THE REAL COST OF WHAT WE ARE LOSING. . . .

WHAT PRICE FREEDOM? THE REAL COST OF WHAT WE ARE LOSING. . . .

As we watch our FREEDOMS and LIBERTIES slip away, as we watch our elected officials deliberately sell us out and push us into a Socialist/Marxist society, and as we sit back and allow the very Constitution that our founding fathers fought so gallantly for, we should take a moment to think about the REAL price paid for what we are about to let slip away. We should especially think about this on what could very well be our LAST Fourth of July celebration.

Then on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day, we can bow our heads in utter shame for doing nothing more than paying lip-service in "defense" of those very freedoms and liberties that many of our loved ones gave their all to defend.

As you are contemplating on the price of freedom our forefathers paid in the establishment of the United States and our Constitution, ask yourselves the following: "WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO THE 56 BRAVE MEN WHO SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE?" Well, lets take a look:

Five signers were captured by the British and charged with treason. They were horribly tortured before being put to death.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned to the ground.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another two had their sons captured by the British.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds received or hardships suffered during the Revolutionary War.

They signed the Constitution and pledged their lives, fortunes and their sacred honor for FREEDOM.

What kind of men were they, exactly?

TWENTY-FOUR were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and/or 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 Virgina, 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 a pauper.

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.

British soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Hayward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis, had taken over the Nelson home to use as his headquarters. Nelson quietly urged General George Washington to open fire on his home. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed by the British. The British jailed his wife, and she died a few months later while still in jail.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she lay dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more then a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So many Americans have taken their freedoms and liberties for granted, never considering the real cost.

Therefore, I urge each of you to educate your children as to the real price that was paid for the life they have enjoyed, and take a few minutes on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and on Veteran's Day to silenty thank these brave patriots. After all, it's not too much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE!

Please give this message to as many people as you can, because it is high time that people realized that patriotism is NOT a sin, and Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Veteran's Day mean a lot more then just beer, picnics and baseball games, and if we don't realize that now, they could be gone forever, not by a foreign attack, but by the treasonous acts of our own leaders.