Another busy week... We are already into the 2nd week of June. Yesterday I was privileged to give the invocation and benediction at a most unusual but much appreciated event. It was an Annual Awards Ceremony where officers and other local citizens have been recommended to receive certain medals, awards and recognition for actions above and beyond those actions usually expected.
I listened to the actions of 36 Police Officers, 10 military personnel and 16 citizens... 62 people who did things so far beyond the expected activity that other people recognized that they should receive special recognition for their actions. Thirty four of those awards were for Life Saving. Six were for citizens coming to the aid of police officers as the officers were conducting their duties and were obviously in need of physical assistance.
I saw and heard the Spirit of America in action. Two awards were for an undercover officer of my department who was shot and killed in the line of duty last year. Every account was a riveting story of observation and action that is far more than is ordinarily expected of our personnel and our citizens.
Much is said about the imperiling of the USA by the current actions and events of our times. I wish my whole nation and every citizen could see and hear what I saw and heard yesterday... And what I see every time I work with Peace Keepers or perform my own duties alone. Peace Keepers and some of our citizens who have no immediate connection to keeping the peace are extraordinary people whom I call Peace Makers. When they are faced with a challenge - they act. The do what they can until the job is finished or until help arrives that is more capable of handling the need. Even then, they make sure it is all being handled before they leave.
The living Spirit of America is far from dead or dying. It is alive and well in my city of over 450,000 citizens that swells to millions on some summer holiday weekends. I get many news sources and hear from many who are concerned about the current state of affairs in our nation. It may appear to be very bad... It may sound so very threatening... But it is not a new thing to the country, it is just a new thing to us of the current citizenry.
I have studied history. I have delved into the state of affairs at different times. I remember conversations of my parents when my father would get laid off from his railroad job in slow times. I was raised in what is now called poverty but I did not know my life was very much different from the children with whom I attended school... Nor from the children who grew up in the same small rural village. We just did not have a lot of money and we had to work to get what we wanted. Sometimes we had to work for a long, long time. In my teens I walked or hitch-hiked where I wanted to go. I worked for the local farmer when he had something he needed help with. I have tossed hay and straw, harvested corn, shoveled grain and hauled rocks from the fields. Our source of water was a well where I had to draw the water up with a bucket and chain hand over hand and then carry it inside the house. I sawed and carried wood for the cook stove and carried coal for the heater... Sometimes I had to break up the coal with a sledge hammer because broken coal was not available. Work was part of life everyday. Some days the work was harder or more of it than other days but no day was free of work. I had one pair of shoes for summer, one pair for winter... Two pairs of dungarees, one for school and one for play/work. I bathed in an enameled wash pan with a washcloth or in the tub of rinse water after the weekly washing was finished... But then some of the people I work with say I am older than dirt.
The Spirit of America runs in my veins. I came from a long line of ancestors who fought for freedom and liberty in their countries of origin and here. I am part of the great number of Public Safety workers and Peace Keepers. When I work and when I am in the presence of or talking with any of any of this great number I see hope... I see life being preserved... I see life being provided for and continuing. I see a spirit in these people that will not be deterred from their course and their efforts to make/keep peace and preserve life.
While it may be that this great number of people are a minority compared with all of the people in this country, we will not be overcome and allow this way of life handed down to us to go away and disappear. Whenever this great nation has needed the help of it's people in order to survive and go on, the people have responded with great effort and energy. If we must we can and will do it again. Life is that simple for those of us who care for and about this great nation. Age does not matter in many cases. I just read about a man whose law enforcement career covered a VERY LONG PERIOD... "NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – The oldest active duty police officer in the United States, who battled the Nazis on the beaches of Normandy and the chaos which ravaged New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, has died at the age of 84. Sergeant Major Manuel Curry served with the New Orleans Police Department for more than 63 years until he became ill several weeks ago. "He'll be buried as a hero," said William Trepagnier, a 44-year NOPD veteran who was among the generations of officers mentored by Curry. Policing was Curry's life. New Orleans his only home..." Such are the people upon whom the foundations of this great nation rest. They are the raw material that holds it all together!!!
I know that most of the readers of this message will be Peace Keepers but some will be Peace Makers. I also know that we would have nothing in this great nation if it were not for these Peace Keepers and Peace Makers. I have been both an observer of life and a participator in life for all of my years. I watch the actions. I note the results. I learn from what I see and hear. When I learn well it works well. When I do not apply what I have learned until I am in a problem, I have experienced one more time the truth that he who does not learn by hearing and seeing has to learn by feeling. To you who are concerned with making, keeping, and maintaining peace, I send the love and appreciation of both my Commander-In-Chief and myself. We will be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF YOUR DEDICATION AND EFFORTS! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU TODAY AND FOREVER!!!
"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!" ALWAYS be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary. Take the very best care of you as you care for and about others. See to the strength and well being of your spirit as well as all the rest of you. Your spirit must be strong for you to be successful.
Call or write if I may be of any service... Or if you just want to encourage me... Feedback encourages all who write... It helps to know we are reaching someone who reads the message.
This week has been difficult for my daughter, Donna. We saw the surgeon on Monday, had surgery on Tuesday and brought her home Thursday. When I examined the wound it is now ten inches long, very deep on the right end, about three inches wide on the right end and has several trouble spots that need special attention. She is in great pain and is under the care of a Pain Management Specialist. Life is now more demanding for both of us, especially after that period of time when she was doing so well and I was able to handle some outside assignments. Now I am locked down here again or must get a sitter when I must leave her here. The germ that caused the last eruption has not been identified but we have the promise of the Infectious Disease doctor that he will keep looking until he discovers what it is. It does not react to any known tests for source so we may find an entirely new one this time when we do find out what it is. Thank you for your continued prayers. This too shall pass!!!
As it has always been... So it still is!!!
"VICTORIOUS WARRIORS WIN FIRST...
AND THEN GO TO WAR,
WHILE DEFEATED WARRIORS GO TO WAR FIRST...
AND THEN SEEK TO WIN." Sun tzu
Training and practice are everything!
Without them, the best results are not obtained!
ONLY LIVE PEACE KEEPERS SEE THE VICTORY!!!
THEY SEE IT ONLY BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE MADE THEIR ETERNAL
PAYMENTS OF SWEAT, BLOOD, TEARS AND LIFE FOR THAT VICTORY!
WITH THE DEEPEST OF APPRECIATION AND RESPECT...
BE BLESSED (A CONDITION TO BE ENVIED)...
BE SUCCESSFUL... BE SAFE...
[My injunction to be safe means doing all you know to do as you do your job... it means
doing the best you can with what you have where you are using all your faculties to get
the job done well and with good results conquering evil and keeping or restoring peace...
it does not mean to avoid duty and honor... it does not mean to cower or allow anything
to hinder you in the process of duty according to rules, law and ethics... it means that if
the demand takes your earthly life you destroy as much evil as possible in the process.
That is my definition of being safe... doing the best you can and leaving the rest to God
or whomever else is responsible... being best employed for the sake and protection of all
the things and people that we hold dear.]
I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
And I rejoice that you are there whether you are Christian or not...
For God, Country and the Peace Keeper...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers,
Surviving Peace Keeper,
Virginia State Police Alumni,
RETIRED Police Officer Virginia Beach Police Dept.,
Senior Chaplain and Chaplain Administrator VBPD,
DCJS Certified Police Instructor,
Community Service Officer (Traffic Safety) VBPD
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
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