Independence Day
When most people think of 1776 they think of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the courage and significance of that act that ushered in the world’s first democracy. There was another group of people in 1776, however, to whom we owe an equal debt of thanks and remembrance without whose continued sacrifice and courage The Declaration would just be a piece of yellow paper in a museum: The 3,000 untrained, underfed, underpaid, troops that were all that remained of Washington’s army by the end of that year. Without uniforms -most were literally dressed in rags- many without guns or shoes, and they were all that stood between the British and annihilation in the desperate winter of that year. So to them, and all the men and women of the military who came after them and secured the blessings of our democracy with all its imperfections, we say “Thank you.”
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