From the Commander-In-Chief’s own back yard comes news of the near destruction of an SCV camp by one of Ron Wilson’s radical brigade commanders, and a split within the ranks of South Carolina chapter of the League of the South.

The Santee South Carolina SCV Camp was about eighteen months old, had grown to almost sixty members, and was making steady progress with local business and community leaders in a predominately African-American community. During the camp’s planning for a summer public memorial ceremony for Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Confederate soldiers who are buried on land now covered by Lake Marion, 5^th Brigade commander Irvin Shuler (an ardent Ron Wilson supporter) decided that he would overrule the camp’s executive board decision as to which and how many Confederate flags to use during in the service. Most camps, sensitive to local community attitudes, are accorded the right to make such decisions themselves, but not so in Mr. Shuler’s brigade. He apparently favors the "in-your-face" approach when it comes to public relations.

After the ceremony (which was successful, well attended, and accepted by the community), Brigade Commander Shuler arrived at the next Santee Camp meeting with several members from other camps in his brigade. These individuals disrupted the Santee camp meeting with shouts and attempts at intimidation. (Our North Carolina compatriots will recognize these tactics.)

As the conflict deepened during the following weeks, the camp commander, first lieutenant commander, and second lieutenant commander all resigned. Most of the camp’s members stopped attending the monthly meetings. Brigade Commander Shuler then had himself elected as the new camp commander. As a result of the situation, many of the camp’s fifty-plus members lost interest in the SCV or are transferring their memberships out of Shuler’s brigade. At the installation ceremony for the now radicalized camp’s new officers, only nine members showed-up. Division Commander Roper is apparently pleased with Shuler’s handling of the, "mess in the Santee camp."

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Meanwhile, CIC Wilson’s not so silent partner, the South Carolina League of the South, is apparently having trouble maintaining control over some of its members. These folks have recently become disillusioned with the LoS’s policies regarding membership and philosophy. They were apparently leaning more toward "home-rule" for the South as opposed to the outright neo-secessionism espoused by many LoS hard-liners. The local group had also been told by higher-ups that several of their prospective members were not acceptable. Faced with the prospect of having to adopt the most extreme philosophy of the LoS, (thus attracting fewer local prospective members) the group has broken with the LoS and has formed a new organization.

A number of Tennessee compatriots and some LoS members are involved in a variety of conflicts with Tennessee Division Commander and A.O.T. Field Representative Skip Earle. The allegations are that in representing CIC Wilson, Commander Earle is "taking over and controlling camps, breaking up camps and usurping the SCV Constitution and he seems totally protected." There are reports of several resignations among SCV division and brigade officers. Apparently, Earle’s visits to local camps are often not cause for jubilation. It is reported that in at least one Tennessee brigade, camp Sergeants-at-Arms have, "instructions to escort him out" of camp meetings.

There have been allegations of Tennessee SCV applications being "lost" along with the money that was sent-in with them. There are also charges of sloppy record-keeping in regard to SCV license plates. Then, when Tennessee compatriots’ demands of "show us the books..." were ignored, some of them began to organize an effort to remove Division Commander/Field Rep. Earle from the offices he holds. The allegations against Earle will possibly be heard at the upcoming GEC meeting on October, 11.

A recent SCV camp newsletter in Texas reflects the increasing concern of our compatriots in regard to the decisions, finances, and tactics of the Wilson administration. One such newsletter complains about Wilson’s recent replacement of longtime Confederate Veteran magazine editor, Jim Vogler, with North Carolinian, Frank Powell. As editor-in-chief, Vogler has donated his time and effort to the magazine free of charge. Word around the Confederation is that Powell will be paid upwards of $50,000.00 a year. In the Texas camp’s August newsletter, the editor goes on to point-out several finance and tax-related problems that he foresees resulting from the change.

In regard to the recent Asheville convention, an observation in the same newsletter is, "Those that were present witnessed the most heavy-handed and dictatorial convention in recent history."

Speaking of heavy-handed; under the headline banner of "Victory! Victory! Victory! Victory! Victory! Victory!" on Ron Holland’s Dixie Daily News site, the commander of the General Loring SCV Camp in St. Augustine, Florida, Randy Bender, brags about achieving victory through the use of death-threats against a local newspaper writer. It seems that the writer, Peter Guinta, of the St. Augustine Record submitted a poorly researched and anti-Confederate article that his paper was foolish enough to print. (Articles supporting the standard liberal view of history don’t get much editorial scrutiny.) The ensuing avalanche of e-mails from enraged readers contained, "three toned-down death-threats," causing Commander Bender to blithely observe, "aren’t we an emotional people," and coercing an apology out of Guinta, according to Bender.

Certainly, Mr. Guinta needed to be brought to task, but any change-of-heart that he might have under threats of murder will be suspect at best. Commander Bender’s approval of the use of death-threats, "toned-down" or otherwise, is a dangerous mistake. This thug-and-intimidation approach is a prime example of the Wilson/Lyons influence on the SCV. In this particular incident, these tactics are terrible for the SCV’s public image, expose Mr. Bender and his camp to civil liability should anything happen to the newspaperman, and are possibly illegal: communicating a threat is a criminal offense. Commander Bender is a fine example of Ron Wilson’s policies supported by Kirk Lyons’ legal advice.