Lest we forget the sacrifices it took to gain and retain our free country read below my comments. Then remember when voting that we need politicians who believe in those same original freedoms fought for so valiantly lo those many years ago.
Our rights and freedoms have been so eroded in the past 30 years or so that we almost don't recognize the rules of today. We need to return to original values. For instance, the Declaration of Independence speaks of all men being endowed by their creator of these rights. Now our creator cannot even be spoken about or noted in any manner except still swearing to tell the truth in court by placing a hand on the Holy Bible. If we don't watch out that will change, too.
We are so on the wrong path these days.
Think before you vote and during the Fourth of July holiday period, honor those brave souls who began our free country and sacrificed their lives, families, homes so the future generations would be free of tyranny. It is a day to celebrate but also to remember and say a little prayer of thanks to those brave men and women of the past.
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 topay 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. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!
I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many people as you can, please. It's time we get the word out that patriotism is "not" a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer,
picnics, and baseball games.