By David Triana
“Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as the abuses of power.”
James Madison
This month we celebrated the 245th anniversary of this great nation’s independence. By the time you read this, the 4th of July has passed and most of us “celebrated” by having a BBQ at home, hanging out at the beach, or in other ways. Pretty much the same way a large percentage of present-day Americans observe holidays, including the one that should have nothing to do with happiness/partying, Memorial Day.
I guess the great part of being free is that we can do that without fear of retribution from anyone, especially our government. In my opinion, I think it is sad that many Americans have forgotten the importance of such holidays and that just having a good time is what has become the norm.
This year, I spent a good part of my July 4 watching “The American Revolution”, a series chronicling the rise of the rebellion, the failures and setbacks of the colonial mission, and the final comeback that resulted in the birth of this great nation.
Most Americans know the heroics of great men like General George Washington during the American Revolution, but, as the show successfully portrays, the war would not have been won without the efforts of regular joe and jane American! Individuals like Salem Poor, who was born into slavery but served heroically under General Washington at the Battle of White Plains and rallied militia fighters at Bunker Hill. A segment featured Sybil Ludington, a 16-year-old teenage girl who rode all night to the rescue of rebels under fire in Connecticut.
We learned about Han Yerry, chief of the Oneida nation – one of the few Native American tribes that allied itself with the patriots during the American Revolution. Yerry fought off redcoats with a tomahawk and later led a crucial, 400-mile expedition to Valley Forge to deliver a life-saving supply of white corn to General George Washington’s starving troops.
It was an outstanding series and a great way to spend the 4th of July, learning about the history of this great nation and it was inspiring to learn details about such unsung heroes. Throughout history, it is the actions of regular folks who make a difference in a nation. It is no different today, as we see our nation’s leaders struggling with indecision, much partisanship, and unable to come together as Americans to make good decisions for the nation, it is going to be the job of us all, to demand that those who we have chosen get their act together. If they don’t, then, we must exercise our right as free people to vote them out of office.
This world is too unstable, a world filled with tyrants running other nations, and this world is even more dangerous, when the United States of America is seen by those tyrants as a nation they can manipulate or intimidate.
Let’s honor those great leaders and the unsung heroes in our history and those serving to keep us free in the present. The blood of Americans has been spilled within our land, and in our 245 years of existence, in many nations throughout the world. That blood was spilled so that we could live in a free land and for those in other nations so that they too could live in freedom.
Keep such things in mind next Memorial Day and 4th of July or Veteran’s Day, observe them in the proper manner and with respect, learn about what they represent, and never forget, for a nation to be free, it likely took the spillage of blood by many regular joes and janes!
