Listen my children

And you shall hear.....

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. 

One of many freedom fighters and patriots. Immortalized in poetry and legend by Longfellow, the fact remains that this simple silversmith risked much to free his country. While the "Midnight Ride" was not his alone, that ride and his other exploits suffice to make him a legend in his own right. A hero of the American Revolution. Someone who cared enough to risk it all to make his not yet formed country free.

Without him, and others of his mold and character, would we have our country today? Or would we still be a colony of the queen? (or would we have followed England into decline and socialism by now?)

What might those patriots, those men who fought the war that we read about in history books as the Revolutionary War think today? Would they spit upon us for nearly losing (and we may yet lose!) that country for which they sacrificed and died?  That struggle in which many lost their livelihoods? What would they think of us today?

They gave to us, through their efforts and sacrifice, a legacy and a country that is the beacon of freedom and democracy to the world! Are we willing to let such a sacrifice go in vain? Will we let their legacy fade into history, to be replaced by a socialist state?

WILL WE SQUANDER THEIR SACRIFICE AND THEIR EFFORTS? Will we fail to retain that ideal for which those patriots fought 235 years ago? Or will we find some vestige of the gumption, the fortitude, the strength and perseverance, which lived in those men and women, and fight to retain that which they left us for a birthright?

I say to you fellow Americans, if we lose this struggle we should be hounded out of the afterlife by those patriots who sacrificed, fought, and in some cases, died to make this country.

I intend to face them, if and when, with my head high, my chin up, and my gaze level, after trying my best.

Will you? WILL YOU? Or will you fail to follow their example and accept what your betters shall deign to give you?

Will you allow their legacy to die? WILL YOU ALLOW THEIR SACRIFICES TO FALL ON THE RUBBISH HEAP OF HISTORY? 

Or will you stand in their stead, and defend that which they wrought, beginning on this day 235 years ago?

Remember those who fought on this day. Remember that this day was the opening salvo of the fight for this country, beginning on the road from Boston to Concord. Never forget those who fought the first battle to make this country what it is today.

Many over the years have sacrificed their lives on the altar of freedom. Sacrificed their lives and their fortunes to defend an idea that is now the US. Today, let us remember those who were first.

The Revolutionary War began tonight. The hours of darkness between the 18th and the 19th of April, 1775. One might well say that this was the beginning of our country.

Remember this day.

Decide if you will allow it to be squandered.

CHOOSE....ACT.