JULY 4, 2007...

Today I took a journey. I traveled through our history with the Peace
Keepers who have fought in all of the battles... Those well known
detailed battles... And those everyday actions of peace keeping that
most people do not know about.

I deeply considered the Leathernecks in Tripoli fighting the pirates
for the safety of the ships of our young nation...

I thought on the Revolutionary War and all of the actions that brought
us into being a nation governed by ourselves and no other earthly
entity... I felt the misery of the troops who had little equipment and
frozen feet at Valley Forge... I listened in on the prayers of General
George Washington... I admired his audacity and intelligence as he
conceived the river crossing and the attack upon the Hessians at
Trenton...

I dwelt awhile on the battles for expanding our nation from the east
coast to the west...
In that process I considered the explorers and Peace Keepers who
governed the efforts of crooks and thieves in order to build new
settlements and spread civilization to the west until it reached the
Rio Grande and the West Coast...

Speaking of audacity and courage... I reckoned upon the actions at the
Alamo for the independence of Texas from Mexico...

Then the Mexican War... The War of 1812... The War Between the
States... The Spanish-American War... The World Wars... Korea and the
Chosin Reservoir... Viet Nam... Afghanistan... Iraq... Mogadishu...
Blackhawk Down... and all of the other unnamed conflicts in which all
of our Military has fought, suffered and won on land, sea and in the
air...

I thought on the thousands upon thousands of times that law enforcement
officers of all types have patrolled, responded, fought and suffered to
keep the freedom that has been so costly won and kept for each of us...

I looked over the progress of a nation and a people... a progress that
I have been privileged to view and share for sixty seven years of life
and forty five years of public service as a Peace Keeper and a Peace
Maker...

I went to "The Wall" in D.C.and lingered there for a time... I wandered
through Arlington National Cemetery and pondered the cost it
represents... I stood in a Garden of Stone atop a knoll in the Great
Valley of Virginia surveying the unit designation of each marker...

I shared the hell experienced by the U.S.Marines in the battles at
Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and a lot of other places, including the first
seven days in Iraq...

I felt the winters of freezing and no food of the Argonne and the
Bulge... I felt the fear... the cold... the heat... the filth and the
pain... and I thought upon all of you as individuals who are the vital
parts in all of our freedom, peace and safety... All of you as yet
unknown to all but the few with whom you actually work and those who
know and love you...

I thought upon all of the Medics, Doctors, Nurses, Medivac personnel
and Emergency Medical personnel who have tended our wounded and kept so
many alive to serve again... or at least to be able to go home again...

I thought upon all of those who are dedicated to fighting fires...
Dedicated to saving lives and property... Dedicated to risking all that
they are to protect, rescue and save...

I thought upon all of my heroes and heroines who have fought in
thousands of conflicts between good and evil so that I could read and
know just how precious the freedom and liberty that we have really is...

Through all of this I wept... and I about bursted with the pride that
has been preserved and handed down to us...

I determined that I will continue to give appreciation, thanks and
praise to all of the precious people who have preceded us in peace
keeping... And most emphatically to those of you who are still here in
this life... Whether you are disabled, inactive, retired or still in
the fight for our peace and liberty... For as long as I have breath and
movement in my body in this world I will give you appreciation, thanks
and praise. Without you, none of what we know in this country today
would even be here.

My Commander-in-Chief and I give you our thanks... Our appreciation...
And our praise... ETERNALLY!!!

"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!" Always practice the attitude of being alert,
watchful, suspicious and wary. Take the best possible care of you as
you care for and about others. See to the welfare of your own
spiritual needs. Your spirit needs to be strong in order for you to be
successful.

Call or write if I may be of any assistance.

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

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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