TO AND FOR PEACE KEEPERS OF THE MILITARY AND ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AT ALL LEVELS AND ALL OF THOSE IN THEIR SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND ALL WHO CARE ABOUT THEM AND THEIR WELFARE.
CHAPLAIN CORNER IS DEDICATED TO ALL PEACE KEEPERS, CURRENT AND RETIRED, THOSE LIVING NOW... AND THOSE WHO HAVE PRECEDED US AND PASSED ON FROM THIS EARTHLY SCENE. MY TERM PEACE KEEPER COVERS ALL SECURITY, JAIL AND PRISON ATTENDANTS WHATEVER THE TITLE; LAW ENFORCEMENT AT ALL LEVELS INCLUDING JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS; MILITARY IN WHATEVER BRANCH; AND THE SUPPORT SYSTEM PERSONNEL FOR ALL CATEGORIES IN WHATEVER COUNTRY OF THIS WORLD YOU HAPPEN TO BE INCLUDING SECURITY CONTRACTORS. YOU ARE VITAL TO OUR WORLD AND MY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND I CARE GREATLY FOR AND ABOUT YOU. YOU ARE THE MINISTERS OF RIGHTNESS IN THIS WORLD...AND THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT COULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT YOU!!!
IN ADDITION IT IS FOR THE PEACE MAKERS OF THIS WORLD. SOMETIMES THESE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE AS PEACE KEEPERS... SOMETIMES THEY ARE NOT... BUT PEACE MAKERS ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AND NECESSARY AS ARE PEACE KEEPERS NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT.
PRAYERS ARE SAID DAILY FOR ALL WHO HAVE REQUESTED MY PRAYERS...FOR ALL FOR WHOM I HAVE PROMISED TO PRAY... FOR ALL FOR WHOM I HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO PRAY... FOR PEACE KEEPERS... FOR FIREFIGHTERS...
FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL PERSONNEL... DOCTORS... NURSES... TEACHERS... COUNSELORS... AND ALL OF THE PEOPLE ENGAGED IN THE TRANSPORTATION
OF THE GOODS WHICH WE NEED IN ORDER TO LIVE AND BATTLE THE EVIL IN
THIS WORLD... FOR ALL OF THOSE WHO MAKE UP THE SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR
ALL OF THESE AND ALL OF THE FAMILIES AND ALL OF THE LOVED ONES OF
ALL OF THESE PEOPLE... FOR LEADERS OF THE WORLD... LEADERS OF THE CHURCH... AND FOR SPECIFIC PEOPLE THAT HAVE SPECIFIC NEEDS...PLUS YOU ARE INCLUDED IF YOU ARE READING THIS MATERIAL.
FROM THEN TO NOW AND WHY
As my thoughts dwell upon you and these messages that I write, a thought comes to mind... Why are you doing this writing? That thought takes me back to 1962 when I was being trained in the Virginia State Police Basic School. Something took hold inside me there that has been constant since then. That something was to make a difference in this world in the lives of people. The idea actually formulated before I was hired and after I was in the application and testing process. I said it in words to my grandmother, "This grandson is going to amount to something. I am going to make a difference in this world." I knew it inside me and I believed it.
Looking back to then over these 47 years I see the brashness and the invincibility of youth stating what it believes will be. It doses not matter that no one else knows it nor if no one else believes it... It will be! That is the same brashness as an inventor saying he is going to build something that will do a certain job. DaVinci and Michaelangelo both saw possibilities for machines that came into being generations later but were just as real in the minds of the dreamer, inventors as if they were sitting there in front of them. I saw the goal... It burned inside me... It impelled me forward.
In Basic School it gelled into idea of being a Trainer... One who trains others can multiply the affect of success many times over. I saw that as reality long before I received my first field assignment... Go to work... Learn well... Come back to the School as a Trainer and turn out more good Troopers who would make life safer on our highways for many more people. That was my dream. It took a while but I was finally back there training them in the '80's.
First I had to gain knowledge and then gain experience. I set to work immediately to achieve the goal of being the best Trooper that I could be. I gained five years of lessons and experience... Some were not so hard... Some were very, very hard.
Then I had to receive other training and be placed here as an officer/chaplain before the most strenuous part of the preparation for being a trainer began... Two more Basic Academies, one by choice and one by necessity... Several Specialized Schools... Numerous Training Conferences... Becoming a Certified Instructor...
Being assigned to actually give training to recruits and in-service schools... Becoming a Contract Instructor... And being hired to instruct Virginia State Police recruits and other personnel in Basic Schools and Specialized Schools plus gaining all the education I could in the realm of spirituality as well as peace keeping.
In 1988 and to a larger extent in 1989 we had a major problem with destructive people on our resort strip during Labor Day weekend. In 1990 I was called in to meet with the 2nd Precinct Commander (which covers the resort strip). He laid out a new idea that the department wanted to use to combat problem people situations. It involved using chaplains trained in handling problem people, and walking patrol with police officers. They had observed such a program in Daytona Beach, Florida. I was given the information in early May. I was expected to have it all up and in use by Labor Day weekend of 1990.
The details would be too long and tedious but by miraculous events, the formulation meetings , training meetings and on the job training was accomplished with the first group by the end of June and with several more groups by the end of August. During the first night of the new chaplains on the street we had an event that powerfully displayed the usefulness of a trained chaplain entering into a volatile situation and defusing it without any violence. The police personnel said that was a fluke... It could not happen again... But it happened the very next weekend when the same chaplain
was called to a hot situation and he entered into it and defused it without violence just as effectively as had happened the previous weekend. The chaplains had proven their usefulness and effectiveness and the same results continued all summer.
During Labor Day weekend the crowds were so large that vehicle traffic had to be removed from the main street on the strip. The chaplains were assigned in pairs on walking patrol and were given the responsibility of keeping the peace and resolving people conflicts... Pick out the hot person and calm them and the situation. With ten pairs of chaplains per shift and a Chaplain Supervisor, the weekend went well and their actions were a great success. All police personnel who witnessed their actions were very pleasantly surprised at how well the new idea worked.
Chaplains were even trained to form a pocket of protection around any officers that had to handle any problems and the chaplains stayed in place with their backs to the officers and facing the crowds until the officers finished the job and moved on. I was assigned the task to make it work and by the Grace of my Commander-In-Chief it worked so very well. He sent to me the right people at just the right times. The assistance of chaplains with police has continued through every summer and many special assignments right up to the present time. We had 41 chaplains covering 2 shifts that first Labor Day holiday that we worked. Our numbers have decreased to as low as 15 at times. Currently we are at 28 and we are still working. My current assignment is Administrator of the program to oversee the day-to-day operation and workings of the program. Myself and all of the chaplains in our police department are volunteers.
>From the dream of becoming a Trainer in 1962 until today I have been deeply involved in training police officers in several departments, training civilian personnel in several departments, training Marines and Navy personnel, training Disciples, Evangelists and Preachers in Christianity in many, many places and in training over 100 chaplains for our own program... Dream fulfilled by the Grace of my Commander-In-Chief and a lot of duty on my part., I just cooperated! It has been an adventure that could not be bought and a most enjoyable, worthwhile Journey.
Today my goal is still to impart some knowledge to anyone that I can that will make their job or their life more successful. I know as a child being reared in backwoods poverty that some day I would be doing something that would make a difference to someone besides myself... The joy of it is that I am not finished yet!
So if you happen to read something that I have written and you have seen or heard it before, please be aware that I am a student of the school that teaches that repetition is the major tool of teaching anything. Habits, good and bad, are developed by repetition. Knowledge becomes useful by repetition... Reading and applying it until you can retain it, repeat it and apply it!!! Therefore, as long as I have opportunity, I will sit at this keyboard and pound out what is given to me as a result of prayer and inspiration allowing whatever knowledge I have to flow out to anyone who might be attracted to it and put it to use. There must always be a goal in front of you that you are committed to reaching. Something for you that makes your life worthwhile. If I can dream it, formulate it, act upon it and achieve it, any one can!!!
My spiritual assignment is Peace Keepers wherever I may be able to reach them by voice or written word. My Commander-In-Chief has called me to this and as long as I have an outlet and the ability to read, speak and think I will continue to try and be of useful service to any Peace Keeper who hears or sees these messages and takes the time to absorb their meanings. Thank you for lending to me your eyes, ears and minds as I extend my care, concern, respect and love for you, to you, in the effort to give you the opportunity for an improvement in your life in some manner. I am called and appointed to this. For now you are my Parish and my Charge.
Peace Keepers, THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE!!! Daily I consider the enormity of your contribution to the quality of life in this world. Sometimes I am overwhelmed to tears at the extent of it and it's cost to you to do it. I have traveled that Journey and I know it all too well!!! I am most gratified that since I can no longer go out to keep the peace, I can rest in the fact that you are there and that you are doing a beautiful job with a most demanding task... You are committed to keeping the peace for all of us. My Commander-In-Chief and I will always be thankful that you are there and doing what you are doing or have done. Recruit, active or retired... THANK YOU ALL!
"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.
My daughter, Donna, is doing much better now. She is now off the wound vac. She is now off the IV for the fungal infection. The wound is beautiful and she is taking less pain meds. The first of the week was terrible with her weakness and pain. She has tremendously improved and I am back to giving wound care. The meeting with the surgeon went well. We have appointments with both the surgeon and the Infectious Disease doctors on Monday. I pray for favor in the eyes of both doctors to consider my learning how to further treat her problem and pray they add the treatment I believe to be necessary for her healing. Thank you for your prayers and your concern.
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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