Difference Makers: George Washington

Few men in our nation’s history bear a name so worthy of recognition as George Washington. Not only was he pivotal in our nation’s war for independence, first president of the united states, and a former land surveyor, the man was also an accomplished Freemason.

Washington’s military career began as somewhat of a blunder. Serving under General Edward Braddock, Washington first got a taste of battle in the attack on Fort Duquesne in modern day Pittsburgh during the French and Indian War. After some poor maneuvers, Gen. Braddock overextended his forces, which soon collapsed into a frenzy, leaving Braddock himself mortally wounded.

From here, Washington only continued his climb to fame. He was not much of a big name from the time between the French and Indian War and the War for  Independence. However, when the call to action came, Washington was ready to answer. Taking on this challenge would mean taking on the strongest military power in the world, indeed no small feat. However, through Washington’s superior planning and leadership, our fledgling nation was able to sever its ties from our mother country, and become our own freestanding sovereignty.

So be it military prowess or leadership ability, either category lands George Washington as one of the most influential men in our nation’s history.

This edition of the blog has been provided by PA DeMolay State Treasurer Daniel Shevalier. Thank you Daniel for your contribution. 

Embrace Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day, which is a federal holiday dedicated to honoring those who have served our country in every field of sacrifice and service. Many communities are having Veteran's Day services and businesses are offering discounts to those who have served. This, however, isn't really the importance of Veteran's Day. Rather, we, as DeMolays, should seek to understand what Veteran's have done for us and work to bring those lessons into our daily life.

Yesterday, I was visiting an antique store in Eastern PA. I came across a booth that was fairly sparse, with just a couple of tables set up at the front. On the tables were a number of artifacts from WWII. Behind the tables stood an older gentleman, bundled up against the cold of the building. As I perused his items, we struck up a conversation. He explained that he was a WWII Veteran who served in Germany. He talked about meeting Russian soldiers and trading goods with them. His knowledge of military history was wonderful and I'm quite thankful he shared his stories with me.

At the end of our conversation I thanked him for his service to our Country. While I didn't purchase anything from him, I could tell that just being able to connect with a young person and share his story meant something. Today, I would encourage each and every DeMolay to talk to a Veteran and learn about their service. You'll be glad you did.

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

PA DeMolay Website Plugs

Well, hello there intrepid reader! You're probably asking yourself "Self, why hasn't the PA DeMolay blog been updated since last Thursday?" I have an answer to that question! You see, you're blog-master fell ill on Monday before being able to post his musings for that day. However, he's back in an action and feeling fit, so we're here with an update!

The PA DeMolay website, located over at www.pademolay.org, has been seeing a lot of changes, many of which may not be popping up on your radar yet. Here's a list of important updates you should be aware of:

• PA DeMolay has updated its Zero Tolerance Policy. Please make sure you download and read this important policy clarification.
• Convention 2013 registration and information has been posted. Get it on your calendar now and plan to party by the bay with PA DeMolay!
• Key Man Conference 2013 registration and information is now available. Even if you aren't from PA, check this out! Plus, for PA DeMolay's, we've found a way to make Key Man more affordable than ever!
• Some people may not remember that we have a Military Service Gallery in our "People" section. Take a moment and read about our Brothers who are serving in the armed forces.
• The May 2013 Keystone Crusader has been posted.

I appreciate everyone's patience and I hope that you're just as excited about PA DeMolay's summer program as I am!

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Senator, Congressman, Captain, & Brother

This post is part of series of entries written by the Elected State Officers of PA DeMolay. Each of them have been assigned topics to discuss and offer their opinions on. Today's post is offered by Bro. Neal Skibicki, State Treasurer. Enjoy!

Since its beginning, the Order of DeMolay was noted for its support of patriotic ideals and virtues. This is mostly likely attributed to the diligence and effort of the members of the Order in practicing the seventh cardinal virtue - Patriotism. While every DeMolay should embody this virtue, some have gone above and beyond the call of duty in representing our great nation.

 Most of us are familiar with a few famous DeMolays such as  Terry Bradshaw and Walt Disney, but there are even more of us who have given so much to our country. For example, Bro. Robert B. Anderson (Former Secretary of the Treasury, Former Secretary of the Navy), Bro. Paul E. Tsongas (Former U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and 1992 Democratic Presidential Candidate), Bro. Mike Enzi (US Senator from Wyoming), Bro. and Captain Lance P. Sijan (Vietnam Prisoner of War and Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient), Bro. and General John P. McConnell (Fighter Pilot and Former United States Air Force Chief of Staff), Bro. James H. Douglas (Governor of Vermont), Bro. Charles Robb (Former Governor of Virginia, and also a Former US Senator from Virginia), and even Bro. and President Bill Clinton. Although they may hold high positions in our government or military forces, you can call each and every one of these men your brother, and know that many of them would not have "reached for the stars" as they did if they had not been members of DeMolay.

Bro. Carl Albert, Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said, "In reflecting on my forty-nine years of public service, I find that the precepts of the Order of DeMolay have been invaluable to me. This was particularly true the two times I was just a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States and faced very difficult decisions. My public life, as well as my private life, has been guided by the DeMolay vow – to love and serve God, my country, and my fellow man". Take those words to heart and always remember each and every one of our famous patriot brothers in history was just like you when they were growing up, a member of this great fraternity DeMolay.

Bring your Patriotic pride to your Chapter's Patriots Day Observance and our annual Patriots Class in Reading, PA, where we will be honoring another great Patriot, and proud supporter of DeMolay, Illustrious "Dad" Russel W. Baker, 33°, and Deputy for Pennsylvania of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction!

Open Letter to Our Patriots

The article below as submitted by Bro. Michael Donahue of Susquehanna Chapter.

(This article is written in memory of all those who are currently or have served proudly in our countries military, and in honor of those who died in defense of the USA.)

During graduation at my school we honor the students that will be attending a college, trade school, joining the work force, and joining the military. Out of the roughly 270 kids in my class only seven are enlisting. My class was the first class in a long time to have less than ten students. This shocked me since patriotism is one of the Precepts that I feel strongly about. It is also close to my heart as out three of those seven young people were my best friends. Two chose to enlist in the US Army and the other in the US Air Force. A fourth was my cousin, who chose the US Marine Corps, and another was my friends girlfriend, who joined the PA National Guard. Patriotism is also close to my heart because my grandfather served in World War 2, and I had three cousins fight in Vietnam and one of which never returned home.

It seems to me that outside of Demolay, patriotism is not as strong as it was in the past. I know more members in Demolay that have given military service than outside of the fraternity. Now, am I saying to run to your nearest recruiting office and join the military? Of course not. Joining is one of the biggest and toughest decisions somebody can make. Even I struggle with this problem! I am currently signed up for classes with the US Air Force ROTC detachment 752 out of Wilkes University,  with hopes of becoming an officer in fouryears. Susquehanna Chapter is proud to have Shawn Bookwalter, PMC and his brother who are members of the Army ROTC detachment at Wilkes. Their youngest brother just shipped out for basic training  on June 21, and another member who is stationed in Italy with the US Navy. How is it that out of a chapter with a little over thirty members we have nearly the same numbers of service members than my class of 270? Some join for different reasons; love of country, sounds fun, see the world, or money for college. Mine was a mixture of three things - a childhood dream, love of country, and feeling like it was a way for me to remain faithful to the Order and its Precepts, specifically the seventh candle, Patriotism .

GOD BLESS THE USA!

A Closer Look at Regalia: Part 1 - Aiguillettes

As we resume our regularly scheduled blog posts I find myself having trouble coming up with a topic. I headed over to Wikipedia, as I often do, and began to poke around for something interesting to write about. Now, many of you know that I really enjoy military history, especially the Napoleonic period, and how it relates to Commandery and other Masonic bodies. Much of the regalia adopted by the Masonic fraternity relates directly to military or civil commendations offered by governments around the world. I took this interest, and applied it to DeMolay, and decided to do some research on an often misunderstood part of DeMolay regalia, the aiguillette.

Now, I'm guessing most of you don't know what an aiguillette is, or even how to pronounce it! Simply put, it's a braided cord worn on the shoulder to denote some kind of service, award, or honor. It's most often seen on DeMolay officer capes in the form of a yellow cord held in place with a red button. The cord generally has a braided portion along with two unbraided loops and a metal tip, all being held together by a flowery looking loop (see the picture for more details!) But just what is the aiguillette supposed to denote in the real world or on a DeMolay cape? Thanks to Wikipedia, I have my answers!

Aiguellettes date back to the late 1700's, and are thought to have come into vogue with the ornamental uniforms of the Napoleonic times. Some people believed they developed from ropes used by Aide de Camps to wrangle horses, while others believe they were used by the artillery corps so that they would have an easily accessible metal pick to clean fouling (also known as gunk) out of their cannons. If you ask Senior DeMolay, and Past Grand Commander, Ken Faub (who wears a really fancy version of the aiguillette as part of his Knight Templar uniform) he says they were developed so that an officer would always have enough rope to hang himself should he not perform his duties up to par! Whatever the case, the real reason for these decorations seems to be clouded in mystery, but they continue to see heavy usage in militaries around the world.

In the United States the cords are used to denote special aids to elected officials and officers, members of elite units or corps, and specially assigned officers. Every qualified infantryman is given a blue aiguillete to wear on the right shoulder with his dress uniform to signify his completion of basic infantry training. Other countries around the world use them for various meanings, but they are most often used to denote aids to high ranking officials.

So, what do they mean when they appear on a DeMolay cape? I wish I had a simple answer for that because I've never been able to find a good reason as to why they are there. I've also noticed little consistency with how they are used by Chapters and Jurisdictions. When I put together the "good" set of PA DeMolay capes I choose to use three capes with aiguillettes for the Councilors to denote their higher responsibility, but an argument could be made that the Treasurer and Scribe should also wear them, as they are elected officers as well. There really is no simple answer. Many Chapters choose to have them on all of their capes, while other Chapters don't use any. It really is a mystery as to their purpose!

Does this mean that your Chapter should start or stop using them, or change who wears them? Absolutely not! This isn't an order, nor is it a suggestion. It's just some musings by a military buff who wondered why DeMolay chose to use an armed forces decoration on its capes.

So tell me, why do you think they are on the capes, and how does your Chapter use them?

Frat!~"Dad" Seth Anthony