LETTERS; FOUNDERS PUT EVERYTHING ON THE LINE

I was on active duty as a military judge during the weekend of the Fourth of July holiday this year. Having time on my hands, I spent a portion of it in the library looking up things about our forefathers. I discovered some interesting points.

There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. We refer to these great men as our Founding Fathers. They signed away and permanently pledged their lives, their honor and their fortunes to gain independence from a tyrannical British government. What sort of people were these men?

The Founding Fathers were, by and large, men of considerable means. They held high positions in the community, owned lots of property, acquired substantial assets and ran the possibility of the loss of it all. They risked it for their liberty and independence from the crown of England.

Five of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were captured by the British, held as traitors and tortured. They died while imprisoned. Twelve more had their homes ransacked, burned and confiscated by the crown of England. Two more lost sons in the Revolutionary War, and another two signers had sons captured, held prisoner and tortured. Nine of the 56 signers fought and died from wounds or hardship during the Revolutionary War.

Twenty-four were lawyers and judges, a learned profession not held in high esteem today. Eleven of the signers were merchants. Nine were farmers and plantation owners. They were all well-read, sophisticated and considerably educated.

But each of them risked all he had. They signed the Declaration of Independence knowing that, if captured, they would be put to death and their fortunes were at risk.

For example, Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships seized by the British. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts (not taxes) and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he had to continuously move his family from one safe have to another. He served in Congress without pay. His possessions were taken from him. He died a pauper. Vandals, vigilantes or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge and Middleton, all signers of the Declaration of Independence.

During the battle of Yorktown, one of the signers, patriot Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that British General Cornwallis had seized the Nelson home and used it as British headquarters. Nelson demanded that General Washington attack it, and the home was destroyed. Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his wife taken prisoner and mistreated by the British. She died as a result. The English destroyed Lewis' home and property too. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she lay dying and his 13 children fled for their lives. His property was taken, used up and laid to waste. For more than a year he lived off the land, in forests and caves, returning home to find no one left. Shortly thereafter, he died of exhaustion and a broken heart.

These were true-to-life stories of the American Revolution. How do they compare to the men of today, including the undersigned? These men were not wild-eyed rebels or hooligans. They were cultured, refined men of education. They had security and an easy way of life under British rule, but they valued their liberty even more. They embraced core values such as honor, duty and commitment. They gave their lives so that you and I might live a better life, independently and free of governmental interference. We were British subjects at the time. We even fought our own government to get what was just and right. Today, each of us sings a loyalty oath not to forcefully overthrow the government. It is interesting to see how things have changed, especially considering Thomas Jefferson's belief that, from time to time, violent revolutions were necessary to protect true liberty.

Today, we take all of these liberties for granted, although these brave men paid the ultimate price for what we have today. None of us today pays a prices on a scale with that which was paid during the American Revolution. In fact, our government today is increasingly becoming excessive, oppressive, overbearing, repressive, pervasive and all-encompassing, negligently stamping out our individuality and personal liberties under the auspices of allegedly what is best for all of us. How much personal liberty have we all abdicated to our local, state and federal governments under the guise of freedom and reasonableness. We should ask ourselves the question: Would our forefathers have put up with Big Government as it is today?

At the very least, we need to embrace the values our forefathers carried within them. We should silently thank our forefathers for what they gave up for us, and we should think about what each one of us can do to further perpetuate true freedom and liberty.

So the Department of Defense regulations are complied with, if you couldn't tell by reading the above, the same are my own views and not the views of the Department of Defense or the Department of the Navy.

KEN McMANAMAN

Cape Girardeau