Romans will hear of the Sons of Confederate Veterans this week. At 7 p.m. Saturday, they will hold a Confederate Ball at the Civic Center on Chieftain Drive, with the Eighth Regiment Band supplying the music. Attendees are encouraged to wear 1860s period attire — military or civilian — or “their Sunday best,” Durden said. Tickets are $30 per couple or $20 per person. He said proceeds from the ball will go “to fight cancer.”