Tomorrow, Americans will celebrate Independence Day:
Independence Day is a federal
holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of
the United States on July 4, 1776. Wikipedia
It’s today however, when Americans should commemorate the
event that upheld our country’s independence; the event that prevented the
United States from being cut in half; and the horrific toll paid to protect our
independence.
July 3rd, 1863 was the third and final day of the
Battle of Gettysburg. Of all the
Americans who have ever died in all the wars our country has ever fought,
almost half - 620,000 - died in the Civil War.
And of all the Civil War battles, the one battle with the highest
casualties was Gettysburg – 51,000 Americans.
Within the Battel of Gettysburg, Picket’s Charge on July 3rd,
1863 was the deciding, bloody clash.
I know today the Confederate States of America; their
monuments; and their flag are easily vilified.
But 157 years ago, those battles were fought by Americans not by villains;
by brave souls both North and South who believed their cause was necessary to
preserve their country; their way of life.
They were committed to their beliefs and were willing to die for it.
I believe every American should visit the Gettysburg
National Military Park and pay tribute to the memory of those Americans that preserved
the fate of our union. Thankfully, that battle
and a succinct commemoration by one of our greatest leaders, who also gave his
life for his country, ultimately prevailed:
Four score and seven years ago
our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in
Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great
civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so
dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We
have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for
those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether
fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can
not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our
poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the
living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who
fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here
dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we
take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure
of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in
vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that
government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from
the earth.
That day Abraham Lincoln spoke to unite all Americans, North
and South. Today, July 3rd, is
the day for us all to remember; to unite all Americans; and to speak out for a
united, United States of America remaining united.
May God bless you; and may God bless America!
GAP
When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could
leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.
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