Prattville Dragoons Camp 1524 News for May 2014

From the Camp Dispatch newsletter for May 2014:

Camp News

Dragoon Danny Smyth Repairs Banner Pole - The long pole used to carry the Dragoon Banner in parades was broken while being transported to the Millbrook Mardi Gras Parade in February.  Dragoon Danny Smyth, who was present as we lined up, did a temporary repair to get us through the parade, then took the pole home and made a permanent repair by placing a metal rod in the pole.  Danny has also recently become a member of the I-65 Flag Committee, where his mechanical ability will also be used and appreciated.  Thank you, Danny!

Dragoons Sponsor JROTC Hunley Award.  Commander Stuart Waldo, Brigade Commander Bill Myrick, Past Commander Larry Spears, and Communications Officer Tyrone Crowley all were present recently to present awards to deserving recipients from Prattville and Stanhope Elmore High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) detachments. This award goes to a second-year cadet who exemplifies honor, courage, and most importantly commitment to the JROTC unit. The award was named in honor of the crew of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley who gave their lives in defense of their country and demonstrated these same qualities in performing their duties. On Thursday evening 3 April, our Camp presented the Hunley award to Cadet Tanner Furlong of Prattville High School.  The same award was presented on Wednesday 9 April to a deserving candidate, Cadet Joseph Brantley, at Stanhope Elmore High School in Millbrook.

Dragoons Attend Memorial Ceremony at Capitol - Several Dragoons attended the combined UDC/SCV Confederate Memorial Ceremony at the State Capitol Confederate Monument on Monday 28 April at 10 a.m.  Harold Grooms, Larry Spears, Tyrone Crowley, Bill Myrick, David Brantley, and Louis Turner were present, along with close to 100 others, to announce the name of their ancestor when the microphone was passed around during the memorial service.  The ceremony was enhanced by Fiddlin' in the Parlor, a husband-and-wife team from Bessemer, and the fine spontaneous dancing by Bill Anthony and lady Nikki from the Tallassee Camp.  There was also a bagpiper and a Confederate cannon salute that rattled windows for blocks around.  Another fine day for UDC/SCV collaboration!

Dragoons Conduct Annual Memorial Ceremony at Dragoon Monuments - Bearing in mind a forecast of potentially dangerous weather, the Prattville Dragoons commemorated Confederate Memorial Day on Monday April 28^th at the Dragoons monument at the Prattville Primary School on Washington Street.  The Dragoons program at 6 p.m. followed another at the State Capitol at 10 a.m. that morning which was hosted by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.  Bagpiper Bob Miller of Carrollton, Georgia, who also piped at the Capitol ceremony that morning, led a procession of Dragoons from the County Courthouse Monument to the Dragoon Monuments at Fourth and Washington Streets to begin the ceremony.  Chaplain Tom Snowden rendered up fine prayers to open and close, Commander Stuart Waldo offered a welcome and thought-provoking remarks, 1Lt Cmdr Harold Grooms gave us the history of the Confederate Monuments in Prattville, and which he and Adjutant Wayne Sutherland set a wreath in front of the 1916 Dragoon Monument.  Reenactor Liaison Col Paul Whaley and men from the 33rd Alabama Reenactors provided a fine Honor Guard for the service.  We also owe a debt of thanks to Dragoon Larry Miller for keeping the weeds under control at the Prattville Primary monument site. 

Forrest Waldo Receives Scholarship From Alabama Division. Commander Stuart Waldo's son Forrest Waldo has been awarded one of the Alabama Division’s Lt. General Joseph Wheeler Scholarships. After being invited by the Division, Forrest plans to attend the Division Reunion Awards Banquet in Athens on May 17^th.  Forrest is a senior at Auburn University majoring in Electrical Engineering.

Martha Ann Wallace Home From Rehab.  On 18 April, Dragoon Steve Wallace reported that he had brought Martha Ann home from Rehab, and thanked all Dragoons for their prayers in her behalf.

Dragoons Take On Indian Hills Cemetery Project. Dragoon Benny Harris has agreed to lead the renovation of Prattville's Indian Hills cemetery and the Confederate graves there as a camp project.  Thank you, Compatriot Harris, for taking on this responsibility.  Benny recently was in charge of a similar project in Chilton County so has solid experience in this area of effort.

Prattville Dragoons Commander's Column for May 2014

From the Dragoons Camp Dispatch newsletter for May 2014:

Commander's Column:  Confederate History Month Observed

            We just enjoyed another Confederate Heritage and History Month and Confederate Memorial Day in April and I hope each and every one of you honored your ancestors and the Confederate soldiers in this Sesquicentennial.   In addition to our annual Dragoons camp picnic and Memorial Day observance, the SCV Alabama Division joined with the UDC to host a Memorial Day event at the Confederate Monument on the state capitol grounds in Montgomery.  The guest speaker at this event apparently stirred up a bit of a controversy with disparaging remarks regarding the US flag and the pledge thereto and military service in the U.S. Armed Forces.

            Many SCV members across the nation and in our camp have served honorably in one of the branches of the U.S. military and should be commended for their service.  Obviously the Confederate veteran's brave and heroic fight and victories and indomitable spirit in the face of overwhelming odds and deprivation have earned him a place of admiration and legend throughout the world and history.  The general officers commanding the Confederate forces are recognized as some of the most brilliant strategists and tacticians as well as examples of leadership and are representative of the best of our Southern heritage and many were trained and served and were career officers in the U.S. Army prior to the secession of their home states.  One of the things that helped to mend the wounds from the War and Reconstruction and bring the nation back together was the commendable service of Southerners in the U.S. Army and Navy in the Spanish American War.  Brave Southerners have inordinately earned the highest honors for their military service throughout all the conflicts in U.S. history.  Any SCV member and any Southerner should be proud to have responded to the call to serve their nation in any of the branches of the U.S. military to carry on this legacy.

            The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted by the U.S. Congress in the midst of the national peril and sacrifice of World War II, the country uniting to face the Axis powers.  The Pledge was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892 to promote nationalism at the 400-year anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World.  The Pledge of Allegiance has obviously served as an expression of faithfulness for generations of Americans and immigrants to this nation.  I am certain that we all believe ourselves faithful and patriotic to our country in which we have been blessed by God to have been born and to which we have invested our lives and toil.  We start all of our camp meetings with the pledges to the U.S. flag, the Alabama state flag and Confederate Battle Flag as the latter represent the sovereignty and the heritage that we place in equal but not greater importance to our national patriotism.  There have been some in the progressivism of our nation’s recent past who have objected to the revision of the Pledge including God Almighty in the recitation and while our Christian heritage in the SCV would condemn the omission of a recognition that we and our nation dwell under the grace of our Creator, some in the SCV who feel strongly enough about the justification and constitutionality of the Confederate States' secession elect to omit the statement maintaining the indivisible quality of the United States when reciting the Pledge. 

            Some may have objected to the speaker’s inference that America perhaps was not and is not the greatest country in the history of the world.   Greece and Rome and England and Egypt and Mesopotamia of millennia past might offer contradiction to that notion anyway.  The United States of America has led the world in the past hundred years through World Wars and has ushered in some of the greatest advancements in human history but our knowledge of the rise and fall of the Confederacy (borrowing from Jefferson Davis) demonstrates that while the U.S. was founded on principles of freedom and liberty and a democratic republic, Lincoln’s War of Northern Aggression changed the path of the country’s government and history to one of ever growing federal control and dominance.  Despite the nauseating rapid decline of family values, American world leadership, economic growth and capitalist opportunity, and personal liberties choreographed by the politicians in Washington DC over the past few years, a recent poll showed over 40% of our neighbors and countrymen apparently approve of current events and the direction our nation is heading.  That is 40% of the United States I can’t truthfully say I like.   We are fortunate to belong to a fraternal organization founded on a worthy ideal to perpetuate the best of American history and Southern heritage and it is our duty and Charge to advance the Cause today and for our children and for future generations.

Stuart Waldo

Camp Commander

Prattville Dragoons Chaplains Column for May 2014

From the Dragoons Camp Dispatch newsletter for May 2014:

Chaplain’s Column:  Obedience - Matthew 26:36-42

     Every believer must choose whether to live by the principle of obedience or follow his own personal preferences. When we commit to doing God’s will we are saying "God said it, so I’m going to do it". We may question, complain or argue but in the end we will be obedient, no matter what.

     The Lord understands our questioning of His will in our lives. In Hebrews 4:15 we are told that we have a high priest who can sympathize with us. Remember Jesus was not happy about the Cross. He grieved over the coming separation from His Father. He was committed to following God’s will (Matt. 26:39). No one took Christ’s life from Him; He laid it down (John 10:18).

     Our lives are about fulfilling God’s purpose. God has a plan for each of us and yet many of us choose to follow our on individual preferences. Being obedient is sometimes hard, but the struggle and sacrifices are worth it. We will receive great joy and peace by living by God's principles and being obedient to Him.

     Following God requires living by faith, which means trusting the Holy Spirit to guide us (John 16:13) when we don’t see how all the pieces fit together, believing that God always works for our good (Rom. 8:28) and His glory, and desiring to please our Father. Will you be ready when He calls?

Please pray for the following:

1. Elizabeth Tillery (Bill Myrick’s sister)

2. Kerri Waldo’s daughter - Brooke

3. Cathy Givens

Yours In Christ

Tom Snowden, Chaplain

Upcoming Events for Confederate and Southern Heritage

The following events were highlighted in the May 2014 Prattville Dragoons Camp Dispatch newsletter:

Upcoming Events

Skirmish at Fiddlers Green - Jacksonville, Alabama, 3-4 May 2014.  See http://www.fiddlersgreenalabama.com

Alabama Division Annual Reunion - Athens, Alabama, 16-17 May 2014. For further information as it becomes available, go to http://www.aladivscv.com/

Jefferson Davis Birthday at First White House - 3 June 2014, 11 a.m.  This is the annual commemoration of the birthday of the President of the Confederate States of America.  The scheduled speaker is the Dragoons own Communications Officer Tyrone Crowley.

SCV National Reunion - Charleston, South Carolina, 16-19 July 2014. For further information as it becomes available, go to http://www.scv.org

Adherence to the Constitution Violated by Federal Government Since the War Between the States

The following was a letter to the editor of the Montgomery Advertiser submitted by Prattville Dragoon Charlie Graham:

Montgomery Advertiser, Friday 2 May 2014, Letters to Editor, page 9A.

 Persecution of Maryland by Lincoln little remembered

In the April 29 issue of the Montgomery Advertiser, there appeared a historical blurb stating that on this date in 1861, the Maryland House of Delegates voted 53-13 against seceding from the Union. What it did not say is that President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and the border states, which meant that anyone in those states could be thrown in prison for as long as desired without ever being charged with any crime or having a trial.

Lincoln had numerous Maryland House of Delegate members imprisoned because they favored secession. If they were in prison, they couldn't vote for — or influence votes for — secession.

The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney, defied Lincoln and declared the suspension unconstitutional. Taney issued a writ of habeas corpus for one of the delegates, John Merryman, to be brought before the Supreme Court. Merryman was an outspoken secessionist.

Lincoln disregarded the writ and proceeded utilizing the Union army to imprison anyone he wished. He imprisoned thousands of people without charges. Newspaper editors were prime targets should they dare print any anti-Lincoln or anti-war sentiment.

Maryland was of utmost importance, for it surrounds Washington, D.C. Border states were critical as buffers and also to separate other potential secession states like Delaware from seceding. Lincoln inundated them with Union troops, and we know what happened to anyone who didn't like it.

There is nothing new about selective adherence to the Constitution.