The Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.
 

ENJOY YOUR 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!!
The 4TH OF JULY

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. 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!

The Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.%/

Excellent post! Thank you.

How true..................... "Freedom is never free". Too many times we all take the freedom's that we have for granted.

Thanks for posting this!

And thanks to the soldiers that keep us free.

From out here in "the Colonies" (Bermuda) we wish you a great celebration on this most important day. We want you to know that the majority of the world does respect you, and is very aware of the tremendous price you pay in lives to keep us all free.

Even if this is the one big war we British lost to you. :(

Imagine if Paul Revere had a Cobra (and the guys at Concord had a Ma Deuce)! ;)

That is a great post. It seems today that many are to concerned about what the rest of the world thinks of us. I don't think those 56 patriots cared a whole lot about what the rest of the world thought when they laid the foundation that forms this great nation today.

I want to say thank you to all of you here on the forum that have served your country. Me and my family appreciate what you did or are doing to keep us free.

Wave your flags high this weekend!