Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention. -Greg Anderson-
None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.-Ralph Waldo Emerson
You report for duty, you are ready for assignment.
Some days are very, very active... Assignments are waiting.
Some days are very, very slow... You have to look for something to do.
Some days there is little trouble... All seems to go smoothly.
Some days trouble comes so fast as to cause us to reel from the demands...
Some days our plan works well...
Some days nothing in our plan gets accomplished.
Some days we are strong and healthy... Other days we are fatigued... Or ill... Or injured... Or incapacitated and cannot act...
Some days life goes our way... Some days life seems to be against us...
Each line holds extremes of the same thought...
Most days fall someplace in between these extremes and most of us cope with it satisfactorily... Some days we are steamrollered... Other days we hear complaints of boredom.
Peace Keeping has been described as hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror. I add, that by the very nature of the job, we must be moving and looking for incidents and situations that are in need of attention to stop improper actions that already threaten peace and tranquility... or solve an active problem that could threaten the peace and tranquility.
One of my current assignments when on duty is traffic safety, Community Service Officer. That covers parking problems, disabled vehicles, abandoned vehicles, motor vehicle crashes, traffic direction, motor vehicle registration, safety inspection stickers, signs, debris in the roadway and anything else that disrupts safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians. I can always find something to do. I know where to look. I know what to look for. The years of experience have given me keen senses for the things for which I am responsible.
My other assignment when on duty is people safety, Chaplain Supervisor on the resort strip during summer late night hours on weekends and holidays on foot patrol. Our job is to watch the crowds of people and head off potential problems or assist officers in solving problems already in progress. We educate and warn or call for officers to handle the problem if it needs forceful attention. Sometimes the problems are one or two individuals. Sometimes the problems are many individuals or crowds. We work to keep the crowds back and keep the officers safe as they deal with problems. We never know what might be needed. We are trained to give proper responses to the needs. We are also on call to assist with death cases, make death notifications and minister to the needs of family and loved ones while the police and other public safety personnel do their jobs.
Not one of us... Not you... Not me... Ever knows in advance what the next assignment or next incident might involve. We are trained to be as best prepared as we can to meet the usual needs... Experience and faith in our own abilities teach us how to handle the unusual needs.
When we go out, we are flying blind. We do not know what lies around the next corner of the street or the next bend in the road. We do not know who or what is in the next alley we must pass or traverse. We do not know who or what is in every vehicle we check. This activity is called, "Patrol". In French it literally means to go through puddles... To that I add dark streets, dark alleys, back yards, country roads, check dumpsters, check known trouble spots, etc... And all the while be alert, watchful, suspicious and ready to act if there is something anyplace that needs immediate attention.
What you see or do not see is always important. What you do not see or hear could kill you. We must set our minds for this kind of duty and activity. We cannot approach this responsibility lightly. Every sense we possess must be sharp and alert. We must learn to see and hear what is insignificant to the untrained. We must train ourselves to know when something is out of place or when something is missing. We must do all of this for the specific reason of survival and success. If we do not do it, no one else can do it for us.
This message has been on my mind all day. This is being written specifically for someone who pointedly needs it. I know that I must remind myself of it. Maybe today you need to be shaken out of something that is occupying your mind and keeping you from concentrating... You must have your senses sharpened and active when you are on duty. We all want you to be successful and come home at the end of your duty.
In my almost 47 years I have known thousands of Peace Keepers. I have known some of the very best. I have known some who needed to get out of the business and thanked God when they did. I have known some who waited too long to get out of it and the business and life together consumed them and I officiated at or attended their funerals. Among Peace Keepers I have witnessed broken lives and broken homes and families. Sometimes I have seen more pain among the Peace Keepers than we were seeing among the problem people with whom we had to deal. Seldom does a week go by that I do not receive news of the on duty death of a Peace Keeper in the homeland. Even more seldom does a week pass without receiving the news of on duty deaths of Peace Keepers in the military.
Peace keeping is a most unique profession. Very little of our duty is without danger.
We go places where others do not want to go and we must go even as we go at our own peril. This is the nature of the beast we both fight and love... And some of us deeply feel that we cannot live without it. It even seems to compete with family and loved ones for our attention and affection.
I write from experience... Though I deeply loved my wife and children, I took time from them and gave it to peace keeping. I sacrificed time and energy that could never be redeemed and rededicated to them. Why did I do this?... It was because I learned that we in peace keeping are in a constant battle against the conflicting desires of the people, they fight and war because someone has what someone else wants or someone cannot get what they want... Against the unleashed desires of human bodies addicted to immoral or unlawful desires, alcohol, drugs, sex and other things... And against evil personified at bay in this world to destroy peace and safety and create chaos. I have witnessed it all in action. I decided the best way that I could provide a good world for my family to live in was to teach them how to avoid evil, provide them a safe environment in which to live and then to commit myself to fighting the evil abroad in the world around me of both the human and spiritual natures to keep it at bay.
I am still doing what I can even though I cannot do it all. Even now I must forgo going out to duty to tend to the health safety and welfare of my ill, disable daughter. We are currently experiencing a new wrinkle that took place this week. On Monday we took her to the surgeon for a checkup. There were four areas swollen and very tender. Two areas were leaking fluid. He operated the next day and now we have gone from a small opening the size of about a fifty cent piece to four open areas, one of which is larger than my hand. The same treatment continues... Clean with a half strength bleach solution and pack the wounds with gauze soaked in the same solution along with running the IV's twice daily. She is in great pain from the bleach and the packing but the wounds are better... And we battle on.
I focus on doing the best I can with what I have where I am and leave the rest to God or whomever else is responsible. I heard the call of the voice that said to me, "Here is the way for you, Walk you in it!"... And I have and I am still going.
I know among you there are also those who are doing the same and have heard the same voice. Peace Keeper, Thank you for who you are and for what you do. This world would be a terrible place in which to live if it were not for people like you in it.
We are who and what we are... We have all that we have because of people like you.
The world as we know it could not and would not exist if it were not for people like you throughout all of our history doing what they could do to furnish a life of PEACE AND SAFETY. THANK YOU!... THANK YOU!... THANK YOU!
"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.
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.,
DCJS Certified Police Instructor,
Community Service Officer (Traffic Safety)
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
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