American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Gentleman,

It is with a great sorrow that I bring news that John Dragan a long standing member of ACWGC and the CSA has lost his final battle. I believe John still holds the club record for most games played so I know he has touched many, many members of the ACWGC and I know he has many friends here. I have no words at the moment but that he will be sorely missed.

Your Obedient Servant,
General R. A. Weir
ANV-CSA

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<salute>

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Gen. Blake Strickler
Confederate General-in-Chief
El Presidente 2010 - 2012

This news makes me sad. *salute*

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Col. Jeff McMahon
Third Division, VI Corps
Army of the Shenandoah

<salute>

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Colonel Jason "Skeedaddle" Campbell
The Mahoning 4th Brigade
3rd Division
2nd Corp
AoT
"Let's fill up our canteens, boys. Some of us will be in hell before nightfall and we'll need the water"

John was a dear friend of mine. He, David Danner, and myself visited many battlefields together including Shiloh and the major ones in Virginia. The most memorable was the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg.

General Dragan, for all the years of battling you on many, many fields, my friend,  I honor you with one final salute.

Wait for us on the other side of the river, John.

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Gen. Derald Riggs
Army of the Cumberland
Union Army

John was part of my ACWGC life from not long after joining - he kept his commanders working hard designing upgrades to the CSA medal range because he was always going one better and by the time we had a new design for say the Johnson Award Number 10, John was due his 11th. I will miss you General John Dragan <SALUTE>.

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General Cam McOmish

Brigade Commander
Alabama State Volunteers
Cleburne's Division
Hardee's Corps
(1/1/1)
Army of Tennessee
Confederate States of America

Extreme sadness.

<<SALUTE>>

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General Ernie Sands
President ACWGC -Sept 2015- Dec 2020
7th Brigade, 1st Division, XVI Corps, AoT
ACWGC Records Site Admin

"If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there."

I've been constantly playing against John for many years and he was one of the nicest and most humble and honourable people you could wish to know, and with a great sense of humour too. Whilst I enjoyed the gaming immensely, I also enjoyed the daily emails, exchanging news and discussing the simple things in our lives. My only regret is that I never managed to get across the Atlantic and meet him in person. I will miss his camaraderie and friendship very much.

Rest in peace brother, and thank you....

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General Antony Barlow
2/1/XX, Army of the Cumberland

<Salute>

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General Mark Oakford
Commander,
II Corps,
Army of the Potomac.
http://campcromwell.blogspot.com/

In looking through my personal record I was amazed to discover John and I had never played each other.
We had so many contacts over the years as part of our club interactions and admin work.
He took part in all 3 of the Tessier style games I ran and in all our contacts I found him to always be a first class gentleman.
He will be sorely missed.

My sincerest condolences to his family and I hope someone has told them how we here at the ACWGC felt about John.

<salute>

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Gen. Ken Miller


The McKeesport Union Guard

3/1/II
AotP

My thoughts are with you and your family in this time of loss........

"When those you love die, the best you can do is honor their spirit for as long as you live. You make a commitment that you're going to take whatever lesson that person or animal was trying to teach you, and you make it true in your own life... It's a positive way to keep their spirit alive in the world, by keeping it alive in yourself."

Patrick Swayze

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Maj. Gen., L. D. Drummond,
Commanding, III Division, XVI Corps
Army of the Tennessee, U.S. Army

"We can make war so terrible and make them so sick of war that generations pass away before they again appeal to it."
William Tecumseh Sherman

We never know for sure when one of us goes "Missing In Action" from the club if it was due to a physical ailment, financial hardship or some other unexpected event. In a number of such instances I have routinely searched the online obituaries to see if some clue could be found. But, I believe, in John's case that he provided us with his own obituary in his own way just a short time ago. And for that I have the utmost respect and recognition of his character.

I served with John for a number of years within the Cabinet during my two, back-to-back stints as the UA CoA. I found him to be attentive, thoughtful, outspoken and completely locked into the concept of doing whatever was right for the club. There was no ego in the man, no personal agenda to pursue except that of the ACWGC. He consistently viewed things as how the club would benefit from adopting any proposal. His primary concern was the good health, stability and longevity of one of the things he loved within his life, the American Civil War Game Club. John could also be disarmingly direct in his comments and questions, a poise I always felt was designed to strip away the fluff and get right on into the heart of any matter. Nor did he waste too much effort in unnecessarily praising some adoption once he felt it was worthy. But to think him a simple man in this regard was a mistake. He was very much alive to the subtleties of any proposal and demonstrated this trait time after time. As I came to know him through the Cabinet environment I began to make observations over what kind of a game opponent he might be. And even though I never did have the opportunity to cross swords with him in a one-on-one, I had already labelled him within my mind as a challenge not to be taken lightly!

Time moves on and we all will come and go within it. But it speaks well of a man who thinks considerately enough of those others with whom he has enjoyed so much and for whom he volunteered so much effort that he would halt that time for a moment and tell us in such a brotherly manner that he was saying goodbye. What can we all possibly say to that, except that which we are doing now.

GOODBYE, JOHN! GOODBYE TO GENERAL JOHN DRAGAN, ACWGC, CONFEDERATE MILITARY GROUP!

<SALUTE>

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General Jos. C. Meyer, ACWGC
Union Army Chief of Staff
Commander, Army of the Shenandoah
Commander, Army of the Tennessee
(2011-2014 UA CoA/GinC)

Gentlemen,

I had the pleasure to meet General Dragan in person, and I feel a great sorrow at this loss. He was a kindred spirit.

<salute>

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General 'Dee Dubya' Mallory
Chief of the Armies, CSA

<Salute>
My condolences to his family & friends.

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Lieutenant General Christian Hecht
Commander I Corps, Army of the Potomac

John was one of those members that had a strong & positive impact on both sides of the club. As Ken Miller noted he was a first class gentleman. John at the drop of a hat would pitch in and help with anything you asked for help with. He really loved to play the games, which folks have pointed out, with a total of 1,083 games that have him marked down as a player. I have no doubt John played many off the books too. He gave his service, which included at every significant level in the club and in particular his 7 years on the Cabinet. Like Cam said, John kept us busy making new ribbons for the different awards.

We're working on getting together some final honors for him, so I'll have more to say in that post. I just wanted to post a few words now to honor & acknowledge his memory & service as a club leader.

Thank you for everything John, you'll be really missed.

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General Scott Ludwig
4/II/ANV