CAMPTALK The monthly Newsletter of the Capt. J.J. Dickison Camp 1387, 10 th Brigade, Florida Division, Army of Tennessee, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Melbourne Florida Vol. 33 No. 6 June 2014 Chartered 28 March 1981 Editor Don Young June 2014 MEETING MEMAW s BBQ 600 East Eau Gallie Blvd. Indian Harbour Beach, Florida 6:00 PM 7:00 PM Order from menu 7:00 8:00 Program 8:00 8:45 Business Meeting. Meetings are the fourth Thursday of each month. Male descendants of men who served the Confederacy, their wives and others interested in the War For Southern Independence are invited to attend. CAMP OFFICERS CAMP STAFF Chaplain Tim Cobb 321-259-8391 Color Sgt Evan Phillips 321-961-9407 Treasurer Tom Watkins 321-254-0241 Q termaster Marc Thornton 321-698-4550 2 nd Lt. Rick Still 321-984-9967 Judge Advocate Don Lock 321-752-9276 1 st Lt. Don Young 321-452-3207 PIO Larry Thornton 321-208-1765 Adjutant Rick DeBord 321-631-7258 Editor Don Young 321-452-3207 Commander Kevin Atchison 321-242-1126 Heritage Don Young 321-452-3207 Recording Sec. Miss June 321-984-9967 COMMANDERS CORNER UDC/OCR Liaison Miss Lee 321-452-3207 Over the Memorial Day weekend Camp 1387 participated in the Melbourne parade on Monday the 27th of May. We had a very good contingent at the parade. This included our Camp Float, Color Guard, as well as the SCV Mechanized Calvary. Thanks to everyone who participated. Camp 1387 will participate in the 4 th of July parade in Melbourne, Florida. This parade will be similar to the Veteran s Day parade that we participate in each year. More details on this event will be available at our June camp meeting.
At our June Camp meeting, Robert Meeks will be presenting a very interesting program. He will be speaking about one of his ancestor's in the assassination attempt on Lincoln's cabinet just after the WBTS ended. Please support our Camp by attending this month s meeting. In Service to The South, Kevin Atchison Commander Camp 1387 EVENTS 03 Jun Happy Birthday President Davis, 1808 06 Jun 70 th Anniversary D-Day 26 Jun Camp Meeting 04 July Melbourne Independence Day Parade musters 9 by creek & trestle step off 10 10 July Camp Executive Committee Meeting 24 July Camp Meeting PROGRAM Lewis Thornton Powell Conspirator Compatriot Robert Meeks will present this program as we continue to look into the Lincoln assassination. Who was Lewis Powell (Payne) and what was his Florida connection? What set of bizarre circumstances led to his skull being buried in Geneva Florida while the rest of his remains are where? For one last twist, how are our own members Jim Meeks and his son Robert related to Powell? This folks is one you likely do not know much about, so y all come. Florida Division Reunion and 2014 2016 Officers by Jeff Sizemore June 6th through the 8th, the 44th annual SCV Florida Division Convention was held at the Holiday Inn in Ocala, Florida. There were two members of our camp in attendance Mike Reynolds and Don Young. In the first business session elections were held for Florida Division officers. There were three Lt. Commanders and one Brigade Commander that faced opposition when nominations were made from the floor. All other positions that the nominating committee presented were voted into office. Jim Davis remains our Florida Division Commander and Calvin Hart 1 st Lt. John Logue, Don Young, Harry Hurst and Mike Herring were elected to the remaining 4 Lt. Commander positions. The 10 th Brigade Commander remains Larry Rowe. There are scholarships available next year for anyone interested in sending a youth to the Sam Davis Youth Camp. The scholarship pays the fees, but it doesn t include transportation to get there. The Tampa Flags across Florida project is completed. Graves Committee s Kelly Crocker informed those in attendance that the project to locate every Confederate Veteran in the State of Florida and GPS their grave sites is not complete and some areas have not filed any update information. The SCV Florida Division has 50 camps in good standing. The Division presently has about 1200 members for a net loss of about 236 members last year. In the afternoon business session, presentations were given on the Best Practices and Lesson Learned by SCV Camps. The topics in this presentation included: (a) qualities of a Camp Commander; (b) Communications to the Camp Members; (c) Successful Camp Activities; (d) Community Relations; and (e) Major Projects
Melbourne Memorial Day Parade 15 men women and children of all ages and Sarah Lee in Widow s Weeds on float Dick Lee one of 8 Mechanized Cavalry riders Gerry Carson Greg Carson Marc Thornton Note the Gen. Lee paint work, very nice. Don Young Kevin Atchison Rob Murray Photos by prospective member Nick Nichols
The 2014 annual Memorial Day Parade was the 54 th sponsored by American Legion Post 81. Camp 1387 in recent years has participated in the new Rockledge event and has now returned to the Melbourne venue. The new float has proven an effective draw for camps in our area and 1387 was joined by elements of Camps 2120 Munnerlyn s Cattle Guard Battalion Christmas let by Commander Larry Rowe, 1680 Florida Cow Cavalry Vero Beach let by Commander Jason Frank, 1595 Pvt. George W. Thomas Ft. Pierce let by Commander Wesley Frank, and The Florida Mechanized Cavalry. There were also representatives from the OCR chapters of the different camps along with their children and grandchildren. Participant ages ranged from 8 to 80, we like seeing that! In all the SCV fielded 29 folks in our Color Guard, Float and Mech Cav presentations AND we really looked good! The sidewalk crowds were a bit larger than most parades of the past few years. There were more younger spectators and women in addition to the number of veterans. The crowds were receptive to our units and encouraging yells and thank you s came from the sidewalks. A tip of the kepi to the compatriots and OCR ladies who supported the event. It may not change minds but Vote anyhow They want to keep changing our school names, why not change theirs? Change "W. T. Sherman" School Names in NYC and Chicago, to vote go to Southern Legal Resource Center defending the rights of all Americans. Advocating for the Confederate community. http://slrc-csa.org/ The Florida Confederate Memorial Wall by Mike Herring Gentlemen, I am appealing to your Southern roots by asking you to consider a generous donation to "The Florida Confederate Memorial Wall" which will begin construction in a few days. Plans are to post 4,265 Florida soldiers who gave their lives to protect the sovereignty of our state during the War for Southern Independence. 10 panels measuring 4 foot x 6 foot will show the world names of those men much like the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington DC. Cost for the entire 40 foot wall is 8,500.00. We have pledges up to 4,000.00 at present so you can see the need. The Early Camp in Tampa is the developer of this project and we base our experience on the professional appearance and handling of Confederate Memorial Park. Please send check or money order to the following address and be part of a truly outstanding tribute to our soldiers who gave their all. Gen. Jubal A. Early Camp 556 PO Box 3893 Winter Haven, Florida 33885 Memo...TFCMW Chairman Robert Stemple johntstemple@gmail.com Commander David King 727 224 4484 Mike Herring 813 681 6922
*** Forward the Colors - Good news for a change Mayor Henderson Commissioner Strickland Cmdr. Gates UDC Pres. Macomber Maj. William M. Footman Camp 1950 in Fort Myers did our cause well this morning, 12 June, with the rededication of the Robert E. Lee bust renovation. After years of weather wear General Lee was atoned in bright gold and resting at the top of the monument downtown. Commander Rob Gates and his camp managed the entire project with many city and Lee County dignitaries on hand as you will see in the attached file. Gates is a past recipient of the Ulmer Award. Compliments to 15th Brigade Commander Tom Fyock, and member Charlie Hickman for their hours of work and planning. Also in attendance was Florida Division Heritage Chairman Graham Smith from Tallahassee and 11th Brigade Commander Leon Arthur. The Footman camp defended Lee's portrait in the Commissioners chambers earlier this year with a heritage victory. Mike Herring 5th Lt. Commander Florida Division Sons of Confederate Veterans
Confederate Flag at Citadel Protected Under State Law Attorney General Says Post & Courier Charleston June 10 2014 A Confederate naval jack hangs in the Summerall Chapel. Russell Pace/The Citadel. The Confederate Naval Jack flag in Summerall Chapel at The Citadel is allowed under state law, the Attorney General's Office announced today. "In our opinion, this flag would be protected in its present location by the Heritage Act as a 'monument' or 'memorial' erected on public property of the state," Solicitor General Robert D. Cook states in a letter to the two senators requesting the ruling. "The General Assembly has mandated, by virtue of the Heritage Act, that monuments and memorials honoring the gallantry and sacrifice of this state's various wars are protected," Cook says. "It is thus our opinion that the Flag referenced in your letter, the Confederate Battle Flag, placed in Summerall Hall in 1939 is protected by the Heritage Act," Cook says. Charleston County Council member Henry Darby raised questions about the appropriateness of the flag in a house of worship on The Citadel campus. Last week, County Council voted to delay disbursement of $975,000 in funding for the debt on Johnson Hagood Stadium renovations pending the outcome of the AG's opinion. "It's time for us to move on. It's not a battle between the county and The Citadel. It's not our fight," said County Council Chairman Teddie Pryor. Darby raised the issue at the request of constituents, Pryor said. Darby was not immediately available for comment. Pryor said the college will receive the check for stadium renovations in the new budget starting in July. Please keep compatriot George Khoury in your thoughts and prayers for serious health issues. George is a favored and entertaining member through his excellent programs.
Remains of 40 Confederate Soldiers Discovered in Virginia Cemetery By C r i s t i n a C o r b i n May 26, 2014 FoxNews.com Their remains sat, unmarked, in shallow graves at the Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg, Va., for decades. Now, some 150 years after the Civil War, the bodies of 40 Confederate soldiers discovered over the past two months will receive a proper memorial. "It's been very meaningful to us to find these spots, identify these soldiers and bring closure to families," said Ted Delaney, the cemetery's assistant director, who, along with a team of archaeologists, uncovered the exact resting place of some 40 Confederate soldiers as well as the plots where Union soldiers were once buried and later exhumed. Delaney told FoxNews.com that, beginning in April, the team dug a 45-by-10-foot trench within "Yankee Square" at the cemetery where they found a mix of red and orange squares, which they determined were Confederate soldiers' graves. He said 35 to 40 graves were found during this latest search and that 50 were uncovered in the same area last year. Delaney said he is now tasked with identifying each soldier's grave and giving it the tribute it deserves. "Our goal is to put a marker at each grave space to identify the soldier and note when he died and his military unit," said Delaney, who is optimistic about the project because, "the undertaker's notes are so detailed and complete." Full story and video: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/26/remains-40-confederatesoldiers-discovered-in-virginia-cemetery/?intcmp=trending
American Socialists Confederate soldiers fought to preserve the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Lincoln 's Gettysburg Address was a lie and no more than poetry from the lips of a lawyer. After the failed Socialist revolution of 1848 in Europe thousands of German Socialists came to New York City and joined with American Socialists and various radicals and fanatics to form the Republican Party in 1854. The Republican Party from 1854 to 1877 was what the Democratic party is today-- Socialist and anti-christian. Karl Marx helped them plan the American Civil War and set up the Ft. Sumter incident so war could be blamed on the South. There is nothing noble or honorable about the modern Republican Party referring to themselves as the "Party of Lincoln". Confederate General Robert E. Lee accurately predicted the result of the North's Socialist victory---"the consolidation of the Republic into a vast empire means that America will be aggressive abroad and despotic at home". The recent research that resulted in the book "Red Republicans And Lincoln Marxists" tells the story of the Socialist overthrow of the American Republic from 1848 thru 1865 and the expansion of Federal power and loss of individual liberty and freedom that has occurred over the past 150 years. Obama is finishing what Socialist and Atheist Abraham Lincoln started--the expansion of Federal power and total Federal control over the American people. Once sovereign states are now little more than glorified administrative districts submissive and answerable to a central imperial power in Washington D.C. James W. King SCV Camp 141 Commander Albany Georgia STONEWALL JACKSON'S SPEECH TO HIS TROOPS April 1861 "Men of the Valley, citizen soldiers... I am here at the order of Gen. Robert E. Lee, commanding all Virginia forces. On April 15 of this year of our Lord 1861, Simon Cameron, Sec. of War, the United States, sent a telegram to our Governor John Letcher, directing him to raise three regiments of infantry to be sent to assist in the suppression of the Southern Confederacy. Governor Letcher's answer is well known to you, but perhaps not his words..." His wire to Washington stated, You have chosen to inaugurate civil war, and having done so we will meet you in a spirit as determined as the Lincoln administration has exhibited toward the South.' "Two days later, the Virginia legislature voted for secession. Just as we would not send any of our soldiers to march in other states, and tyrannize other people, so will we never allow the armies of others to march into our state, and tyrannize our people. Like many of you, indeed most of you, I've always been a Union man. It is not with joy, or with a light heart that many of us have welcomed secession. Had our neighbors to the north practiced a less bellicose form of persuasion, perhaps this day may not have come... but, that day has been thrust upon us, like it was thrust upon our ancestors (American Revolution). The Lincoln administration has required us to raise three regiments...tell them we have done so. DISMISSED! " Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q-pks5jjie
Remembering Jefferson Finis Davis A True American Hero By: Calvin E. Johnson "Never teach your children to admit that their fathers' were wrong in their efforts to maintain the sovereignty, freedom and independence which was their birthright"---jefferson Davis. June 3, 2014, is the 206 th birthday of Jefferson Davis who was born in Christian County, Kentucky, on June 3, 1808. Memorials to Jefferson Davis include Georgia s Stone Mountain memorial carving of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, the Davis Monument on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, the Jefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site a Kentucky State Park commemorating the birthplace of Jefferson Davis President of the Confederate States of America, and. In 1931, a bronze statue of Jefferson Davis, sculptured by Virginia's Augustus Lukeman, was given to the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. by the State of Virginia? Davis served the United States as a soldier, statesmen and Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. He was also the first and only President of the Confederate States of America. Davis' father, Samuel Emory Davis, served in the Revolutionary War and participated in the siege of Savannah. Three of Jeff's older brothers served in the War of 1812, two under General Andrew Jackson. His father was from Georgia and mother Jane Cook Davis, daughter of a noted Baptist Preacher, was from North Carolina. Jefferson Davis was a strong Unionist but also a strong defender of the United States Constitution. Davis was indicted for treason but was never tried because some felt this might have been an indictment against the United States itself. He was however unjustly imprisoned for two years in Fort Monroe, Virginia before his release in 1867. Here are a few of his accomplishments: He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Fought valiantly in the War with Mexico. Served as United States Senator from Mississippi. Served as U.S. Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. Was first to suggest the transcontinental railroad to link Atlantic and Pacific Oceans First to suggest Panama Canal Zone Suggested the purchase of Cuba Appointed Robert E. Lee as Superintendent at West Point. Visiting Beauvoir, the last home of Jefferson Davis and Presidential Library, is a good way to better understand this man Davis. Read more about Beauvoir at: www.beauvoir.org. Jefferson Davis' last marriage was said to be a good one to Varina, who gave him two sons and two daughters (Jefferson, Margaret, Winnie and Billy). Winnie was nicknamed (Daughter of the Confederacy) as she was born during the time of the War Between the States. Billy was killed by an accidental fall at the Confederate White House in Richmond and in 1864, an abused black child named Jim Limber was adopted by the Davis family. Jefferson Davis died between 12:30 AM and 1:00 AM on December 6, 1889. The news of his death hit the front page of most Southern and even Northern newspapers like this: On December 13, 1889, the New York Times reported the Davis Funeral being the grandest ever seen in the South. The Sermon at Metairie Cemetery was delivered by Bishop Thompson of Mississippi. Bishop Gallaber delivered a brief sketch of Jefferson Davis' life...and a Church Choir sang an old time favorite "Rock of Ages" to end the service.