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NEWSLETTER DECEMBER, 2011
Since you are reading this at a busy time of the year, I will try to make it worth your time. I never know what subjects I’ll have to discuss. Some months there is more to talk about than other months. Either way, the Newsletter is a written record of the “pulse” of our Association.
Yellow Dirt Church Cemetery Report
I have received a phone call from one of our members regarding the stolen flags at the Yellow Dirt Church Cemetery. When the problem started I received 54 e-mails from various people. After the problem was solved, for now, I got the one phone call.
It was reported that the problem “has been taken care of”. Georgia Power officials “have done the right thing.” Also, Georgia Power officials confirmed that the cemetery was not owned by Georgia Power as previously claimed.
I do not have the details of “how” it was solved, the results of various investigations and pending charges. Thanks go to all members who assisted with specific laws, ownership records, comments on Facebook and probably letters to Editors and private phone calls.
For more background to this issue, please look up the November, 2011 Newsletter that is on our website at www.generalbartonandstovall.com
Website Disruption
Webmaster Don Bulloch, 41st Georgia descendant, reported that the Website had a crash of some sort about the time it was to go out last week. It took him some time and effort to correct the problem and get it back up again. That is why the newsletter was later than normal last month.
The Newsletter goal is to be in the hands of the Webmaster by the 15th of the month, and then it is posted on the website. Also, our Secretary, H. David Richardson, 41st Georgia descendant, sends it out via e-mail to our list of members and contacts that have e-mail.
Membership Dues
As a reminder, annual dues of $40.00 per family unit are due for 2012 on January 1, 2012. The money can be accepted anytime, of course, but it is helpful to receive sooner rather than later. I notice a definite trend that vendors want deposits when the contract for services is made. Busses, lunches, banquets, meeting rooms and other things we need fall into that category. In 2011 we had to buy three years worth of grave flags in order to get what we needed for 2011. This squeeze requires greenbacks.
Please send your check to: Michael Griggs, 78892 Canyon Vista, Palm Desert, CA 92211. Please make the check out to: General Barton and Stovall Association. GBSHHA initials will work too. Our commercial account has a stamp that is used on the back of the check. If you send to my summer address in Bremerton, WA, I’ll get it but the letter has to be forwarded and it takes longer.
Sons of Confederate Veterans Strength
The Sons of Confederate Veterans organization numbers 30,000 in round figures. I do not have the figures for the United Daughters of the Confederacy. There is a recent estimate that 50 – 80 million Americans are descendants of Confederate soldiers.
Some of them probably do not know about their heritage. Others may know but are not that interested in the history and heritage.
Pearl Harbor Survivors Association
The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association has announced that the national office will officially disband on December 31, 2011. Members are encouraged to continue to meet in their local area. The members are now in their 90s and the ranks are thinning at a rapid rate. Many are unable to travel. To be a member, one had to have been at Pearl Harbor or the other military installations on Oahu, and under attack, on December 7, 1941.Soldiers were at Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Bellows Field, Schofield Barracks and coast artillery installations. Navy had sailors on the ships and ashore and so did the Coast Guard. Marines were assigned to the big ships and were also stationed at Ewa Field NAS and at Kaneohe NAS, (Naval Air Station).
It has been announced that there will be formed a descendants group called “Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors Association”. They will keep the tribute and memory alive.
The reason I include this news here is that this shows groups have a formation and they disband. They may continue in another form just like the Confederate Veterans turned into the Sons of Confederate Veterans. In our Bylaw, there is a provision that if we cease to exist for some reason, any remaining funds on hand will be sent to a Civil War battlefield preservation organization. The Civil War Preservation Trust is perhaps the most well known, but, there are others.
New Book
H. David Richardson, Secretary and 41st Georgia Historian reports that there is a new Civil War book out titled, “Jack Hinson’s One-Man War” by Lieutenant Colonel Tom McKenney, USMC (Ret). Jack Hinson was beyond normal military service age when two of his sons were killed by the occupying Yankees. He went on a quest as a sniper to kill as many Yankee officers as he could, because a Yankee officer ordered them to be executed. The book gives an insight into this personal war behind the lines. The Yankees had control of that particular part of the South.
Cartersville Congress
Several of our members are assisting me in preparing for the Cartersville Congress. Work has already started and more will be done in the coming months. Kay Borden, 40th Georgia descendant and Regimental Historian and Historian Bob Price are working on the details of the routes of march, the affair at Cassville, events at Cassville the town and motel and banquet details.
Joe Bailey, 43rd Georgia descendant from Norcross, GA, is developing the details on the visit to the Hiram Parks Museum and Library in Cumming, GA and where we will eat while in town. Ronnie Maynard, 41st Georgia descendant from Kennesaw, GA has scouted points of interest in Rome and will help Kay and Bob as needed. Also, Greg Land, 43rd Georgia Historian, Jasper, GA, will continue to supply details about places of interest in his area. All of this effort is most appreciated and it helps produce the best experience we can for all the attendees of the coming Congress.
New Contacts
It is a pleasure to report that in the last month we have made contact with a number of new contacts. These contacts have bought copies of the series of books written by Founder and Past President Gary Goodson, Sr., 40th Georgia descendant who now lives in Shawnee, CO.
Hopefully, the following will learn more about our Association and will want to become members too: Robert Brock, 52nd Georgia, Scottsdale, GA; Michael Lewis, 43rd Georgia, Oklahoma City, OK; Owen Rainey, 40th Georgia, Dallas, GA; Henry Saine and April Saine, Historical Interest, Kennesaw, GA. Each was sent a letter from me, the 2012 Draft Agenda and a New Member form. This information gives them the addresses of other information they can read.
Friends of McDonald Park Kennesaw, GA
Founder Gary Goodson was contacted by Henry and April Saine of the Friends of Mc Donald Park in Kennesaw, GA. They were seeking help in determining the names of the men who trained there and details of the training. The roster of the men would give them clues of families in the area that had ties to Camp Mc Donald and the current McDonald Park. Gary responded and suggested that they buy a set of his award winning books Georgia Confederate 7,000 Parts I, II, III, IV. Part I has the rosters of the five regiments and the county that each company in the regiment was recruited. The other books have more details of the training and the accounts by the officers and men, who were there in March and April, 1862.
So, we now know about Henry and April and their organization and they know about us. There were more than our five regiments that were organized and trained at Camp McDonald but they have the names of the nearly 7,000 men that we descend from and many were from that area of North Georgia. It is a good start.
In My Time by Dick Cheney
I recently finished reading the new book that former Vice President Dick Cheney has written. OK, what does this have to do with the General Barton and Stovall History/Heritage Association? I’ll try to explain. On page 172, Cheney tells about when he was Secretary of Defense, he was hosting his counterpart, General Dmitri Yazov from the Soviet Union. General Yazov had taken Cheney on a tour of Leningrad where a million Russians had died. Cheney decided to take him to Gettysburg National Military Park.
Cheney recalled that, “We got an expert from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and loaded the delegation on a bus to tour the sites of the key events in the famous battle”.
My comment is that an expert was found to explain. A bus was used to haul the guests—not a convoy of limos in a big line. I am sure that there were plenty of National Park Service historians standing tall at every stop. The basic organization of the tour and the way it was carried out is like what we do. We don’t have access to the U.S. Army War College, but we do have our own experts and local guides if possible. No mention was made as to how Cheney had the group fed, but some staff member did see to that detail, you can be sure. It would be interesting to know what they had in their box lunches, if they had box lunches. They may have had C Rations or MREs (Meals Refused by Ethiopians), but somehow, I don’t think so.
Special Thanks
Special thanks goes out to all who have provided support by paying dues, even though you have been unable to attend the Congress and to those who have made extra donations. Every amount is appreciated and I try my best to be sure the funds support all the members in the best way possible and that none is wasted. Of course, the members who take the time, effort and money to attend the Congress are very much appreciated. That support makes the operation run and we can accomplish more and get more out of our efforts, as a group. Thank you all.
Expect the next Newsletter about January 15, 2012.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Mike Griggs
President
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