Short Comments Medal of Honor Ceremony at Araby UMC near the Monocacy Battlefield, Frederick, MD March 2014

Brothers and Sisters of the Allied Orders, Friends, and Guest



This morning, I have the great privilege of representing the Department of the Chesapeake Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and on behalf of all the brothers of the department, I bring you greetings and offer their thanks to you for planning and continuing this yearly  Medal of Honor Ceremony. 

As Brothers of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, we have sworn to preserve the history and legacy of veteran heroes, such as 1^st Lt George Davis and Cpl. Alexander Scott, who fought to save the Union during the American Civil War.

I am proud to say this annual ceremony, conducted by the Antietam Camp #3, is the perfect expression of the commitment to carry out our obligation.

Today we are honoring two men who through shear will and dedication to duty contributed significantly to delaying Confederate General Jubal Early’s raid on Washington DC almost one hundred and fifty years ago.  1^st Lt Davis held the approaches to two bridges over the Monocacy against repeated assaults by superior forces materially contributing to the delay of Early and Corporal Scott, while exhausted and under heavy fire rallied the men of the 1oth Vermont by heroically carrying both his State Flag and the National Colors.

Some histories say that this battle was a loss, but it is in such losses that wars are won.  For the noble sacrifice of brave men in the face of an uncertain outcome would prove to be the salvation of our Capital City and we make no mistake when stating that the courage of 1^st Lt Davis and Corporal Scott was paramount in obtaining that final outcome. 

Such bravery as these two men displayed is a rare and special thing and it is only fitting that we are here today remembering them and ensuring that their spirit of patriotism and love of country is never forgotten



Thank you for you attention

Reflection: Thoughts while traveling cross-country by Train

The train is a community of strangers

brought together by self-imposed

circumstance.


The Dinning Car is the place where strangers

become acquaintances over Breakfast and

friends over Supper.


On the train you are never know whom

you will meet and make a connection with.

For the train is a place of diversity

which becomes a community through common experience.


The train is America on a micro-scale

many creeds, races, and origins

brought together in a common adventure.


The train proves that we can co-exist with, learn from,

and find comfort in the company of each other.

Thus, providing a poly-ethnic smorgasbord of cultural wonder.


I think we need more trains

Written by Mark R. Day, copywrite by Mark R. Day 3/3/2020, all rights reserved

Acceptance Speech on becoming Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War August 2017 (an excerpt taken from 2017 Proceedings of the Annual Encampment Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War)

Those of you who have the pleasure of knowing me well, know that I am not a man of few words, but I will try to be brief. It’s just part of my personality, unfortunately.

It's with a very humble heart that I stand here today before you as your Commander-in-Chief. You have given me a great honor and I will do my utmost to be faithful in my duties and to be worth the confidence that you have placed in me. Rest assured that our great Order’s promotion and success will be my primary concern and number one priority.

We are the inheritors of a mission. The mission that we inherited was to preserve and to inculcate the history of our forefathers and that is our primary goal. Earlier today, my friend, Jeff, spoke very eloquently to that very point in his Patriotic Instructor’s message. If we will not take up the cause and if we will not be the ones who will go forth and inculcate, teach, and ensure that the things this country stands for are preserved, then we should look at ourselves in the mirror with shame.

I will seek to move the SUVCW forward. We've talked often about this being the 21st century. We need to work hard to bring ourselves into this 21st century without forgetting the traditions, as Brother Wolz has so eloquently over this weekend, pointed out. I hope that we will continue to use this format (Masonic Arrangement) for our encampment. This is the way our ancestors met, and I think it's appropriate that we will meet the same.

As for my hopes and beliefs and dreams for this Organization, I hope that we will be able to become more visible to society in general. But to become more visible it will mean that we each of us in this room and all of the Brothers across this country, which I hope you will pass on to them, have to become active in promoting our visibility.  We have to go out and get people to notice us. People are not going to notice us if we just hope and wish for it. We must step out and be proactive in that goal.

I sincerely hope that we will be able to improve the internal communications of our organization, how we talk to each other, how we communicate with each other, and to that end I'm going to look to possibly create or investigate through Brother Jamie, the use of Skype in order that we might be able to have communications between the CinC and the Department Commanders. Coming up with some sort of regular way of doing that and I would hope that anyone who would succeed me would continue with that same goal.   We must work on telling each other what’s going on all over this country.   As I went around to Department Encampments, what I heard was, ”Nobody tells us what's going on. We’re just supposed to figure it out.”   We need to, from the top down, and from the Department to the Camps, communicate effectively what it is were doing.  So, one of my other things that I'm looking to do, is to talk with the Council of Administration on our use of communications.  Right now what we are good at is sending out general orders, but we are not good at communicating what it is we want you to do when we tell you something to do. So what, I think that we will try to look at is having a system of notices; so that when we have a new document, such as the Patriotic Instructors form, we can issue a notice that will actually tell you what it is we want you to do and why we are asking you to do it.  I also really want to try to work on, as a separate part of communications a CinC Newsletter or Memo.  

I'm a firm believer in fraternity, charity, and loyalty. I am encouraged by what has gone on here this weekend because I've been to many Encampments, and this was without a doubt one of the most civil. We treated each other like Brothers. And we had no arguments. And look what we did. We were done two hours before we had to be.

I will also try to work to develop stronger ties and relationships with the other Allied Orders. While I know that there are significant problems, that exist between us and the other Allied Orders over issues old and new, I feel that it is imperative that if we are going to live up to fraternity, charity, and loyalty, that we need to be open to trying to improve our relationships amongst all of the people who have the same goal, to honor, inculcate, and protect our ancestors’ history, so that is going to be another aspect of it.

I want to thank a couple of people in particular before closing, I told you I’m wordy. I'm sorry. I would like Steve Hammond to stand up for a second. Brothers, I would not be here today, standing here, if it were not for the Brotherly love and the selfless commitment made by Steve Hammond to take a young, you know figuratively a young man, who showed up at his first National Encampment in Harrisburg and to take that young man by the hand and show him the ropes; to show him that there was a sense of that Brotherly loyalty. He ensured that I knew what to do.

Let me explain what took place,  I walked into the National Encampment a neophyte. You must understand, my Camp was formed the previous March. I had gotten a phone call from my Camp Commander, “Will you go to the Department Encampment? I can’t go.” Of course, I'll go. And when I went there, I had the privilege of meeting Brother Darby. And his first impression was very favorable.  But while I'm at that Department Encampment, I still don't know what I'm doing. I’m just following the motions. At the end of that Encampment, somebody walks up, he says, “You’re a delegate at the National convention?”  And I'm like, “What?” So I went to Harrisburg. I walked in the door of that hotel. I was lost. Steve found me. He made it work for me and it became real. I thought on it and I said, you know, this Organization really is something I want to be involved in.  I had been a member for some time but now I was, at that point, fully engaged. I thank Steve Hammond for doing that for me.

I'd like Gene Mortorff to stand up for a second.  Gene once told me that when my Camp was forming down in Lynchburg, Virginia, that the Department of the Chesapeake, the Department of Maryland at that time, wasn't really sure that this was going to be a good idea. They were kind of tentative about the idea of having a bunch of guys that live that far below the Mason-Dixon Line be involved in this Organization and they were…so they were a little bit tentative but, you know, Gene is the reason why I moved up. If Gene had not seen something in me and appointed me Patriotic Instructor at the Department level, I wouldn't be here today. I owe a great deal to Gene, for putting me on the path to the place I am standing right now. So, thank you, Gene.

Of course, I need to thank one other person for their patience, perseverance, and I will warn them now that there will probably be some times that we will not be able to be together because I will be doing the business, and she will suffer through that. Because my wife, when I go away, my wife locks the house up and she goes upstairs, and she leaves the lights on. I'll be doing a lot of that going away, so I wanted you to know that I don't mind if the electric bill is very high. You do what you need to, honey. Thank you. Thank you for everything that you allow me to do because of you, without you and your support, I could not do this.

As far as schedule, I want to make myself available to attend things. I'm retired. I have two cars. I will alternate them to keep the mileage down…

…or I will take some of the money that you graciously provide and get a rental car, whatever. But I want to attend things. Faron Taylor, will you stand up? Faron Taylor is the Chief of Staff. I would like you to work through Faron Taylor. Faron is a “dot the I,” “cross the t” guy.  I am a rather pragmatic and sometimes slightly scatterbrained and need somebody like Faron. I want you to work through Faron, but I want you to send me invitations. I want to be aware of what you're doing. I've already been invited to Chicago. I had an invitation to go to London, and I wasn't even a Commander-in-Chief yet, but I need you to work through Faron. Everybody sees him. You know what he looks like.

 All right? So, we’re gonna work through Faron. We’re gonna have a good year. We’re gonna have a great year. When the year is over, we’re gonna have a better, bigger, stronger SUVCW but remember what I said, no one man standing right here, makes that happen. It takes you. and you, and him. It takes Freshley. It takes Danny. It even takes Larry back there.  Larry and I are friends, so he doesn’t mind I picked on him, but we need to be proactive. We passed several resolutions here. We need to go out and be committed to the things that we've said and done here. With that, I thank you. Once again, I cannot think of a greater honor in my entire life than what you have bestowed upon me today and I appreciate it more than you will ever know. 

Written and presented by Mark R. Day 8/12/2018.  Copywrite by Mark R. Day 3/4/2020, all rights reserved.

Very Short Remarks for Antietam Camp Mary Walker MOH Ceremony

Good morning.  What a wonderful setting this is for honoring Dr. Mary Walker and her singular achievement.  I bring with me the greetings of Eugene Mortorff the Commander in Chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, who unfortunately can not be here with us.  Commander-in Chief Mortorff asked me to present his best wishes to the Antietam Camp #3 and all those also to those in attendance.  This is my 5^th time attending a MOH ceremony put on by the Antietam Camp and I have come to appreciate all the work and effort made by the camp; to bring this ceremony to the pubic each year.  This year’s ceremony honoring Dr. Mary Walker is particularly significant and I applaud your choice of honoree’s.



Thank you for the invitation to speak and your attention

Comments for MOLLUS Congress / Gettysburg 10-28-17

                                                       

Commander Simmons, fellow members of MOLLUS, members of DOLLUS, and Guest.  


I bring the greetings of the more than 6000 brothers of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, who along with myself hope you are having a productive Congress.  While MOLLUS is not part of the Allied Orders associated with the Grand Army of the Republic, many of the brothers of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War can also be found among your ranks.   After all we have kindred missions to preserve the history of the men who fought a war to preserve the Union and at the same time free a people from the tyranny of slavery.



In a few weeks, I and perhaps many of you will return to Gettysburg and commemorate the 154^th anniversary of President Lincoln’s short comments during the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery; in which those who gave the last full measure of devotion lie at rest.  In that now famous speech President Lincoln said that the fields and streets of Gettysburg could not be consecrated by the words of man; for it had already been made hallowed by the blood of the brave men who have struggled here.  Regarding that struggle, I feel a connection with the words of Lincoln.  You see my Great Great Grandfather Richard Martin Lown, fought here atop Culp’s Hill with the 150^th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment.



Gettysburg was my Great Great Grandfather’s first battle; it is where he saw the Elephant and it is where he first saw men of his unit fight and die.  Having learned of his service and the service of his brothers in arms through the records and diaries they let behind, I believe he and his comrades would agree that the sacrifices made were great and that they would treasure the reverent words of Mr. Lincoln’s speech. 



I hope that each man in this room today would feel likewise; for the men of whom Mr. Lincoln spoke deserve our acts of remembrance, not only one day a year, but every day of the year.  Yet sadly, my fellow companions and brothers, the words of Lincoln, though etched deeply in the history of our country, may not be permanent.  They must be inculcated to each succeeding generation; lest they be lost in the swirling storm of events which shape our modern world.  Plainly stated the education of both our youth and our less historically informed fellow citizens must be one of our most pressing goals.  We must teach them to value the past and particularly the lessons of the American Civil War.   This task falls heavily on the shoulders of both MOLLUS and the SUVCW and we must not shirk from the responsibility.



Many forces are at work in America today with the intention of undermining history and to make the past seem less relevant.  Such a realignment of thinking, bathed in the waters of politics and clothed in the rich fabric of presentism may jeopardize our ability to fulfill our promise to perpetuate and keep green the memory of our honored ancestors in an uncertain future devoid of traditional norms.



In the coming years MOLLUS, the SUVCW, and all other Allied Orders of the Grand Army of the Republic in cooperation with other Veteran and Heritage groups must out of necessity work together if we are to be successful in promoting history education.  We will need to become more visible in our communities.  We will need to utilize media to get out our message and we must formulate cooperative long-term strategies for achieving our goals.



Companions and Brothers, I look forward to working with all my Brothers and Sisters who share my passion and my belief that we can overcome the challenges and ensure our ancestors are never forgotten.



Again, I thank you for the invitation to speak and for you kind and thoughtful attention.

Short Remarks for the Sons of Confederate Veterans Reunion, Franklin Tn, 19 July 2018

Good morning, I am Mark R. Day Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (Use if a formal introduction is not made.)

Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, I bring you the greetings of the members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, who extend their best wishes to you for a productive and harmonious reunion.

I am honored to have been invited to join you this morning to make a few short remarks and to once more show that a fraternal spirit, as evidenced in  our  common goals of preserving the history surrounding the Civil War and honoring the valor dedication and  self-sacrifice of our ancestors,  is never lost or forgotten.

These are challenging times for both of our organizations.  We find ourselves living in a world that seems, at times, to be turned upside down and unrecognizable from that into which we were born.

Bob Dylan once sang the words “The Times They are a Changing.” Never has that been truer than today. The future is revealing itself and change is occurring  at an ever increasing pace; it is important that our two organizations do everything in our power to keep the memory of our ancestors present in the minds of our fellow citizens.

Years ago at the SUVCW National Encampment in St Louis, one of your previous Commander-in-Chiefs made a statement, that our two organizations need to work together where possible and whenever possible; because if they didn’t both organizations would find themselves irrelevant and fail to achieve their goals.

I believe he was right.  We must seek to find those projects in which we have a common interest, and I believe this can be accomplished if we focus on the men who fought the war; our honored ancestors.

1.   We should promote their memory and ensure that the Civil War is taught in our children’s classrooms

2.   We should work to ensure that all veterans monuments are protected and preserved

3.   We must inculcate the citizens of our country on the story of the sacrifices that were made by the common soldier

4.   We must work to maintain the graves of the fallen and teach remembrance to our own children

I believe all these things are achievable, they must be achievable for the benefit of both organizations.

I want to again thank the Leadership of the Sons Confederate Veterans for this opportunity to speak to this reunion and want each of you to know that, I appreciate the hospitality you have provided me and the warmth and kindness you have shown this weekend. 

May God Bless each of you and may he bless our country.