Prattville Dragoons Commander's Column for August 2016

Just recently, soon after the newly elected officers for the Alabama Division and National Sons of Confederate Veterans assumed their positions and in light of the escalating violence against police officers across the country, resolutions were proclaimed at the state and national offices of the SCV in support of our law enforcement personnel.  Alabama Division Commander Jimmy Hill proclaimed July 25^th Law Enforcement Appreciation Day across the state and all SCV compatriots were encouraged to demonstrate their support and appreciation for their local police officers.  The Prattville Dragoons on member Karl Wade’s suggestion elected to run an appropriate ad on one of the electronic billboards in downtown Prattville and the one week ad was extended a week after an anonymous donor provided funds to do so after seeing the terrific supportive message.  The SCV National resolution in declaring August 18^th as Law Enforcement Appreciation Day across the country recognized that “law enforcement officers are the domestic protectors of our citizens, our society and our way of life, and (that our) society cannot survive without the valor, dedication, and sacrifices of our law enforcement officers and the support from their families, and (that) responsible citizens have a moral duty to support the institutions and citizens who place their lives in peril every day so that our society can enjoy the rights, privileges, and freedoms of citizens of a great republic which our forefathers and God provided us”. 

These same attributes applied to our Confederate forebears who fought and died to protect their homes and families, their society and culture, their way of life.  The families they left behind supported the War and the Cause in deprivation.  Despite every effort of the Lincoln administration to encourage a slave rebellion and chaos across the South, citizens and servants all across the Confederacy stayed the course to support the Confederate Army in their valiant struggle.  These soldiers in grey placed their lives in peril every day in an effort to preserve a true Constitutional republic which their forefathers, the founding fathers and patriots, and God provided them.  The parallels are marked and should emphasize the reason we still honor our Confederate ancestors just as we should support and honor our local law enforcement officers. 

Our advertisement by Camp 1524 sent a strong message of support for law enforcement officers as they put their lives on the line each and every day to protect our homes and families in our community.  This billboard ad serves to also highlight our civic responsibility and engagement and tie support for law enforcement to the SCV, promoting our organization as one which boldly stands behind our police officers even as seeming anarchy builds and contorted misplaced causes like the militant Black Lives Matter seek to incite divisiveness and hatred in our society and spur violence in the streets.  Alternatively, the SCV would endorse Blue Lives Matter or All Lives Matter.  It takes money for our camp and the SCV organization to conduct these advertisement blitzes and to keep a positive light on our Cause within our communities and across the nation.  This is a great opportunity to promote the SCV in a positive light, contrary to what the main stream media has attempted to cast our Cause and Southern heritage.  As we approach the time for membership renewal, please know that your membership is first and foremost the most critical thing you can do to continue these positive initiatives by your camp and the SCV like our Law Enforcement Appreciation advertisement.  Another is to support our annual fundraiser by buying and selling Dixie butts to generate profits which go in their entirety into the camp treasury to fund our billboard ads like our most recent one as well as Confederate Memorial Day and Christmas ads we have run in the past year as well as all our other community service projects like Alabama Archives donations, high school educational presentations and awards, cemetery maintenance and flag settings and more.  As this tumultuous wave of domestic terrorism mounts and we are faced with marked differences and clear decisions in upcoming local, state and national elections as to the path on which we want our nation to progress, we need to continue to support the SCV, support our societal institutions and underpinnings like law enforcement and, promote our heritage and Christian values as we come to another crossroad in our nation’s history, 150 years after the War for Southern Independence.