My day started very early... Yesterday ended very late. My mind has been filled with thoughts of past service, present service and ??? future service.
Unless you have been there it is difficult to know how the heart of any person feels. If you have been or are there you might already know. I have within me a deep care and concern for the spiritual, physical and emotional welfare of all people, but most especially Peace Keepers... It fills me and creates an intensity of mind and spirit that others call serious, intense or stern... At exactly the same moment I am ecstatically happy and jubilant over the fact that I have peace and health and am able to function well knowing that I am secure in the God with whom I work as my Commander-In-Chief. My Eternal Captain has purchased my security and welfare and given it to me as a gift in which I can live as I do all the many things that are assigned to me.
This morning my heart is torn... My ill, disabled, adult, daughter who lives with me is home from the hospital and in need of much care. I must give medical assistance to her with the wound and with extra IV infusion added to the previous IV infusions that are still continuing. She is on a wound vac. She is weak and unsteady so I am also chief cook, waiter, go-fer, laundry man and dish washer... Because of these duties I had to miss a meeting of my chaplain personnel for breakfast, fellowship and training... And I must also miss the Celebration of Life Service for one of our retired police supervisors that lost his battle with cancer this week. So this morning my heart is grieved and it is glad... Grieved because I cannot go and render respect and condolences to a member that I knew and respected greatly and support his family in this hour of grief... Glad because my daughter is home from two weeks of hospitalization, surgery and pain so that I can minister to her needs as she recovers her peace and rest at home in her own bed.
This morning I viewed the return of Sergeant John C. Beale's remains from the battlefield to Peachtree City, Ga. It was amazing, exhilarating and heart breaking to view all of the law enforcement officers at attention and saluting, fire fighters and their apparatus, emergency medical personnel, uniformed soldiers and civilians of all ages lining those many miles of the route they traveled to carry his remains on the last leg of the trip from Atlanta to his home. Such honor and respect for a fallen Peace Keeper is both heartwarming and emotionally moving... Our Nation's flag was proudly and honorably displayed in every size from small to huge... Plus banners that had been made to display in words and symbols their honor for the fallen Peace Keeper. The tears streamed freely as I watched the whole journey unfold. One especially heart moving group was a group of biker veterans standing at attention and rendering the salute of honors as the procession passed by them. Our citizens all ought to feel that way about our Peace Keepers but it ought to be shown daily and not just when we are rendering last honors to one who has fallen in battle.
My dreams lately have been reviewing and reliving some of the incidents of my past service. In the daytime I find myself daydreaming about the experiences. I long to be on the field again as traffic safety officer or duty chaplain but I have no indication that it will happen soon. I have recently had two short spurts of time that allowed me to get to important functions and ceremonies but those times were short-lived. I miss the officers, the beat duty, the camaraderie, the interaction with officers and civilians. I miss the calls and the ministry to those in need and I daily have to adjust myself to the present reality... My daughter's recovery is the top priority and I must give that my best effort until that demand is met. I was a father to her before I was either a Peace Keeper or a Chaplain for everyone else...
But on this point the battle rages sometimes...It is hard for one who has been on the field to bring his mind to home and loved ones and keep it there. Many Peace Keepers have a tremendous battle with this and it is so difficult for family and loved ones to understand what the problem is. We need to learn to make this adjustment every time we come home but we are not all successful with it. One who has been there feels like the war against evil will not go well if they cannot be in their place. Even the Peace Keeper might not understand what the stress is all about.
I remember it all too well coming from time to time throughout my career... When out ill... When on vacation... When family is sick... It struck me with an especially hard blow when age mandated that I must accept retirement when I was able to serve and still wanted to serve... It was some atoning consolation that I was requested to continue to serve in the capacity of Chaplain Administrator for the department chaplain program. Writing these weekly messages has kept me alert and functioning well when other things do not seem to help during all of these months at home caring for my daughter. Forty seven years of knowledge and experience do not placate that longing. In fact all the experience and knowledge seem to make it more demanding. It gives me an extra need to pray every day for Father's provision for both myself and for all Peace Keepers and their families and loved ones.
I try and pour my heart, my experience and my knowledge out to you in hopes that you can and will find something you need or something you can use. With the state of our world today... With a population of about 305,000,000 in the U.S., we all need all the help and resources that we can get in order to get the job done and keep evil at bay.
There's over 800,000 Peace Keepers in the homeland involved with trying to keep the peace. In 2008, 41 were intentionally killed, 35 of those by being shot... 6 were killed in ambush... 4 were shot with their own weapons. We must be ambassadors to the friendly and needy... We must be swift, professional and stern with the violent perpetrator... We must continue to strive to find the balance, even when there is no balance, in what we must deal with every day of duty. Thank you for the dedication and sacrifice you have given for all of us here at home. I know the cost. You have given eternal contribution to the preservation and continuance of the Liberty upon which our nation is built.
Now that we have turned internal security over to the Iraqis in Iraq, there has arisen disputes over how U.S. soldiers respond to attacks against them as they pass through the cities and towns. Security could very well become a misnomer in relation to Iraq very soon if not already. For those of you in Afghanistan and Iraq... It is with the deepest of appreciation that I say, "Thank you for being there, some of you more than three times, and doing all that you have done to keep the peace for those who could not help themselves." "THANK YOU" is never nearly enough but it is the most concise manner in which I can say it in English!
That same deep appreciation extends to all Peace Keepers wherever else you might be today. There would be no world as we know in right now if it were not for all Peace Keepers and your predecessors doing all that could be done to keep and restore the peace to our world, you are the building blocks and the mortar that holds this Constitutional Representative Republic together, alive and able to function. I am deeply proud to call all Peace Keepers, Compadre (People of the same heart).
"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.
I have finished my research in relation to my daughter's medical problem. I am satisfied that I have found it. The Infectious Disease doctor says no, but to discuss it with the surgeon which I will do on Monday when we see him. My thanks to all who have tried to help steer me in the right direction and help me find resources. May the one in charge of blessings heap His blessings upon you all. The battle continues but there will be a good concluding victory... God helping me, I will continue until there is! Thank you for your prayers.
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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