It was during this period that Byrd – supposedly by then an EX-Klansman – was advising Grand Imperial Wizard Samuel Green on whom to appoint to important posts in the hierarchy of the hate group. In a letter to Green, Byrd urged, "the Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the Union."

A year later in 1948, Byrd opposed President Truman’s initiative to integrate the Armed Forces – and he did so using the language of a very much active Klansman.

The powerful Senate Democrat vowed then that he would "never submit to fight beneath that banner (the American flag) with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds."

"If Byrd said he thought the Klan’s main job was fighting communism, he’s either not being honest about why he joined – or he was a Klansman a lot longer than he now wants to admit," said the World War II vet.

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