THE STAR CIRCLED BANNER

"And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, from this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remembered, --we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition: and gentlemen in England now a-bed shall think themselves a-curs-ed they were not here, and hold their manhood's cheap while any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day." Act IV, Scene III, King Henry V, by William Shakespeare.

At the 1989 SCV Reunion in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the following Resolution was overwhelmingly adopted:

"....BE IT RESOLVED, that the Sons of Confederate Veterans in General Convention assembled in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, does hereby condemn in the strongest terms possible the use of the Confederate Battle Flag or any other flag, symbol, seal, title or name bearing any relationship whatsoever to the Confederate States of America, or the armed forces of that government by any such extremist group or individual, of whatever name or designation by which known, and, LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED, ....[the SCV] does hereby condemn in the strongest terms possible....[those] who espouse political extremism or racial superiority." This was adopted on the 19th day of August 1989 bearing the General Order #89-2, and signed by William Earl Faggert, Commander-in-Chief, SCV.

Compatriots,

We will be having our regular meeting on May 4, 2010 in the back room at Michaels Rest. on hwy 411 North in Etowah. Please note this change and let our other members know as well. We will meet at 6 p.m. as normal, have time to order a meal and then get our business done. We do not have a speaker scheduled right now but we are working on that and will let you know as soon as that is set.

I Remain, As Ever, Your Servant,

James A. Staton, Commander

"It can not be empasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ." Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry is most remembered for his "Give me liberty or give death" statement, but rarely will we see the full context from which that statement was taken. Patrick Henry was a follower of Jesus Christ and one of the founders of this nation. If you research the statements of our founders concerning their faith you will find a strong Christian ethic in every one of them. They followed Christ without reservation and certainly would never have entertained the slightest notion of removing Jesus Christ from the public discourse. It is my belief that our founders were protecting the Christian churches when they spoke of the government not establishing an official "religion." They certainly had no intention of protecting every false religion and excluding Christianity. But that is what is happening in our nation today. We have come to a critical point in our history and if we don't get back to our founding principles we will fail as a nation.

I ask that all of us do the research for ourselves and not just believe what we are told, even by our religious leaders. God is patient, but for how long? "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all nations that forget God." Psalm 9:17

"An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not of the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." This is the full context of that famous speech. Stand up for Jesus! Deo Vindice, Chaplain William McKiven

PRESIDENT DWIGHT EISENHOWER'S COMMENTS ON ROBERT E LEE

President Dwight Eisenhower wrote the following letter in response to one he received dated August 1, 1960, from Leon W. Scott, a dentist in New Rochelle, New York. Scott’s letter reads:

“At the Republican Convention I heard you mention that you have the pictures of four (4) great Americans in your office, and that included in these is a picture of Robert E. Lee.

“I do not understand how any American can include Robert E. Lee as a person to be emulated, and why the President of the United States of America should do so is certainly beyond me.

“The most outstanding thing that Robert E. Lee did was to devote his best efforts to the destruction of the United States Government, and I am sure that you do not say that a person who tries to destroy our Government is worthy of being hailed as one of our heroes.

Eisenhower's response, written on White House letterhead on August 9, 1960 reads as follows:

Respecting your August 1 inquiry calling attention to my often expressed admiration for General Robert E. Lee, I would say, first, that we need to understand that at the time of the War Between the States the issue of Secession had remained unresolved for more than 70 years. Men of probity, character, public standing and unquestioned loyalty, both North and South, had disagreed over this issue as a matter of principle from the day our Constitution was adopted.

General Robert E. Lee was, in my estimation, one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation. He believed unswervingly in the Constitutional validity of his cause which until 1865 was still an arguable question in America; he was thoughtful yet demanding of his officers and men, forbearing with captured enemies but ingenious, unrelenting and personally courageous in battle, and never disheartened by a reverse or obstacle. Through all his many trials, he remained selfless almost to a fault and unfailing in his belief in God. Taken altogether, he was noble as a leader and as a man, and unsullied as I read the pages of our history.

From deep conviction I simply say this: a nation of men of Lee’s caliber would be unconquerable in spirit and soul. Indeed, to the degree that present-day American youth will strive to emulate his rare qualities, including his devotion to this land as revealed in his painstaking efforts to help heal the nation’s wounds once the bitter struggle was over, we, in our own time of danger in a divided world, will be strengthened and our love of freedom sustained.

Such are the reasons that I proudly display the picture of this great American on my office wall.

Gentlemen,

I wanted to go ahead and give you this information. The camp's address for correspondence will be:

SCV Camp 2089
P.O. Box 336
Etowah, Tn 37331

This has been updated at headquarters. To locate our meeting place via GPS:

Michael's Restaurant of Etowah
862 Hwy 411 N
Etowah, TN 37331
The exact address should allow people to put it in their GPS's and get then right to it.

At the April meeting of the Tellico Iron Works chapter 2636, Chapter President Sharon Cain presented Camp 2089 member Jimbo Richeson with the United Daughters of the Confederacy's Meritorious Service Award Certificate with accompanying medal for his honourable service in the United States military during time of armed conflict.

On Monday, 31 May 2010, Descendants of the 43d Regiment will honour the memory of Private McCamish's service to the Confederate States of America with a graveside ceremony at Riceville, Tennessee. Go to our link for the 43d Regiment Descendants on our home page at http://camp2089.org for full particulars on this event.