THE WORLD WE LIVE IN

is populated with many varieties of people. We use many descriptive
terms from the animal world to describe some of them... Doves and
Hawks... Sheep, Sheepdog and Wolf... Rat, Weasel, 'Possum, Fox... Bulls and
Bears... Lions and Lambs... Plus some other terms that seem to raise
difficulties for some... Straight, Bi-sexual, Homosexual,
Heterosexual... Prejudiced... Conservative... Liberal... Democrat...
Republican... Independent... These are just a few of language terms
that cause difficulties for some people. In the vocabulary there are
many more.

We use other terms to describe people who want to avoid certain
things... or certain people who have been labeled... We call them
Phobic...

The most amazing thing that I have found is that almost every group
thinks everyone else should be like them and if they are not like them
they are simply wrong... And most groups think that no one else should
be critical of what they think and how they live.

The Congress is fighting hard... Some want us out of Iraq at any
cost... and they want it now! Some want us out of Iraq but by an
orderly means... The thing that I miss hearing any reports on is that
no one is reporting that there are any Congressional Representatives
that want us to have all that it takes to win and stay until the enemy
is defeated. It seems that they all are of the opinion that words will
conquer the insurgency and then allow Iraqis to determine their own
method of government. Anyone who has been on the field there knows
that will not work.

If you had been taught all of your life from birth forward that a mule
was a cow... then if someone tried to tell you differently you would
not believe it. If you were intelligent and wanted to learn you would look
around, listen to others use of language and descriptive terms, do
research of any kind that might be available to you... and in the
process find that according to accepted usage that you had been
instructed incorrectly. Then for conversations with others you would
make the proper adjustments in the use of the descriptive terms... but
if you were back home with those who taught you in the beginning you
might have to revert to the old usage of language in order to be
understood. That is a crude example but think about the point.

The military has their own language that others do not comprehend. Law
enforcement had their own language that others did not understand...
even between public safety departments in the same region... Now we are
moving to plain language by radio and electronic communications.

If we ever travel very far from the old neighborhood we will find that
the world outside of that small protected area is very different than
what we knew as we grew from infancy to older ages... And we will find
that we must make adjustments and learn different ways of communicating
with words in order to be understood.

Take one from the city and move him to wilderness and life is very
different. Take one from the mountains and move him to the flatlands
and life as well as communication is very different. Take one from a
rural area and move him into a very busy urban area and all levels of
life are very different.

When people enter the military they are stripped of individuality and
molded into a cohesive unit of people who live and function well
together. When there are those who cannot function well in a military
unit they are usually discharged and sent back to civilian life.

When individuals decide on law enforcement as a career they often think
it to be like portrayed in films, novels and on television. They are
shocked to find that it is not that way and some bail out quickly. As
the molding and stripping continue to take place during training we
find that those who graduate are usually many less in number than those
who started the training course.

In this world there are those who lead and those who follow. There are
also those who will follow no one anywhere... There are those who
accept no norms and seek to influence others to go into negative,
abusive aspects of living. There are those who want to dominate
everyone and let no one else have any choice in much of any thing.

There are those who are naive and think that no evil lives in this
world. There are those who see no good and are cynical and
destructive. There are those who believe in every degree of
spirituality from none to the very deepest and strongest of
spirituality... No god to a dictatorial, abusive god. Do they want to
know the God that I know?... Some do... Many do not! I have a simple
advantage that most do not have or have not had... I was not taught as
a child. All I had to do when I was shown the connection was to study
and learn. I had nothing to forget... nothing to correct. All I had
to do was to study and learn...
Even in that process I have had to make adjustments when I met with new
knowledge and new information.

In the United States of America we have made room for all variations of
people as long as they submit to the requirements of law abiding
peace. Not so other with many other nations of this world. They, like
people, vary from peaceful to destructive with every possible variation manifested
between the extremes like it is in relation to some people.

Doves usually do not like nor tolerate Hawks (the people who are
described by these terms) and vice versa. That usually is true of
people that are at the poles of extremes in any controversy. Thus our
Congress is at war within itself trying to force the extremes of their
attitudes upon one another and upon the citizenry... upon the armed
forces... and upon anyone else that they may affect with their
attitudes. Some of the people in Congress are trying to do good things
for all people... Some in Congress are trying to do things that few
understand except their own group.

This is not just a Congressional-Governmental Problem... I see it
happening all too often in the family unit. Great disruption between
spouses... between parents and children... between children and
children... I see it in schools between single students and groups of
students... between students and teachers... between students and
administrators... I see it in some neighborhoods... I see it at times
on my walking beats... I see it between religions sometimes as often
and more powerfully than I see it any place else.

We human beings have lost sight of our need to co-operate in order for
all of us to survive. Dictators quite often start well... and give
great benefits to the people... but as the old saying goes, "Power
corrupts... and total power corrupts totally!" Thus most Dictatorships
descend into the death and destruction of total control over and use
and abuse of the people.

9-1-1 should have been a wake-up call for all of the world... but it
died down all too quickly. Some learned from it... It seems that many
forgot the destruction very soon.

Iraq has long been an example of the destruction of the total power of a Dictator. We were told that we
went into Iraq because of WMDs. None were found.
I personally listened to the program given by one of the Iraqis that
were employed in the manufacture of those weapons. He escaped the
country with his life and little else. He is still is on a list for
death if he can be reached and annihilated.

I have read books written by Iranians who escaped that country and
would be killed if they could be reached.

I have observed and I have listened. I have read and I have meditated
upon what I read. I have assayed the cost and I have concluded that we
must win in Iraq because our troops on the ground there believe that we
must win.

I have weighed the costs in the past few days of the deaths and
injuries of Peace Keepers at home and on foreign fields. I have
concluded that the battles must be fought if we as a nation are to
survive. I have concluded that the battles must be fought if we are to
survive as a race of human beings.

Do I believe that one human should kill another? No! Do I believe
that there are circumstances where one human killing another are
justified? Yes! Do I believe in war?
No!... but I am just as aware that some wars must
be fought... or else more people are going to be subjected to slavery,
destruction and death.

We are a young nation, just over 200 years, but we have been involved
in many conflicts to determine the right for people to choose the
course of their own lives and be allowed to live to enjoy it. Almost
45 years ago I took my first oath to protect and defend our
Constitution and those rights guaranteed by law. In the course of
those years I have had opportunity to meet and get to know some very special people who also
were Peace Keepers. I have known no other group of people so faithful
to the life, liberty and freedom of others to live as they pleased as
long as they lived within the laws that provide peace and liberty for
all citizens.

For some time now it has been one of my most frequent thoughts that I
will not have as many more years to be among you as I have already been
among you. Accepting and assimilating changes is never easy for a
determined professional Peace Keeper. I know because I have lived
it... live it now... and because I have heard from so many of you on
that subject. If I could be young enough to start over, would I?...
You can bet that I would... Me and thousands more... Do I like the
reality that I face daily knowing that one day I will not
be able to do any of this job anymore?... No I do not like it but that
is still reality.

As I read, watch and learn I do not feel any older than I was when I
started. I am fortunate and healthy. Few that I meet believe that I
am of the age that I am. I am more adamant about peace and safety now
than I was when I started. As much as I was in love with my wife when I met her and we
began life together I became more in love with her daily and I am more
in love with her since she is gone that I was when she was last here.

I have a deeper love and respect for peace keeping now than I had when
I began in 1962. I have received quite an education along the way and
I am still learning and re-learning. Would I go back on the street as an officer if I had the
chance?... If the choice were left to me I would do it in a heartbeat
and quicker! Do I ever miss being a Trooper?... only every day! Do I miss being a
street officer?... only every day! Will I miss being a street chaplain
when I can no longer do it?... Most assuredly I will!

In all of these years and all of this experience I have learned far
more than I would ever have believed that a man needs to know to do the
job... and I have learned about politics.
I do not like politics but I had to learn how to work within the
process and how to get along with it. That is necessary for success and survival.

I learned about and I learned how to work within the military and
para-military structures of command and administration. For some
people that is not an easy task... But it functions well when you learn
how to cooperate with it and do not buck it. That demands a level of
patience that some never understand.

My greatest lesson learned is that I must have a deep and powerful love
for all life... Even the lives of those whom I do not like and do not
agree with. I could be described as a man who hates violence... but
would not hesitate to use it to protect and defend human life... most
especially the lives of the innocent and the lives of Peace Keepers.

I have learned to live with Doves and Hawks... and with all of the rest
of those described by my terms put forth in the beginning of this
message. I have learned to set my own attitude to be the best that I
can demonstrate to achieve my determined purpose of being a Peace Maker
and a Peace Keeper knowing full well that my next duty at any time
along the Journey could have demanded my giving my life or taking the
life of another. For me that was a predetermined attitude that I
learned and kept in proper adjustment all along the way. I started as
a green youth... today I am a seasoned veteran and it is still just as
important!.

Would I change my course if I had it to do over?... NO! Would I fight
to get a lot of other things changed?... YES!!! I did the best that I
could with what I had all the way through. I will continue to do that
until I mark off duty from my final tour in this life... That also is
predetermined!

I have read many news accounts of all of you... In Afghanistan... In
Iraq... the British Sailors and Marines captured by the Iranians... the
deaths of law enforcement officers... the indictments of law officers
for doing their jobs... the last flights of those being returned home
from the war for Memorial Services... the horrendous things that humans
do to humans... and as I have read I have guided my thoughts to you...
and to me. To you because of who you are and where you are... to me
because of where I have been and where I am going.

We have been in this together. We will do it together tomorrow if
tomorrow comes for each of us. We will serve each tour as best we
can. We will survive... We will triumph over evil... We will win this
war in which each of us is engaged... We will go home at the end of our
duty.

I thank you for being there. Do not be adversely affected by all of
the attitudes manifested against you and the efforts that you make. Do
the best that you can... and come home! My Commander-In-Chief and I
are most proud of you and all that you do for all of the rest of us.

"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!" Always be alert, watchful, suspicious and
wary. Do the best that you can for you while you do for others. See
to the best of spiritual welfare for yourself. It needs to be strong
for you to be successful. You make a powerful difference for good and
that is what matters to me!

Call or write if I may be of any service.

As it has 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

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...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers,
VIRGINIA STATE POLICE ALUMNI,
RETIRED Police Officer, Certified Police Instructor,
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
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