** Happy 234th Birthday America!!! **

*Salute*

Happy Birthday Old Girl!

mnem
Eternal vigilance is the price of Freedom...

 

We have enjoyed so much freedom for so long that we are perhaps in danger of forgetting how much blood it cost to establish the Bill of Rights. ~ Felix Frankfurter

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~ Elmer Davis

If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace. ~ Hamilton Fish

 

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
Flying proud as ever

 

It is still the most beautiful national flag, I still get a lump in my throat when I see it flying and I still get tearful when singing the National Anthem.....I guess there is no hope for this old patriot. God bless America and the troops all around the world serving it proudly!

 

I am not the original author of this. But it really goes a long way in telling folks what it means to be a true patriot.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed, and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well-educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told us a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. Our forefathers didn't just fight the British. They were British subjects at that time, and they fought their own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted...and we shouldn't.

So, let's take a few moments while enjoying our 4th of July holiday and silently appreciate these patriots and thank the God who moved them. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

 

Unfortunately the masses don't know or remember what its all about.
Instead its about plugging their pie holes with fat and booze, and a long weekend...

 

Hear, hear.

mnem
"The first job of a true patriot is to question the actions of their Government." - Thomas Jefferson

 

For those who like musicals check out 1776 on film. It stars William Daniels (Knight Rider KIT voice) as John Adams and depicts the days before the signing of the declaration. It's not 100% fact but they do talk about how they basically just declared on paper that they were traitors and will be hung.

 

will we be faced with a similar fate as we stand up for what our founding fathers gave up for freedom?, it and time are fleeting, first pray, then pray for our "leaders" as they need an education in leading and representing us and holding to our constitution, then pray before you vote this november... it may be one of the most important votes you'll ever have to make....I know one of the descendants of John Quincy Adams, he is a presbyterian minister and looks very much like the paintings of John Adams. we are being de-educated and dumbed down to overlook our heritage and the cost,.... don't ever give up!......Driller