Cover Photo by Mark R. Day

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Message: "2013 Christmas Message to the 2nd Military District"


Brothers and families of the Second Military District,

     In this season of peace and joy, I am strengthened by the many acts of love and charity which are carried out without fanfare or notoriety.    Christmas is about our collective ability to share, to love, and to be loved.   In the story of the Grinch who stole Christmas; the Hoo’s welcome Christmas morning, in spite of having lost all the material goods they coveted, with the following tune Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas, Welcome Christmas, Come this way! Come this way! Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas, Welcome Christmas, Christmas Day.    These somewhat nonsensical words are the perfect expression of the true sense Christmas has in our lives throughout the years.  Christmas is the song we annually raise up and sing in an effort to renew our spirits and pronounce our faith in humanity.  In the celebration of Christmas we are reminded that there is a redemptive power, which can heal and renew our spirits as we watch Christmas stories such as “The Christmas Carol” or The Bells of St. Mary’s.  Christmas reminds us of our commitment to our fellow man and our challenge to eliminate ignorance and want.

     Our Civil War ancestors understood the true meaning of Christmas.   Soldiers far from home and hearth celebrated four Christmas Days in the far flung outpost and encampments of the Union Army.  I often am overcome by the strength they possessed and the dedication it took.  For the soldiers Christmas would have been bereft of the material things that many hold dear today.  My own experiences with Christmas in the service, during the 1st Persian Gulf War, are still a powerful reminder of how simple things like a box of cookies or that stale but wonderful apple sauce cake; were the perfect gift because they were filled with the love of family.

     The second stanza of the Hoo’s Christmas song says, “Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome Fah who rah-moose Fah who rah-moose Welcome, Welcome,  Welcome, Welcome Dah who dah-moose Dah who dah-moose Christmas day is in our grasp Christmas day is in our grasp So long as we have hands to clasp So long as we have hands to clasp”   It is my sincere hope that, in this joyous Christmas season, each of you will be clasped in the arms of your friends and family  and that, you may find the opportunity to clasp your fellow man in your own. 

May this be the year we truly realize peace on Earth and good Will to man. 

In Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty

Mark R. Day, Lt. Colonel
Commander 2nd Military District

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Speech: "Graveside Service Honoring George Washington Meals"


We are gathered to honor the life of George Washington Meals, a soldier of the American Civil War, however in the larger sense we are also honoring the legacy of an American family.   The progenitors of George Washington meals were among the first settlers of our nation.  In the Mid-Eighteenth Century Samuel Meals, George’s Great Grandfather came to Pennsylvania, from the German Rhineland, seeking the opportunity to enjoy a new life and following the American Revolution the Meals family grew and prospered.  Ultimately the family established itself in Adams County near the town of Gettysburg were George Washington Meal’s father Gabriel founded a monument works and George was born in 1840.  While, I have no direct evidence of it, patriotism and love of country must have been taught in the Meals home for Gabriel Meal’s children were staunch patriots.  In the nations hour of need George and his brother William both served in the Union Army and patriotism in the Meals family was not limited to the men but also ran deep in the character of the women of the family.  George’s sister Lydia bravely confronted Confederate soldiers who had plundered her home during the early stages of the Battle of Gettysburg and was only constrained, from pummeling the confederate soldiers verbally, by the insistence of her mother to be quiet.  

Today we specifically stand upon this sacred site to honor George Washington Meals, who served with Battery F, 4th United States Artillery.  His unit saw many battles, but most significantly he was present at the battle of Gettysburg in 1863 where he stood on his own families land and saw action repelling Pickett’s Charge on July 3rd 1863. While we can never know his thoughts at that moment, I believe he undoubtedly understood the meaning of the situation.  He was defending his home and the fate of the nation was hung in the balance.  Only victory would be a sufficient outcome and so he persevered and gave his all to achieve it.

Now on behalf of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, I publicly thank the George Washington Meals and his entire family for their dedication to our nation and I am honored to stand at the graveside of a soldier, a patriot, an American to whom we owe thanks for his service to preserve the Union in its darkest hour.   

 

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Letter to the Editor: "Council making big mistake on tourism"

     The recent events surrounding Lynchburg City Council, the local tourism board and the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce nothing less than tragic for the hundreds of businesses and thousands of individuals who rely on tourism in the greater Lynchburg region for their economic viability.
     To say that the majority of council members, supporting the dissolution of the current tourism board and the discontinuance of the cities contract with the chamber, are short-sighted and have undercut the city’s ability to advertise and promote itself is an understatement. In Charlottesville and Roanoke, they are cheering the unprecedented destruction of Virginia’s most honored and awarded tourism program, and these cities are looking to capitalize on Lynchburg’s mistake.

     Whatever the proprietary and budgetary reasons were, for City Council’s hostile takeover of tourism promotion in Lynchburg, they could not have outweighed valuable and productive work that had been accomplished by the chamber and the its staff over many years.  Irreplaceable personal contacts, award-winning programs and a highly respected reputation throughout the state have been thrown over in a coup d’état by an oligarchy comprised of politicians who have an agenda to obtain total control over decision-making regarding tourism.  For those who believe that government is best able to manage tourism rather than an outside agency, whose soul purpose is the promotion of business, I would ask, do you really think that is the best way to go? The tourism industry in Lynchburg will become yet another victim of bureaucratic tomfoolery, and it will become mired in the debate over resources and budgets, which will debilitate and stagnate economic recovery in Central Virginia.


MARK R. DAY
Lynchburg

Monday, November 4, 2013

Letter: Veteran's Day Message to the Second Military District, SVR


Commander Second Military District, SVR
Major Mark R. Day
104 Mullbury Place, Lynchburg, VA 24502
 
Brothers,
     On Monday the 11th of November,  our nation will once again honor the memory of the veterans who have served in its defense.  On Veterans Day 1961 then President John F. Kennedy made the following comments, "I do not believe that any nation in the history of the world has buried its soldiers father from its native soil than we Americans - or buried them closer to the towns in which they grew up."  After reading that short statement, I paused to think and realize that America's veterans have indeed shed their blood on their native soil and  every continent or ocean.  Beginning with the soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War and right up to our current operations in Afghanistan,  our nation has relied on its sons and daughters to offer themselves, their  families, and their treasure in sacrifice to the aims  of Freedom and Liberty  throughout the world.  
     This veterans Day, as we go about the normal chores and duties of home and work, let us remember that our world remains filled with tension and conflict.  America will always have need of Sons and daughters who are willing to commit to securing the freedom of our people.   Veterans Day must  never cease to be the day and time when we stand arm to arm and rank to rank in  a salute to those we owe such an immense debt of gratitude because:
They answered the call to duty
They left their homes to fight
They served with courage and honor
They held back the black veil of night
We owe them our deepest gratitude
We should honor them with our praise
They stood the watch in darkness
They are the bulwark of freedom and truth
Their nobility the light of hope in the midst of crisis
Their lives a testimony to Liberty's dream
     May the Lord God Bless the men and women who have served and who are serving even now.  May he protect them and deliver those who serve in far off places back to their loved ones.  Remember the Veterans on Veterans Day and all the days of the year " lest we forget"  the debt we owe to them.
In Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty
Mark R. Day
Commander Second Military District


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Poem: "A Poem for America's Veterans"


They answered the call to duty

They left their homes to fight

They served with courage and honor

They held back the black veil of night

We owe them our deepest gratitude

We should honor them with our praise

They stood the watch in darkness

They are the bulwark of freedom and truth

Their nobility the light of hope in the midst of crisis

Their lives a testimony to Liberty's dream
 
 
Written by Mark R. Day 11-3-13, Copyright by Mark R. Day 11-3-13, all rights reserved.

Poem: "The Invisible Host"


 
Silent always silent, but close within their  arms.

The hidden host is with us through every trial and storm

Though invisible to the eye, they live within our hearts

A memory of joyous moments and loving days gone by

They have made the transformation and prepare a place of joy.

They provide a strength that upholds us and fill our hearts with love.

So take the time to listen and remember to let them touch your soul.

Written by Mark R. Day 11-3-13 Copyright by Mark R. Day 11-3-13, all rights reserved

One of a series of poems inspired by the sermons of Rev. William Montgomery, Pastor of Heritage United Methodist Church, Lynchburg, Va during the summer and fall of 2013.

 

Poem: "Coming Home to the Celebration"


 
 

Welcome to the Party, which calls to every soul

A celebration of salvation, free from tears of fear and woe.

The invitation always open, regardless of sin or hasty life.

An act of reclamation, the sin reduced to ash

A celebration of renewal, the Party courses on.

Till all the lamps are lighted and the children all are home.

Written by Mark R. Day 11-3-13 Copyright by Mark R. Day 11-3-13, all rights reserved

One of a series of poems inspired by the sermons of Rev. William Montgomery, Pastor of Heritage United Methodist Church, Lynchburg, Va during the summer and fall of 2013.

 

 

Poem: "Prayer of Submission"


Calm me O Lord!

Sooth  my anger

Grant me love to share

 

Open my heart O Lord

instill tolerance in me

Grant me love to share

 

Open my eyes O Lord

to  the needs of others

Grant me love to share

 

Fill my mouth O Lord

with words to heal

Grant me love to share

 

Make me a Blessing O Lord

for all, that cross my path

Grant me love to Share

 

Written by Mark R. Day 11-3-13 Copyright by Mark R. Day 11-3-13, all rights reserved

One of a series of poems inspired by the sermons of Rev. William Montgomery, Pastor of Heritage United Methodist Church, Lynchburg, Va during the summer and fall of 2013.

Poem: "Farming for Hearts"


 

Every farmer understands the beauty of a seed

For the farmer  knows the bounty of his harvest will  spring from just such seeds.

Some people  will look at a seed and see a small and insignificant object.

Those people fail to see the possibility hidden in the tiny seed

They do not recognize the energy and zeal, that  lies within.

However, the farmer knows that if the seed is tended; its full potential will burst forth.

A human heart is very much like a seed unseen and holding unrealized beauty

Some people will never see the love a heart can give.

Pray, that like the farmer tends his crop, the people will tend to hearts

For there is a bountiful and beautiful harvest, awaiting to burst forth.
 
Written by Mark R. Day 11-3-13 Copyright by Mark R. Day 11-3-13, all rights reserved
One of a series of poems inspired by the sermons of Rev. William Montgomery, Pastor of Heritage United Methodist Church, Lynchburg, Va during the summer and fall of 2013.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Speech: Comments, I made at Rose Hill Cemetery, Hagerstown, MD 21 September 2013


     Good morning,  I am Mark Day, and I represent the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, the successor organization to the Grand Army of the Republic, and whose members are the descendants of the brave men who fought the War to Preserve the Union.  More over today, I stand here as the Commander of the Department of the Chesapeake Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, of which Maryland is part, to honor the men of Western Maryland, both Black and White or  Blue and Gray, who struggled throughout the terrible Civil War, which ripped our national union apart.

     The veterans of Western Maryland,  both those of the  Grand Army of the Republic and the United Confederate Veterans,  we recognize today all believed in the cause of  Liberty;  for which they willingly suffered and in many cases had witnessed friends and family die to preserve.  They were patriot hero's in every sense of the word and we owe them a debt, which can never be fully paid through either our oration or humble tokens of honor.

     Just for a moment try to place yourself in the position of these men from the towns and cities of Western Maryland.  Men with names such as Samuel Broom, Augustine Mason, Oliver Hicks, and Benjamin Brooks each stepped up to the recruiting table to become Musicians, Doctors, and Infantry soldiers fighting for the right to enjoy the fruits of their own labor, which we call Liberty.

     Following  the War the Grand Army of the Republic was represented by two post here in Hagerstown, the Reno Post and the Lyon Post.   During the terrible ordeal of the Civil War these men and their confederate counterparts were enemies, but following the war they became brothers in arms as they worked within their communities to support the widows and children of lost comrades and to honor the memory of the sacrifices made by soldiers of both sides through patriotic education of the public and participation in local civics.

      It is fitting therefore that we, the recipients of their sacrifice in the name of Liberty and Union, take time to  rededicate these monuments and dedicate a new monument to the men of Lyon Post #31.   These brothers have done their duty and passed the torch to us.  Now it is our duty to continue their yet unaccomplished task of preserving our nation's history and remembering that, the cost of our Liberty was found in the sacrifice of patriot blood.

     May God grant us the wisdom to always be a people who remember the sacrifices made by men in both Blue and Gray and may we also remember that they came together to help heal and reunite our nation as Americans.
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to speak.  May God bless our great Union and preserve our belief in Liberty for all mankind..
 
Written by Mark R. Day 21 September 2013 [10:30am], copyright by Mark R. Day, 21 September 2013, all rights reserved.

Note: This revised speech was the product of a hastily made change to the original when, I was told that my talk had to fit the programs theme "Reconciliation and Remembrance."  I was asked to speak at the Confederate cemetery re-dedication and the local commander of the SCV was to speak at the re-dedication of the Reno GAR marker.

Speech: Comments, I planned to give at Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown, MD 21 September 2013


     Good morning,  I am Mark Day, and I represent the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, the successor organization to the Grand Army of the Republic, and whose members are the descendants of the brave men who fought the War to Preserve the Union.  More over today, I stand here as the Commander of the Department of the Chesapeake Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, of which Maryland is part, to honor the men of Western Maryland, both Black and White, who fought to ensure the survival of the United States of America and the long standing ideal, which had been inculcated in our national identity, that "All Men are Created Equal." 

     The men of Western Maryland,  whose Grand Army of the Republic Post's , we recognize today all believed in the causes of  Liberty and Union; for which they willingly suffered and in many cases had witnessed friends and family die to preserve.  They were patriot hero's in every sense of the word and we owe them a debt, which can never be fully paid through either our oration or humble tokens of honor.

     Just for a moment try to place yourself in the position of these men and particularly in the shoes  of the African American men who would answer the call to take up arms.   On January first 1863 Abraham Lincoln through the Emancipation Proclamation  declared "All persons held as slaves within the said designated states and parts of states are, and henceforward shall be free . . . And, I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States . . . "  In the towns and cities of Western Maryland men with names such as Samuel Broom, Oliver Hicks, and Benjamin Brooks stepped up to the recruiting table to join units such as the 19th USCT and 1st United States Colored Infantry.   Free men fighting for the freedom of an entire race and the right to enjoy the fruits of their own labor called Liberty.

     Following  the War the Grand Army of the Republic was represented by two post here in Hagerstown, the Reno Post and the Lyon Post.   During the terrible ordeal of the Civil War these men were brothers in arms and in the post war they continued to work within the communities to support the widows and children of lost comrades and they worked to honor the memory of the sacrifices made by the Union soldiers through the patriotic education the public and participation in local civics.

      It is fitting therefore that we, the recipients of their sacrifice in the name of Liberty and Union, take time to  rededicate the Reno Post monument and dedicate a new monument to the Lyon Post.   These brothers have done their duty and passed the torch to us.  Now it is our duty to continue their yet unaccomplished task of preserving our nation's history and remembering that, the cost of our Liberty was found in the sacrifice of patriot blood.

     May God grant us the wisdom to always be a people who remember and may God bless our great Union and preserve our belief in Liberty for all mankind..


Written by Mark R. Day 16 September 2013, copyright by Mark R. Day, 16 September 2013, all rights reserved

Monday, September 2, 2013

Comments on the September 11, 2012 Benghazi incident


On the topic of Benghazi, I believe that the current administration [Obama]was actually caught off guard by an  event that to any outside observer  seemed inevitable.  The Administration simply did not take reasonable precautions based on the nature of the situation in Libya and underestimated the potential insurgent response to American involvement in Libya .  I must also admit that, I have a problem in forming a complete understanding of the attack on the Benghazi embassy because there has never been a complete telling of this story with all of the pertinent details.  As a result I am left to postulate my current position, minus the political rhetoric,  which  is to blame the deaths of four Americans on the State Departments failure to seek proper protection for the ambassador and the ambassador's own personal disregard for his safety.  Like so many current day events, which most Americans hear or see in thirty second sound bites and bathed in the passion of political posturing, the death of the American ambassador and his protection unit is a major event.  However, Benghazi like events have happened before in our national history and will undoubtedly continue to happen well into our future because our government often is compelled to place Americans,  in the military or in the foreign service,  on the edge of danger to gather intelligence and monitor situations.  For example, In China, at the turn of the century the United States had a enclave in the capital city of Beijing, which was attacked by the Boxer's during their attempt to throw the westerners out at the turn of the century.  Later also in China there was an incident on the Yangtze River in the 1930's, when American patrol boats, The American China Squadron, came under attack by forces of Japan prior to the start of World War II, and of course there was the USS Liberty incident in the 1970's where the Israeli Navy sank an American spy ship during the War Yam Kippur War.  I am sure that in their time each of these previously mentioned events must have caught the attention of the media and I am equally sure there were calls for investigations by Congress.  However that is the nature of the beast, you have to be on the ground to really know what is happening and it may not always be easy to prevent the loss of lives.  In fact we must conclude that the lives of the men in Benghazi were lost in the service of protecting American interest.   

Sunday, September 1, 2013

An Essay on American Foreign Policy


     George Washington's celebrated foreign policy position of neutrality regarding the internal conflicts of European and other foreign nations has long since sealed its position and relevance as a primary fundamental of American Foreign Policy. I would also allow that Thomas Jefferson, a more liberal and cosmopolitan founding father than Washington established the parameters for the use of our military forces when intervening in foreign affairs.  
Jefferson may have used his powers as Commander in Chief to employ the Navy and the Marine Corps to raid and invade the Barbary Coast of North Africa, and eradicate the threat posed by pirates but Jefferson's intervention policy was purely intended to preserve and defend the rights of Americans' and protect American economic investment.  The plan took no intrinsic stand and contained no altruistic or egalitarian ideals.   

 
    From these facts it could be concluded, that when the foreign policies of Washington and Jefferson are coupled they establish a guideline for American foreign policy, which calls for restraint from involvement in conflicts, which do not directly impact the safety and livelihood of our people while allowing for quick and decisive action to prevent harm if America was directly threatened physically or economically. This policy, which was intended to limit the use of military force, served us very well during the formative years of our republic and into the early years of the Twentieth Century.  Of course there were occasional adventures outside of these traditional boundaries.  For example the opening of Japan by Perry, the annexation of Hawaii,  and the Banana Republic policies in the Caribbean and Central American states reflected American trade policies that required aggressive foreign intervention.  However,  the first real modification to American foreign policy came with the inclusion of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.  Roosevelt's policy was the first mention of American forces being used to police other countries and allow for independent American  military action to hold them accountable.  Wither or not President Theodore Roosevelt intended this new addendum to the legacy of Washington and Jefferson to be used only in situations where American citizens and American interest were under duress we can not know, but his new policy precipitated a shift from restraint and added a proactive, Big Stick, intervention component to American foreign policy.
 

     Interestingly even with this new concept of, an interventionist, foreign policy American entry in the First and Second World Wars was, for the most part, still restrained and required a tremendous amount of propaganda, on the part of the British, and the provocation of unrestricted submarine warfare, on the part of Germany, to bring us into World War I and twenty years later the attack on Pearl Harbor, by Japan, was required to overcome American isolationist restraint before becoming convinced that engagement in a foreign war was necessary.   In fact, an argument could be made, that even though America broke away from its traditional foreign policy of non-intervention and participated in the two World Wars, that decision still reflected the principles for military action defined by Jefferson because they meet the requirement for proof that American interest were in danger, much as it had been in the time of the Barbary Pirates.

 
     Now here we are today, embroiled in an never-ending cycle of conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.  There is no doubt that the use of Chemical weapons by the Syrian government against its own people was deplorable but what has changed in American foreign policy, that makes the use of American missiles against a sovereign foreign state in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons, that had no impact on Americans or American economic interest possible.   If you look at his through the lens of the foreign policy precedents established by Washington and Jefferson the question of American intervention in Syria seems rhetorical and irrelevant.  Similarly the application of the Roosevelt Corollary's "Big Stick" policing policy fails to apply to Syria for the same reasons because there is no actual proof that the Syrian Civil War has impacted American interest.  How then did protecting the lives of foreign citizens in a foreign state become the America's obligation?  Let's propose the following thoughts as possible answers.  First, following World War II America found itself embroiled in an ideological battle for the world with Communist Russia. I believe that our leaders felt that we had to clearly define ourselves as the champions of the oppressed people of the world in order to draw a clear distinction between ourselves and our opponents in the Cold War. This new definition of what America is and what it stands for has shaped all our foreign policies since 1945. Second, in the aftermath of World War II, our leaders and intellectuals where convinced that they had to ensure Wilsonian Liberalism became the basis of human and international relations. I think they believed the failure to follow Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Point's had directly lead to the tragedy of World War II. Third, the Holocaust and unparalleled civilian death toll from World War II forced us to re-evaluate the effect of conflict on common men, women, and children. This new view of our common humanity lead to a quest for universal human rights as exemplified by global health and food programs to ensure life, global suffrage movements and the end of discrimination to promote liberty, and finally global fight for fare wages and private ownership to promote the pursuit of economic success.

 
     For more than seventy years the United States  stood at the forefront of the fight to bring about these changes and our foreign policy evolved to provide monetary means and military support for all who endeavored to overcome oppression. Policies such as the Truman Doctrine were created to state our new goals for the world wide preservation and expansion of democracy.  Then later with the coming of  global communications the world seemed to be shrinking.  We began to read stories of human suffering and the atrocities of Communism and with the introduction of mass world wide real time satellite communications,  Americans' reached a sense of unity of purpose in the cause of providing safety and human rights to all mankind.  During the forty years of Cold War Era American foreign policy was focused on the defeat of Communism and the betterment of our fellow human beings.  However our realities changed with the sudden fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union  in the 1990's as those events brought about a new period of history in, which the United States has found itself in the position of having won the war but being unsure and unsatisfied with the outcome.  Much of what America fought for in the push to achieve Wilsonian Liberal Democracy had been accomplished. The evidence of American success can be found throughout the world.  The end of segregation in South Africa, the establishment of nations based on the ideal of popular sovereignty and self determination in the third world, and the ability to have private ownership of property in Russia and China stand as stunning successes. However, all the new nations were not democratic and in some cases the people chose to form and live under governments that failed our American litmus test.  Many American foreign policy leaders saw a world in chaos seemingly out of control and disordered.  The end of the Cold War had released a tremendous pent up desire for nationalism and political reform not seen since the middle of the nineteenth century.  Revolution and change were in the air of the former Soviet Republics, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.  In many cases these movements took shapes and styles which looked, to us, undemocratic and repressive even though they were the fulfillment of the self-determination process advocated by Wilsonian Liberalism. Lacking an understanding of the cultural and social forces at work in these countries, we strove to re-educate and if necessary prod, or bribe them with dollar diplomacy to take another direction and we condemned them if they failed to comply. Unlike the rest of the world the United States still clung to the super power / defender of democracy and human rights identity it had created for itself during the Cold War Era and this has influenced our foreign policy negatively. We have not accepted the obvious victory of our ideology of Wilsonian Liberalism and its impact on the modern world. In some instances the revolutions of the last twenty years were peaceful but for the most part they were meet by resistance from the tumbling governments of totalitarianism in places like Yugoslavia.  Later still came violent revolution and change to  Egypt, Burma, Tunisia, Libya and now Syria.  America found itself in a conundrum over foreign policy, should America involve itself in these new nations to ensure the rise of democratic governments or should we allow the people to create their own institution of government.  It is this conundrum which has lead to our current predicament.  American foreign policy planners failed to remember that our own struggle to form a nation took a rebellion, then more than twenty years of political compromise and strife, and finally a Civil War to be accomplished. The question of America's survival in those early years had been in doubt; just as it is in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and so many other places today, but left to our own solutions we inevitably worked through the problems of slavery, states' rights, and national identity emerging a stronger and more unified people and nation.  Our most significant failure in dealing with the end of the Cold War has been to not let the emerging nations work out their own problems and assuming that these nations need American supervision as they grow and learn how to govern themselves.  

 
     Often we have taken very self-serving foreign policy stances for our own economic benefit.  The 1990-91 War with Iraq, also known as Desert Shield / Desert Storm is an example of our self-interest and indulgence in interventionism to preserve our economy.   Yes, Saddam did brutally attack  Kuwait and his forces were barbaric in their behavior, but was that the primary reason for intervention?  Where the babies that were taken from their incubators truly our main concern?  In truth the problem was Saudi Arabia and Saudi Oil.  In this case American interest and American economics were in danger from a foreign power and therefore the use of military forces was justified under the Washington Jefferson model.   Unfortunately the continuing  presence of Saddam Hussein and our ongoing problems dealing with the emerging Iranian government, post Shah, lead us to impose ourselves on the hospitality of Middle Eastern nations in the Persian Gulf to allow large scale basing of American military assets.  The establishment of a permanent military presence in the Middle East directly lead to the rise of radicals like Osama Bin Laden, who called for an end to the foreign presence and its perceived threat to corrupt Islamic culture. 

 
     Then in 2003 George H.W. Bush took American Foreign interventionist to new levels when America invaded the nation of Iraq without provocation and under the pretense that we were conducting a preemptive strike aimed at protecting the world from Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. With this invasion of Iraq in 2003 President Bush had unilaterally extended the Roosevelt Corollary to include the Eastern Hemisphere under the police power of the United States and for ten years we have fought to police the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Koreans, and Iranians. We now have a foreign policy that is handcuffed by its belligerent nature and worldwide scope.  American foreign policy is no longer capable of preserving the peace or protecting American interest but rather it has exposed our weakness to our enemies.  In the last twenty years the nations and people of the world have begun a process not unlike that, which was used to establish America and to search for and even to establish new identities for themselves in a  post Cold War Era.   Unfortunately American foreign policy leaders have sought to preserve the status quo antebellum and have painted the changes in the world as an ideological struggle, this time with what they perceive as extremist Islam and they have not looked to America's own history for examples or models of behavior that would allow the people of these new countries work out their problems themselves.   As a result our insistent involvement in the internal affairs of other nations has provoked the ire of those who see our meddling as outside interference and they have struck back at us in horrendous ways.
Inevitably we used military force to intervene and then took it upon ourselves to undertake the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanistan, two countries which were seen as radical and extreme, into model democracies based on our American model of government and our nation rebuilding experience in Japan or Germany following World War II.  This proved to be a both an impossible task and a public relations disaster because we continually fail to take cultural differences and religious differences into account during our involvement. Clearly our foreign policy has become counterproductive, isolated us from our traditional allies, and diluted the power of the United Nations as a force for peace. Our current policy has in fact had the effect of doing exactly the opposite of what Washington and Jefferson sought to do for it has put American lives and American property at risk around the world and at home.

 
 
       So in conclusion let me make these final observations. First, American foreign policy in the Twenty-first Century should return to the ideals of Washington and Jefferson and intervention should only occur when American lives and property are imminently in danger.  Second, we should allow these new nations and their people room to grow and offer them the same opportunity, that we had to resolve their problems without outside  interference.  Lastly, we should accept that the wars of ideology are a fabrication of our cultural bias, that the world has changed and no longer fits into our redundent Cold War understanding, and that we must find a way to reestablish our original American purpose and identity in order to offer an example of a nations good citizenship and virtue in the world.


written by: Mark R. Day 9/01/13, copyright by Mark R. Day 9/01/13 all rights reserved

 

 

Friday, August 2, 2013

Quote: Age Equals Flexability or Failure



"Just like concrete we age and harden in our ways, until we ultimately wear down from the passage of time becoming brittle and beginning to crack and flake. As this process takes place our resolve weakens and change is gradually effected until we accept the wisdom of flexibility; lest we crack into pieces no longer useful to society."

Mark Day August 2, 2013



Inspired by a Facebook status post from a friend

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Civil War Battle of Gettysburg - Culp's Hill



Filmed and edited by Emmy Award winning editor and Central Virginia resident Andrew Prasse this clip provides the viewer a realistic look at the fight at Culp's Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg.  Once again Andrew's cinematographic and editing skills have created a stunning portrayal of history.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Letter: Note to the members of the 14th Michigan Infantry (SVR)

July 1, 2013


Gentlemen of the 14th Michigan,

Please allow me to thank you for the '"green Neckerchief" which was presented to me this past weekend at the Peace Light in Gettysburg. I am honored to be considered a member of the 14th and will always treasure the neckerchief as a sign of our brotherly connections and fidelity. I will always wear the green neckerchief and carry the shamrock coin when in my uniform.

I hope that the months ahead will be good ones for you and yours and I will look forward to a time in the future when we may meet once again as brothers of the SUVCW and SVR to pay honor to our ancestors who fought to preserve our great nation and win equality for all men.

In Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty
your friend and servant


Mark R. Day
Commander 2nd Military District SVR
Commander Department of the Chesapeake

Monday, June 24, 2013

Prayer: Morning Prayer Sunday 6/23/13


Gentle and Gracious Lord be among us this very moment and draw us closer to you; for it is from you lord that every good and perfect gift comes.  We ask that you lift us up to be a joy filled people who seek the treasure of heaven and we give thanks lord, that you are always in our midst walking with us in our daily life.  We have seen your face in the despair, illness and suffering of so many, you are seen in the hungry and homeless, and you are seen in the humble faces of Gods children in every corner of our world.  But lord you are the great physician who can heal all wounds and bring joy to all hearts.  We pray today lord for those in need of your gentle healing hand because of illness.  We likewise pray that you will empower us to help lift those who suffer from hunger out of despair; allowing both them  and us the opportunity to experience the joy of your spirit as it fills our hearts with hope.  Lord there may be some among us today or those we know that have special needs we pray that you reach out to them and reassure them with your special touch and open our hearts that we may stretch forth our hands to comfort and support our brothers and sisters in their moment of need.

 
We pray today for the world wide church and our brothers and sisters in Christ in every nation.  We pray that the work of our Annual Conference, now meeting , will advance the Kingdom of God here on Earth.  We pray for our Pastors' Will and Meagan as they attend the Annual Conference and ask that they be returned to us in safety as they travel home this afternoon.  We give our thanks to you Lord for leading Meagan and allowing her to fulfill her call to ministry and we pray that she will always be filled with Joy as she does your work among us and where ever you may lead.  We also ask your blessing on the members of the Appalachian Service Team, which was commissioned at the early service.  Grant them safe travel and use them to spread your word.

 
Finally Lord we pray that you will give wisdom to the leaders of all nations and send the Holy Spirit to inscribe your grace on the hearts of all men and through your Holy Spirit make love for our fellow man and woman our unwavering  goal.

 
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior Amen
 
 
Written for Morning Prayer at Heritage United Methodist Church in Lynchburg Va 6/23/13

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Poem: "What is a Memory"



Memories live in  faded photographs and clips of childhood hair.

Wisp of thought that lay in wait for a ocean breeze or scent of cotton candy

Then rush forth and bring that slight smile to the lips

 

Memories are the ghostly manifestations of our lives in retrospective

entangled echo's of  pain, laughter, and heartbreak cast upon the conscience   

Making the soul reflect on the many moments that transpire in a lifetime

 

Memories are a human beings most precious possession

provocative and evocative symbols which teach us the truth about ourselves

Setting us free to remember the things we loved and the things we lost

 

Memories are essential aspects of the human condition

immutable, intrinsic, and extraordinary evidence that we have lived

Fulfilling and completing our stories
 
Written by Mark R. Day 18 June 2013, Copyright by Mark R. Day 18 June 2013, all rights reserved

 

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Letter to the Editor: A Predilection to Seeking the Protection of the State Equals a loss of Liberty


    
The recent revelations about domestic spying by the National Security Agency, which is feeding the fear of individuals reminded me of the following statement, "Government is never so dangerous as it is when giving you what you ask for." I have seen and heard so many people say they can live with this sort of tyranny because it makes them safe, but in fact we are neither safe or free from fear as long as the people continue to accept this sort of governmental intrusion of our privacy. Simply saying that this spying is being done for a good purpose does not make it the right thing to do and misleads the average citizen to believe the government is working in his best interest. I however, cannot agree that the government is working in our best interest and am convinced, that we are in trouble as a democratic people because we have abrogated our freedoms to the whim of the government and its unelected bureaucracy. Perhaps Thomas Hobbes was correct when he wrote, that the Natural State of Humans was to be driven by passion rather than reason. This attitude Hobbes argues, would lead to a "war of all against all" (bellum omnium contra omnes) and in such a state, people fear death, lack the things necessary to commodious living, and accede to a sovereign authority, to whom all individuals in that society cede some rights for the sake of protection.

 

I believe that while, we and our politicians talk about preserving our Republican form of government and individual freedoms bequeathed to use by our founding fathers, that are based on an alternative to the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes written by John Locke and state that citizens "[people] are sovereign and government can never have the power to take for themselves any part of the people's property without the consent of the people," we have moved away from the founders beliefs and now find ourselves a nation and political system that men such as Jefferson, Mason, and James Monroe would no longer recognize. In many ways through our predilection for governmental regulations and protection, or by acquiescence to the will of government and the disuse of the right to popular sovereignty by the citizens; democracies and republics die. You need only look to history to find examples where under similar stresses Republics in every case failed and were replaced by various forms of tyrannical rule.


We have evaded our responsibility and the government has assumed powers that we have passively let slip away from our control. Private telephone communications, photographs, and other personal intellectual properties that the government has collected via our phone records or Internet activity are legitimately the property of the citizen. What Thomas Jefferson once said over the issue of Slavery, I now say over the issue of governmental intrusion in the lives of the citizen " I tremble for my country." The Constitution opens with the words "We the People" for a reason and now is the time for the citizens of our great democracy to step forward and say no in one voice.  Only by taking a unified stand and communicating our desire, for an end to this over-reach of governmental power, to our elected representatives can we regain control of our government and ensure the continuation of democracy and freedom.

 

 

Mark R. Day

10 June 2013

Lynchburg, VA


Saturday, June 1, 2013

Prayer: Memorial Day Offerings


First read on May 26th 2013.

Dear lord we thank you for the bounty you have provided for us. We ask that you accept these our humble offerings and multiply them for use in your earthly kingdom.

We pray that these offerings will be used to forward the work of both our church and the church universal.  May they help spread the Gospel, aid in the ending of ignorance, war,  and  poverty, and in time secure your loving embrace for all mankind.

Finally, we would ask  your grace and peace for the souls of those who gave the gift of their lives to ensure our safety; for  Jesus  teaches us  there  is no greater gift than to lay down our lives for a fellow man or woman.

We ask this in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord and our Savior who gave his life so that all mankind could receive the Grace and Love of God now and forever.

Amen

Read on 26 may 2013 Written by Mark R. Day and copyrighted by Mark R. Day 26 may 2013 , all rights reserved

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Speech: "Department of the Chesapeake Commanders Address Memorial Day, 30 May, Arlington National Cemetery"


Department of the Chesapeake Commanders Address Memorial Day, 30 May, Arlington National Cemetery



On Memorial Day May 30th 1884, Oliver Wendell Holmes began a speech to the John Sedgewick Post #4 Grand Army of the Republic by saying the following:

"Not long ago I heard a young man ask why people still kept up Memorial Day, and it set me thinking of the answer. Not the answer that you and I should give to each other-not the expression of those feelings that, so long as you live, will make this day sacred to memories of love and grief and heroic youth--but an answer which should command the assent of those who do not share our memories, and in which we of the North and our brethren of the South could join in perfect accord."

Today, I as Judge Holmes did one hundred and twenty-nine years ago, find myself speaking to the proverbial choir.  Those of us gathered together in this most sacred place need not be reminded of why we continue to honor the memory of the sacrifice made by the heroic men buried all around us.  For us Memorial Day is rife with meaning and rich in the traditions of our long association with this hallowed anniversary.

However, many of our fellow citizens find themselves indifferent to the occasion, bereft of our enthusiasm and commitment. Beguiled by commercialism and self interest, striped of the traditions, which have united us for more than  one hundred and forty-five years, much of the American population has lost touch with the reason for this observance.  In his speech in 1884 Judge Holmes commented that "To fight out a war, you must believe something and want something with all your might . . . that you must be willing to commit yourself to a course . . . without being able to forsee exactly where you will come out."   In General Order #11 John Logan put himself at the forefront of the fight.  He set out to ensure that the memory of the men, who proved themselves through heroism and devotion to country, would never be lost.  Logan himself tells us our duty when he says we are to preserving and strengthen the fraternal feelings which bind us to the men, we are to assure that our progeny cherish the memory of the dead, and we are to "let no vandalism of avarice, no ravages of time testify to the present or coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of our free and undivided republic."

So here we are, a band of brothers and sisters bound to honor the men who lie buried on these gently sloping hills or in far flung graves both named and unnamed.  We will continue to embrace them all in the loving remembrance that is due to them and we shall remain true to the that portion of General Order 11, which says cherish the memory of the dead.  However, we will not have fully met the objective of that order unless we take up the fight to battle against he vandalism of avarice.  Oliver Holmes told the men of the GAR you must commit to a course of action for which you cannot foresee the outcome.  Victory can only be won by those who preserver in the face of daunting odds.  Today we are the vanguard of an army consisting of our brothers and sisters in the Allied Orders, and the victory is ours to win or lose  Therefore we must be the voice of these our honored dead and we must teach our fellow citizens to honor the traditions so important to our ancestors.  So to must we reach out to our children and inculcate them in the rituals and tributes required to honor and remember the past.  Yes it is our task and we must not fail in this our duty to keep the tradition and meaning of Memorial Day alive.

I thank you for listening and I thank you for your passion in the cause of remembering our soldiers of every war.

May God grant you his grace as you travel from this hallowed place and may God grant us the strength to keep faith with these heroic men, gone from sight, but yet with us as long as we live up to the sacred trust we have been given.

 
 
Written by Mark R. Day. Copyright by Mark R. Day, 5/23/13, all rights reserved
"This speech was given at the Old Amphitheater, Arlington National Cemetery, on 30 May 2013 as part of the traditional Memorial Day Ceremony's held by the Lincoln-Cushing Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War."