VETERAN'S DAY, NOVEMBER 11TH

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” 
—Thomas Paine

Thanks to all 23.7 million veterans of our armed services

Definitions courtesy of Dictionary.com
Veteran - (noun) - a person who has served in a military force, esp. one who has fought in a war:

(adjective) - (of soldiers) having had service or experience in warfare:

Military - an organization for keeping the peace where the soldiers serve mostly in groups...
mostly in peace keeping efforts outside the homeland except when the homeland is invaded...

Law enforcement - an organization for keeping the peace where the soldiers serve mostly alone...
mostly inside the home country for keeping the peace among citizens and visitors inside the homeland...

I am a son of the soil of Virginia... I come to pay homage to all the sons and daughters who have served our country by placing their lives on the line for peace, safety, liberty and justice.  I was previously a Virginia State Police Trooper... On the State Seal of Virginia there is the inscription... "SIC SEMPER TYRANNUS"...  surrounding the figure of a Virgin Warrior with her foot on the neck of a downed foe with his defeated crown cast aside.  The inscription means "THUS ALWAYS TO TYRANTS!"...  It was on my badge... It was on my patrol car... It still is on and in my heart.  The attitude permeates my being... Tyrants shall not be allowed to thrive and put down others who do not wish to be under their rule and control...  Tyrants shall not be allowed to abuse, maim and kill as they desire to do...  The sons of the soil of Virginia have this message so indelibly impressed into them that it shall always be thus as long as we live and breathe.

I see, hear and feel this same attitude from the veterans that I know and have known.  My father would not talk much about his experiences.  My friends and associates in law enforcement seldom will talk about their experiences in military service.  One of my closest, dearest friends would seldom talk about his experiences except when it came time to get counseling for what was eating out his insides that he did and saw as a participant in war.  What he saw and experienced drove him to become a law enforcement firearms instructor... and I never trained or qualified under one who was better at instructing firearms than he.

WAR - a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.

That definition fits the military so well... But it also fits today's law enforcement.  I have been a participant in the war on crime for over 45 years.  Today it is called the war on terror and other things but it is still a war on crime.

CRIME - an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited.

TERROR - violence or threats of violence used for intimidation or coercion; terrorism.

As you can see, both definitions cover the war on terror and the war on crime.  I can just as easily call it the war between good and evil because evil in it's most base definition is anything injurious.

EVIL - harmful; injurious:

Our first land action on foreign soil was the Marines in Tripoli.  War of one kind or another has always been part of the life of this nation.  We have fought for and over many things.  We fought the Indians to get this land... We fought England and their mercenaries, the Spanish and the French to keep this land.  We have even fought each other.  When our history is evaluated as a complete overview we can see that we have had to fight to exist... We have had to fight to have peace for our law abiding citizens... We have had to fight because we were attacked by others... We have had to fight because our allies were attacked by others.  We carry on the fight today to defeat tyranny in several foreign lands and to keep tyranny from taking away our homeland from within by criminals, illegal immigrants and terrorists.  Lawlessness is destructive to any people if it is not defeated and stopped.

Korea was a police action... Viet Nam was about the same...  We did not win in either case... Peace was negotiated in Korea after we spent many lives fighting the northern aggressors for the sake of the South Koreans... We did not win nor negotiate peace in Viet Nam... We withdrew.

Now we are actively on the ground fighting wars on two fronts on foreign soil for the sakes of the people being destroyed there.  We are losing much life in these conflicts.
The most difficult part is that we have advanced so greatly in medical practice in the battlefield that we have a much higher percentage of the wounded coming home who would have died in previous wars.  It is good that we can preserve life for these who were and are wounded but we should make as much provision as necessary to provide for their continued care when they are discharged into civilian life again.  This, currently, is too great a burden for families and veterans to carry.  Many fail under it.
Some veterans take their own lives because they cannot cope with this aftermath of injury and disability following war service.

Most veterans come home with some kind of medical problems, either mental, physical or both.  Some come home missing limbs, missing sight... Some have no minds left... All of them need special care and provision but many of them never receive it. 

Reservists who have served on active duty and return home find that it has cost jobs and future... And some of them are unable to work even if the job is there... PTSD is the great robber in most of the lives of our returning veterans today.  They are finding it impossible to fit quickly and quietly back into civilian and home life.  Veterans have paid a horrible cost to put down tyrants... But it is a cost that, if it had not been paid, there would be no life as we know it in this world today!!!

Many veterans of law enforcement are paying the same types of costs inside their home lands all over the world.  The war on crime, lawlessness, tyranny and terror will always exact a high cost because the world we live in is gaining in population and morals are declining. 

November 11th is the day we have set aside in these United States to give united appreciation to our military veterans.  Make it a point to thank as many veterans as you can reach wherever you are.  Also make it a point to thank as many as you can of those who are serving now either at home or on foreign fields.  I send my deepest thanks and appreciation to all veterans.

My thanks and appreciation goes out also to the spouses, loved ones and families of our current service personnel and of our veterans.  All of these pay a terrible price also as their beloved service personnel go off to war or service and come home so different as to be strangers... Sometimes they are strangers that need constant care who can no longer care for themselves. 

A lot of returning or retired veterans also find a home in law enforcement after military service.  These wind up being veterans on all fronts of the war between good and evil.
For many of us it is simply once a Peace Keeper... Always a Peace Keeper... Some of us can fit no place else... Peace keeping in the military or law enforcement is the only place we can find where we truly fit.  I have the same problem... I am a clergyman but have never found a place where I truly fit within the organized church... I am most productive as a teacher, a chaplain or a law enforcement officer... There I function happily and well.  I function as all veterans have functioned and as all current Peace Keepers function... For peace, safety, liberty and justice.

SIC SEMPER TYRANNUS... THUS ALWAYS TO TYRANTS... AT HOME AND ABROAD!

My Commander-In-Chief and I send our deepest appreciation to all Peace Keepers for who you are and for what you do.  we shall be eternally grateful.

all of you... "BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!"  Be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary.  Take the very best of care of you as you care for others.  Be very careful to see to your spiritual welfare... Your spirit must be strong for you to be successful.

Call or write if I may be of any assistance to you.

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 VB Police Officer, Certified Police Instructor,
Community Services Officer
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
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