Prattville Dragoons Attend Recent Southern Cultural Center Event

Friday and Saturday August 18th and 19th members of the Prattville Dragoons attended an event at the Southern Cultural Center in Wetumpka AL.  The event was a great success according to the hosts Mike Whorton and Ed Boardwine with great speakers, good food and fantastic fellowship.  Mike opened the meeting on Friday morning with a welcome.  Cliff McGhar was the first guest speaker who presented on uniting compatriots thru networks instead of taking action alone.  Todd Kiscaden who helped with the renovation of Confederate Circle in Old Live Oak Cemetery in Selma also spoke on Friday before a good dinner of hamburger steak.  Following, Pastor John Weaver provided recommendations on financial preparations and other survival plans for the upheaval that is imminent in our country and society.  The next morning, John Hill, descendent of Confederate General A.P. Hill spoke on the atrocities committed to his ancestor's monument and grave removal from Richmond.  Following a low country boil dinner and some raffles, James Edwards spoke on the political cesspool which is Washington DC and the polarization resulting from the persecution and prosecution of President Trump and how the federal government institution is losing legitimacy resulting in the growth of secession movements across the country.  Jared Taylor was the final keynote speaker and he spoke of the coming rejection of the Diversity (not a strength but a downfall), Equity (socialist income redistribution), and Inclusion (Marxist philosophy resulting in lowering of skills, performance and ability to accommodate) initiatives in academia and throughout society especially by conservatives.  

 

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Monthly Meeting for August 2023 - Confederate Memorial Park

A super crowd of twenty-eight folks gathered on Thursday evening August 10th for the Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 meeting at the Prattville Masonic Lodge.  Rob Schwartz entertained everyone who came early with his excellent guitar playing and singing before leading everyone in an Invocation.  Brigade Commander Harold Grooms led everyone in the pledges and salutes to the flags before Commander Waldo recited the SCV Charge.  Upcoming events were highlighted including the camp's annual Dixie butt fundraiser, two reenactments, a conference at the Southern Cultural Center in Wetumpka, information for which was provided by Mike Whorton and Ed Boardwine of the SCC, and the SCV Division's Yellowhammer Jammer which will be held on Sept 30th at Confederate Memorial Park (CMP) in Marbury AL.  

Speaking of Confederate Memorial Park, the guest speaker for the evening was Calvin Chapelle, site director at CMP who provided a great presentation on recent developments and upcoming events there.  CMP was established in 1964 on the site of the former Confederate Veterans Home and has been under the direction of the Alabama Historical Commission since 1971.  CMP has been getting some good press recently in the Autauga County News and Clanton Advertiser which have run stories on events including the Living History in April, the fall cemetery tour and Santa's Post Office in December.  CMP is also on Facebook and has gained over 5000 followers where you can read of upcoming events, history and general information.  

Calvin shared information about the major annual events held at CMP.  The Winter Quarters was held Jan 27, 2023 and included many dedicated reenactors who stayed at the park using authentic period clothing, food, and eating utensils in a training and drilling environment.  The Living History in April is the longest running event having been in existence for decades now and includes displays of weapons, food, music and a skirmish reenactment.  A Cemetery Tour on May 28, 2023 was conducted which provided information on some of the 313 veterans interred there at CMP in one of the two cemeteries including their wounds incurred in combat, medicine and life at the Veterans Home.  Santa's Post Office is a new event which was held on Dec 10, 2022 at the old Mountain Creek Post Office which was moved to CMP in the mid-1980s.  Plans are to increase the use of the old post office providing interpretive displays on the Confederate postal service.  A presentation of these new photographs will be conducted on Sept 16th at CMP.  Additional events upcoming include a cemetery tour on October 21st and Santa's Post Office on Dec 9th.  

Calvin shared plans for a new pavilion in the works at CMP for which bids are being pursued for construction.  A number of original historical photographs of the Veterans Home were recently discovered on eBay and purchased which provide priceless images of the original structures at the Home including one panoramic photo.  At the end of 2022 a new weapons display rack and flat file storage was obtained by the museum at CMP.  Repairs and preservation work has been completed on a number of headstones in the cemeteries overseen by experts from the University of Alabama; one or two have been replaced with reproductions which could not be repaired.  New displays in the museum include a frock coat from Eugene Allen Smith who was a cadet at the University of Alabama when the War for Southern Independence broke out.  Three new flags are on display - the flags are on rotation, loaned by the Alabama State Archives and include one from the 30th Alabama (made by the women of Talladega of a First National Design) and another of the 22nd Infantry of a Polk cross pattern.  

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Dixie Butt Fundraiser

Members of the Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 wrapped up their annual fundraiser on Saturday August 12th with the distribution of all the butts sold to help raise money for the camp treasury.  These funds help the camp in their community service initiatives including the purchase of flags to place at veterans graves, entries for festivals and parades, camp meeting speaker stipends, and donations to local causes including food banks and history and heritage preservation organizations.  Just shy of 100 butts were sold and a number of generous donations received which made the fundraiser a great success.  On Saturday morning Commander Stuart Waldo and Quartermaster Bill Myrick picked up the butts, refrigerated cold ones as well as hot ones straight off the smoker, from Smokin S in Wetumpka.  Great tasting product is always popular with customers.  In a parking lot on Memorial Drive in Prattville, the camp set up a canopy and placed an SCV banner and a Confederate Battle Flag on the tail end of one of the trucks to advertise to passers-by the event and sure enough a sale was made to a gentleman who stopped to extend his appreciation for the work the camp and the SCV continues to do for heritage defense.  All other smoked butts were presold and folks drove up to pick up their purchases which were recorded in the list compiled by Color Sgt John Dennis.  John was absent this morning but Adjutant Wayne Sutherland capably recorded all pickups against the tally and everything was matched perfectly.  Wayne also brought a dozen Krispy Kreme hot and fresh doughnuts for everyone to enjoy.  Members of Camp 1524 who stopped by stayed and chatted for a while so it was a great opportunity to fellowship outside of the regular camp meetings.  Compatriots Bill Branch, Larry Spears, Paul Whaley, Skip Ward, Bill Hamner, Dale Boyles, Thomas Griffith, Sam Reid and Tyrone Crowley were among those who came by to pick up butts for themselves, friends and family.  Commander Waldo and his son Forrest, Quartermaster Myrick, Adjutant Sutherland, 2nd Lt Karl Wade, and compatriots Philip Edwards, Todd Rogers and Darrell Haywood helped throughout the morning setting up, bagging hot butts, handing out butts, recording pickups, and enjoying each others company.  A great event to support the Cause.

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Commander's Column for August 2023 - An Armed Forces Recruiting Dilemna in the Wake of Woke

  Senator Marsha Blackburn recently Tweeted, “Our nation is facing a serious recruitment challenge.  We need more brave young men and women to serve our country.”   There is apparently a sire shortage of military recruits currently while our nation faces major threats with a growing Sino-Russian cooperation affecting eastern Europe and the Asian-Pacific regions.  The South has throughout the 20th century to the present offered the military service of her young men in disproportionately high numbers.  But today many are choosing not to enter the armed forces as a result of many factors which certainly may include a military establishment’s agenda that is proving to be at odds with the conservative values Southern men hold dear. 

There has been a trend, interestingly since the “Make America Great Again” movement sprang up with the Trump candidacy and presidency with high school boys identifying as conservative twice as much as those identifying as liberal.  (https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4125661-high-school-boys-are-trending-conservative/#:~:text=Last%20year%2C%2043%20percent%20of,young%20adults%20as%20a%20whole.)  This might place this potential recruiting pool at odds with a liberal POTUS currently residing in the White House.  Certainly, the public’s sense of patriotism and zeal for enlistment wax and wane with the Commander in Chief’s disposition to either refer to the United States as a “shining city upon a hill” as Reagan did or a POTUS say stoking “the blight of racism” and pushing globo-socialist policies in contrast to the message of American exceptionalism and capitalism espoused by most Presidents.    Trust in the military has plummeted under the Biden administration as many perceive the branches to be intent on implementing woke political policies as some cultural experiment laboratory at the expense of force readiness to fight and win.  Comments to Sen. Blackburn’s Tweet included, “Who would want to volunteer to fight to make the world safe for gay marriage and drag queen story hour?”   “Not until we get some America First Leadership and remove the "woke" Leadership that is destroying the Warrior Spirit and Operational Readiness.”  And, “You mean serve the New World Order, the banksters and the defense contractors?”  With billions going to Ukraine every few weeks in military supplies, it begs the question as to whether our support for the Ukrainians to resist the Russian invasion is more so an American support for its military industrial complex, paying billions in taxpayer money to produce more and more guns, bullets, shells, missiles, howitzers and armored vehicles. 

Too, the woke policies shoved down the throats of new recruits might also be a discouraging factor.  As one of his first orders of business upon assuming the Presidency, to celebrate “Pride Month”, Biden signed an order combatting discrimination of LGBQTI+ individuals (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/15/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-sign-historic-executive-order-advancing-lgbtqi-equality-during-pride-month/) and subsequently, to celebrate “International Transgender Day of Visibility” overturned thru an executive order previous administrations’ ban on transgenders serving in the military (https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2557118/dod-revises-transgender-policies-to-align-with-white-house/).  And so we have LGBQT leadership in the chain of command including Rachel Levine serving as a four-star general in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. 

The attacks on Southern history and heritage which began with Nicki Haley lowering the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state house and ramped up to a frenzy following the drug induced death of the George Floyd criminal with Confederate monuments being vandalized and removed, is certainly a slap in the face to the Southern boys who respect and honor their Southern heritage and might even have been named after Confederate generals and Southern heroes.  For 150 years following the War Between the States, the bravery, chivalry, tactical expertise and general command of Confederate officers was appreciated, studied, emulated, and honored throughout our nation and the world.  But, in the face of raging woke anarchists who seek to destroy the very fabric of our nation’s founding principles, the government empowers a “Naming Commission” to remove any remnant or mention of these exemplary Confederate and Americans from military installations like Fort Hood and Fort Bragg and Alabama’s own Fort Rucker (https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3260434/dod-begins-implementing-naming-commission-recommendations/#:~:text=Some%20Army%20bases%2C%20established%20in,local%20populations%20in%20the%20South.)  These military bases were named after Confederate heroes largely to honor them and gain the support of the Southern populace to go fight and win WWI and WWII.  Correspondingly, Twitter noted that the removal of these names quite naturally could be perceived to disrespect the contribution of Southern men and blood to defend our nation throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.  “What sort of Southerner wants to fight for a country that hates them?”  “The United States government and woke anti white military hates you, your history, and your skin color.”  “If the Senator from Tennessee can't stand up for the brave generals who, after Tennessee had voted against secession, fought to repel a federal invasion of the State, don't ask Tennessee's sons to leave their wives and children to fight these frivolous one after another overseas wars for this same globalist homosexual transgender United States army that invaded the State in 1862.” “This country has rejected and insulted the South, the area with the single largest recruiting pool for its military throughout history. Not surprising there's a recruiting crisis.”

Of course, you also had the mandatory vaccinations to combat the Wuhan plandemic and thousands of men who refused to submit to an experimental vaccination rolled out to line the pharmaceutical company’s pockets with billions of dollars were discharged from the service.  Then you have the dilution or elimination of the benefits awarded to those who served in the military including health insurance and pensions disappearing.  Or is it the liberal politicization and blind support for military industrial complex at the sake of any semblance of fiscal responsibility?  Is it the perversion of the LGBQT anti-Christian rainbow flag waving?  Or, is it the disrespect of our Southern heritage in removing all vestiges of Confederate honor and glory by a PC woke administration which is causing enlistment numbers to plummet?  Take your pick. 

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Chaplain's Column for August 2023 - Need Directions? Use the Bible as Your Map.

 

“The Steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in his way.

Though he may fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”

Psalm 37:23-24 (NKJV)

 

Over the last few months I have been back and forth from Montgomery to Georgia and back many times. I am helping my sister take care of my mom, who lives over there.

As I have gotten older the size of my bladder has seemed to shrink. So, I make it a habit of stopping at the recently- renovated Alabama rest stop in Valley.

One of the things they have at the rest stop is Alabama Highway Maps. I am always surprised to see them since we live in a completely digital world where we get our directions on GPS and our phone. I always grab a new once each year. I thought about it recently as I couldn’t remember why. I never look at it. I never use it. But it is familiar and comforting to know I can look at it on the chance that I have no Wi-Fi. It can help get from one location to another.

We often view Scripture in the same way. We look at our Bibles and we may even read when the pastor quotes from it on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. But what about every day? As we see in the quote above from Psalms, God measures our steps. He gives us direction, tries to keep us from falling, and picks us up when we do.

In Proverbs 3:5-6 we are commanded to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Further, in Psalm 32:8, God reminds us that “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go…”

How do we do that? We have the ultimate resource in the Bible. The great Christian General, Robert E. Lee, was fond of reminding his friends and students he found all the answers to life’s troubles and questions in Scripture. General “Stonewall” Jackson would consult his Bible every morning, afternoon, and night. Neither made any major move without prayer and the reading of the Good Word.            

While we may not be to the level of Lee or Jackson, there is nothing preventing us from reading scripture daily. When we fail to do this, we become lost, our steps become faulty and we may even stumble.

Make time each day. Give the Lord fifteen minutes each day (at least). You will be rewarded with vision and clarity and be moved in the right direction. The Bible is your spiritual “map” to use, to hear God’s word each and every day. God has given us the ultimate resource- use it!

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Robinson Springs Cemetery Maintenance

On Friday the 28^th of July, six SCV Prattville Dragoons started working early to beat the summertime heat at Robinson Springs Cemetery in Millbrook AL. This is where a number of Confederate veterans, as well as US Army WW1 and WW2 veterans, and some early founding members of the community are laid to rest. Harold Grooms came a day early and mowed all the open areas with his riding mower. Then the crew consisting of Comms Ofc Doug Butler, Color Sgt John Dennis, Quartermaster Bill Myrick, 1^st Lt Tyler Suttle, and compatriots Thomas Griffith and Rob Schwartz finished up everything with push mowers, weedeaters, blowers and even some bush trimming. Another SCV Guardian Program and community service by Camp 1524.