history – SemperVerus

US Dept. of War Elevating Chaplaincy Corps Back to Spiritual Significance

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth spoke via a Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) video Dec. 16, 2025 to announce immediate changes to directives given to military chaplains. He said George Washington’s original intent of establishing chaplains was that they were “to be the spiritual and moral backbone of our nation’s forces.” But he said that role has been degraded due to “an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism,” which has minimized chaplains to the role of “therapists, instead of ministers.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, US Military Academy Prayers ]

Watch the video and read the transcript below:

The Gun That Preserved the Union in the American Civil War

The total years between the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 (the civil war when British colonialists fought British soldiers, also known as American Patriots fighting American Loyalists to the Crown) to the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861 (when American Northerners fought American Southerners) were 78; a time of merely 3 generations.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Celebrating 250 Years: Learn About the American Revolution ]

Within that span, the gun, Brown Bess—popularly used in the 18th-century conflict (1775–1783)—evolved into the Springfield Model 1861, used in the 19th-century hostility (1861–1865).

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The Heavy, Long Gun That Won the American Revolutionary War ]

The primary difference between the Brown Bess and the Springfield Model 1861 is the transition from a smoothbore, flintlock musket with limited accuracy to a rifled, percussion-cap musket with significantly increased range and precision.

Paul Harvey: If I Were the Devil

Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, Paul Harvey (1918–2009) was a famous American journalist and commentator for ABC News Radio known for his distinctive voice, conservative viewpoint, and unique daily sign-off: “Paul Harvey…[LONG PAUSE]…Good Day!”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Paul Harvey: God Made A Farmer ]

From 1951 to 2008, his broadcasts on over 1,300 radio stations and his writings syndicated to 300 newspapers reached a massive audience, estimated at up to 24 million people per week. He passed away in 2009 at the age of 90.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Free Online Educational Resources to Grow Your Spiritual Knowledge ]

On April 3rd, 1965, in the lead-up to Holy Week that year and in the tradition of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Mr. Harvey’s broadcast commentary was titled, “If I Were the Devil.” It was a satirical rallying cry for Americans to change their moral direction and social mores. Now, decades later, it also speaks to the importance of the five principles of SemperVerus (Stay True to What Is Right) living—Prepare, Aware, Be, Know, Do—and the 17 virtues of the SemperVerus Brotherhood.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The Reality of God is Plain Enough ]

In his remarks, he alludes to events in the Bible in such passages as Genesis 3, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, and Isaiah 5:20-21.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Statue of Billy Graham Unveiled in Statuary Hall of US Capitol ]

Listen to the broadcast and read the script below:

By semperverus
Posted on 11/25/202511/25/2025
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The Heavy, Long Gun That Won the American Revolutionary War

Malnourished, ill-clothed, and under-paid: it is astonishing to consider the level of commitment to liberty exhibited by Colonial Militia and Minutemen and Continental Army soldiers slogging hundreds of miles for 8 years in sweltering and freezing weather to finally win the American Revolutionary War against the British Empire, the most powerful land and naval military force in the world at the time.