Independence Day

Our friends compatriots in America celebrate Independence Day on July 4th this week. Following is an article I published earlier in honor of Patriots who have given their lives for our freedoms: May this day be a time for remembering the great things God has done for America. For over two centuries the nation’s sons and daughters have fought and fallen in faraway fields and forests for FREEDOM’S cause. Their blood has stained the dry deserts of North Africa, soaked the beaches of Normandy and saturated the sands of Iwo Jima. Their bodies have lain among the hedge rows of Europe, on the jagged hills of China and in the frozen wastes of North Korea. Today they still fall in near and faraway places for the same great cause of freedom. There’s scarcely a land, ocean or a sea on this planet that has not been hallowed by the supreme sacrifice of our nation’s heroes as they have answered freedom’s call.

Who were these patriots? They were mostly just simple folk. Citizen soldiers, some were called.  They rallied to freedom’s flag from the farms, villages and towns of our nation’s heartland. They came from the boroughs and suburbs of our great cities. These ordinary people came from all across our great land.  They were not professional warriors or skilled combatants. But they were inspired by the clarion call of liberty and moved by the sublime cause of defending their country, their homeland, the land of their birth. Who were these men who willingly laid down their lives at a time of their country’s greatest peril? They were those who became familiar with the strident sound of the bugle rising at reveille and soulful sound of taps reverently played at the setting of the sun. These are they who marched into battle and heard the awful whine of a ricocheting bullet, the rattling roar of a machine gun and the threatening thunder of a mortar shell; and then the heart-rending cry of a fallen comrade.  Who were these who suffered the pangs of loneliness and pining of homesickness as they faced the hunger, thirst, relentless heat, torrential rains, and bitter cold of the field of battle? These are those brave souls who trudged onward , 'till the day they fell mortally wounded. 

Who grew old in youth; burning out the candle of life in moments; sacrificing all that life owed them in their future tranquil years.  Who are these men that lie buried beneath 639,455 white crosses around the world? Who rest in places like  Arlington, Pearl Harbor, Philippines, Anzio, Flanders Fields, the Argonne, and a  thousand hillside cemeteries all over America? These are our fellow soldiers, patriots of this free country, who believed that freedom for our children must be preserved, whatever the cost.  On this day when we celebrate the birth of liberty, let us remember as well, with deep gratitude and humble thanksgiving , those men and women who survived the battles and who are gathered together around the world to celebrate the blessings of freedom.  Let us give thanks too for the families who have given their sons, fathers, and brothers to the call of their country. And while we are remembering, let us never forget what one of the founding fathers said, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”