I hope everyone reading this has/had a beautiful day of fun, family, and fireworks.
Now let me leave you with a few wonderful stories that a friend of mine posted. I know it sounds cliche, but put yourself into the shoes of these Americans, and stop taking for granted what youve been given as a privilege by someone elses sacrifice. Could you do the same? Enjoy...
RAGGED OLD FLAG
I walked through a country court house square
On a park bench an old man was sitting there
I said, "Your court house is kinda run down"
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town"
I said, "Your flag pole has a leaned a little bit
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it
"He said, "Have a seat" and I sat down"
Is this the first time you've been in our little town?"
I said, "I think it is," he said "I don't like to brag
But we're kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there
When Washington took it across the Delaware
And it got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watchin' it writing 'Say Can You See'
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packinham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams
And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag but she waved on through
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard and Bragg
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag
On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low by the time it was through
She was in Korea and Vietnam
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam
Native Americans, brown, yellow and white
All shed red blood for the Stars and Stripes
In her own good land here she's been abused
She's been burned, dishonored, denied and refused
And the government for which she stands
Has been scandalized throughout the land
And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in
Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more
So we raise her up every morning, take her down every night
We don't let her touch the ground and fold her up right
On second thought I do like to brag
Cause I'm mighty proud of that Ragged Old Flag."
By Johnny Cash
THE PRICE THEY PAID
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 talk 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 you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!
Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. 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 please sending this to as many people as you can.
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.
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
