The Battle of Lexington

Washington, D.C., Jul 7 -

April 19, 1775.  The day that the shot heard round the world was fired on the streets of Lexington, Massachusetts.  That first battle of the Revolutionary War led Americans on a long and arduous journey from a colony of the British Empire, to where we stand today as a nation of 50 states and nearly 300 million people.

This week all Americans celebrated the 4th of July.  We celebrated our independence, our liberation from an oppressive monarchy and our drive to be a sovereign nation.  Many of us visited with family and with friends and took the time to reflect on what it means to be an American.  We also reflected on the freedoms and rights our Creator endowed us with and that are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

But the 4th of July is also a time for us to remember the sacrifices of millions of brave soldiers, men and women throughout history, who gave their lives so that other might be free.  At the first battle of Lexington, two men, Jonas Parker and Robert Munroe, fell before the British Regulars.  Thousands more would perish before the American republic was established and the thirteen colonies would officially band together to form the United States of America.

Since July 4th, 1776, those battles have continued around the world, with millions of Americans fighting to advance the cause of freedom.  Brave soldiers have fallen on the beaches of Normandy, in the jungles of Vietnam, in the desert of Northern Africa, over the skies of Germany, on the plains of Gettysburg and Antietam, in Grenada, in Bosnia, in Korea and today in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Some of our friends and neighbors have given their lives in this struggle.  I saw my brother and cousin go to war in Vietnam; thankfully they came home safely to our family.  Others, however, did not return home.  Brave men like Lea Mills, Dennis Flanagan, Brian Buesing, Eric Ramirez, Aaron Weaver, Michael Schafer, Wentz Shanaberger III, and Dennis Boles gave their lives so that the people of Iraq and Afghanistan might one day celebrate their own 4th of July, their own Independence Day.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  The Declaration of Independence clearly and unequivocally told the world that what American patriots fought for was not money or land, but for the ideals of freedom, liberty and justice for all people.  For it is not just an American ideal, but one that is universal among all nations and all peoples. 

The 4th of July means more than hot dogs and fireworks.  It is a remembrance of sacrifice, of duty, of honor and of courage.  It is the time when 56 men signed their names to a document declaring their rights as free men and declaring the independence of all free Americans from the oppression of the British Empire. 

The 4th of July also means defending those freedoms and rights against the twin evils of tyranny and oppression, wherever they may be found.  That is the ideal that was spelled out by the signers of the Declaration.   That is the ideal that our soldiers are defending around the world today.  And that is the reason that Americans enjoy the liberties and freedoms we celebrate each 4th of July.