In a message dated 07/06/1999 6:22:32 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< There is no mention
of restoration nor recompense from a grateful government or nation. So who
exactly did their sacrifices benefit?
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men but in Him who reigns
for evermore.
BoW. >>
Hmmmm............................
Somewhat like what happened to Sir Winston Churchill after WW II ?
I can cite two examples although one wasn't a signer of the Declaration.
Thomas Nelson, Jr. - Born in Yorktown, went to school in England for 7
years, but became a Virginia leader and was a signatory of the Declaration.
By 1781, public opinion had turned against Virginia's then-Governor Thomas
Jefferson and he stepped aside. Nelson was appointed Governor in June and
spent the summer taking supplies from Virginia farmers to the army in seige
around Yorktown. The Brits had set up HQ at a large brick mansion in the
town. He gave orders to bombard it. It was his own home. When this was
pointed out to him he offered 5 Guineas to the gunner who hit it. When the
British surrendered, he resigned as Governor. He had spent his fortune to
support the war and he died in poverty in 1789. Today, Thomas Nelson
Community College, here in Hampton, VA, is named after him.
George Rogers Clark- was instrumental in securing what was then the
Northwestern Frontier of America- Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana. He led a
ragtag band of Virginia frontiersmen overland in the dead of winter to attack
the British strongholds of Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Vincennes along the
Mississippi. From there, British Gov. William Hamilton had been sending out
Indian raiding bands to harass the western settlements, he was known to the
settlers as "Hairbuyer Hamilton" for the Indians had to show proof of the
success of their raids with scalps.
Gen. Clark funded his campaign with personal letters of marque (is that the
right word?) guarenteeing payment. Unable to use a supply line he would
purchase needed supplies from local French traders along the frontier. The
government of Virginia and later the Congress never honored or even
acknowledged these debts. Clark sold his lands and generally impoverished
himself to try to pay them off. He died a bitter man on the parcel of land
that he had retired to in Kentucky overlooking the Ohio River.
Hero and sacrifice are words that are interchangeable. Sadly, today we have
cheapened the word hero and equated it with superstar.
A hero sees what needs to be done, many times before others see it, and does
it regardless of the cost to himself or herself.
You Ranger leaders are my heroes. You labor in love week after week, many
times unbeknownst to the rest of the Body. You're heroes to the boys and
girls also.
Your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you openly when the time is
fulfilled.
Ad Dare Sevire,
Gary "Burn'n Heart" Rothwell
Sr. Cdr.
Outpost 59, Potomac District
Warwick Assembly
Hampton, VA
+++++++++++++++++++++++<<"Oh, to be a dead man
walking.">>+++++++++++++++++++++
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