Cross Over the River - by Mort Künstler
In Remembrance of General John DraganWith the news
of John's passing I wanted to put together some final honors for him and his many years
of service to the Club.
John joined in January 2003 and after graduating from the Vicksburg Military Institute (VMI) that February he was assigned to the
Army of Alabama (AoA), an army he would later command. As
General Kunz mentioned
John's rise to over 1,000 games played started right away in his first year as a member. In April 2004 John was assigned to Division Command and with the exception
of 2 1/2 years he served the Club in various leadership positions right up until his passing. He spent 7 years on the Cabinet, first from 2009-2011 and then from 2015-present, where he provided his assistance and thoughts on a variety
of topics. He served his entire 17 year career in the Western Theater, first with the Army
of Alabama (AoA) and then when the armies were consolidated the
Army of the West (AotW) which became the current
Army of Tennessee (AoT). With the Army
of Alabama (AoA) he served as Division Commander
of the 2nd Division, II Corps from 2004-2005, then he more famously served as the Corps Commander
of the III Corps from 2005-2009 and finally as the Army Commander from 2009-2010. Finally since 2014 he served as Division Commander
of 3rd (Hindman’s) Division in II (Stewart's) Corps. John was also a Vicksburg Military Institute (VMI) Instructor having trained 10 recruits in his time at VMI.
It was John's battlefield prowess though that made him famous! As
General Jim Garner noted about John on the battlefield
"with his cannons charging forward with his infantry right in your face!" A total
of 1,083 games spanning his 17 years in the club. No one has come close to that amount
of games. He lost more games than he won, but John didn't care. It was the friendships & fun that mattered to him. He would often be found in the throws
of a multiplayer game, while also playing one on one games. He's surpassed all the other CSA Officers when it came to different awards and honors. Like
General McOmish said, kept us busy making new ribbons for the CSA's awards. Something I did even when putting together this post. He played a lot
of campaign games, especially with General's Antony Barlow, David Danner and Derald Riggs, as well as other games with Ned Simms, Michael Dowling, David Swartz and Brett Kolcun to name a few. His opponent list really is a who's who
of the Union Army. Since March
of 2017 the Army
of Tennessee (AoT) has been awarding Monthly Corps Awards for the most combined total
of major/minor victories in battle against Union opponents in a month. John has won the The Bishop Medal
of Recognition, the Monthly Corps Award for II (Stewart's) Corps a total
of 24 times. Over half
of The Bishop Medal
of Recognition's awarded to date have been won by him. John is the first known club member to ever pass 10,000 points and while finalizing John's record in the club, his desire to pass 12,000 points has happened as well. His total points stand at
12,246.29 with 7,834.615
of those points being from games played! John has been listed as The Top Gun
of the CSA for close to a decade.
With this in mind, I've (posthumously) awarded John the following honors:
The Cabinet also voted to award John the ACWGC
Legion of Merit for his service to the club:
As several folks have mentioned John was a gentleman and he truly loved the games & the club. His voluminous games played, his countless hours spent corresponding with his fellow gamers, his humor & candor and his volunteer, can do spirit has left a lasting indelible mark upon the club as a whole! There's hardly a home or hearth
of the officers on either side that hasn't had a direct or indirect benefit from John's legacy. In fact that legacy will live on for many years to come in the greatest gift John gave us all, the motto
of VMI since 2007, which is basically the club's motto:
It's Better to Win a Friend than it is to win a battleMay we continue to honor John's legacy by always keeping this mind!
We bid you farewell John & thank you for the all you gave us. You'll be sorely missed, but long remembered!
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