By Jack Wyman

The odds were heavily against it.

Always.

The cause was glorious, the reasons for the separation just and compelling. The devotion was impressive, calling forth the most noble sacrifice. The courage was admirable, leading to the mutual pledge of lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.

Seldom had history yielded more valiant and inspiring resolve. Seldom had it witnessed a more uneven match of preparation and force, or a more improbable outcome.

The David of independence and liberty was going to war against the Goliath of armament and possession. Thirteen colonies, settled on a rugged unexplored continent across the Atlantic, would challenge the best-trained and disciplined army in the world, representing the most powerful nation on earth.

England scoffed. It was an undisputed empire.

One colonist, loyal to the British crown, despaired of the great peril and grave consequences of war. It would be, he argued, “a leap in the dark.”

General George Washington’s troops didn’t have uniforms, adequate equipment, or even enough food. Soldiers went without boots in the winter. The farmers, blacksmiths, and mechanics he had assembled knew nothing of warfare. Undisciplined and seemingly incorrigible, they marched nonetheless under the great man’s leadership.

Uncertainty cast its dark, dread shadow over the rag-tag Continental Army. Hopelessness grasped at the hearts and minds of those who now proudly called themselves Americans.

On August 27, 1776, on the eve of the first major battle since July 4th, at Long Island, General Washington addressed his men. He spoke with commanding presence and confident dignity.

"The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves,” he told the soldiers. “Whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them.”

Washington paused and looked intently into their worn and haggard faces.

“The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die."

The continentals, in “brave resistance,” were still driven back in defeat on Long Island by the redcoats. The struggle for independence would go on for seven more grueling and chastening years.

In the end, helped by France, guided by a “smiling Providence,” and led by brave, determined, and resourceful patriots, especially that “indispensable” man, George Washington, America triumphed in its war for independence. It then created the greatest self-governing free republic the world has ever known.

So much worth remembering; so much we dare not forget. So much we’re in danger of losing.

America was not handed freedom as a gift. Liberty was not bartered at a treaty table. This country was not bequeathed independence by a benevolent tyrant. America fought for freedom. Our nation was born in the crucible of war. Independence was declared and liberty secured because courageous men and women chose to risk a “leap in the dark” over the inevitable dismal prospect of subjugation.

Our first patriots gave their lives so that “the fate of unborn millions” would include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The American revolution forever changed the world. It reaffirmed that the rights of man are bestowed by God alone—and recognized, not given, by the state.

War has defined our nation through the contours of both victory and defeat. From Bunker Hill to Iraq, men and women have answered the call of duty and fought to advance freedom and self-determination, for ourselves and for struggling peoples around the globe.

It is our solemn duty to remember those fallen Americans who paid the price of freedom. Because freedom has never been free.

We dare not forget their sacrifice, nor all those who, with their final breath, gave “the last full measure of devotion.” If we neglect our past, if we ignore or denigrate our heroes, if we despise and ridicule freedom’s birthright; if we unremittingly attack the very nation that safeguards our dissent, we will have no future worthy of our greatness as a free people.

The United States is far from perfect. We’ve committed our share of national sins and countenanced inhumanity and oppression. Our journey toward justice and opportunity is not over. Our work is unfinished. As we remember lessons from our past, we apply them in claiming the promise of our future. We must dissent from all that is wrong. We must affirm all that is right and good.

A poisonous, bigoted, angry, and vile nationalism must never be confused with an honest and humble patriotism. As in our own lives, so too in the life of the nation we love, we must see unblinkingly the good, the bad, and the ugly. Even a great nation has flaws. True patriotism does not excuse them, it resolves to correct them.

Eminent American historian John Ferling observed that, “the past is prologue to the future.” In this season of American reflection, it’s important to remember what this country is about, what it has done, what it must still do, what it stands for, and those who gave their lives so that this nation might live.

In exhorting Israel to always remember that its greatness was secured and protected by God, Moses told the people to “take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them to thy sons, and thy sons’ sons" (Deuteronomy 4:9).

We must teach our children and our grandchildren what we must never forget. As we owe a debt of gratitude to those who gave us America, so too we have a profound moral obligation to those who will one day take in their hands the torch of liberty.

The “unborn millions” who depend on our courage and conduct.

It’s the price of freedom. 

To order Jack Wyman’s book, “Everything Else: Stories of Life, Faith and Our World”, go to amazon.com, Christian Book Distributors or barnesandnoble.com. It is also available on Kindle and eBooks.

WE NEED YOU! Would you consider partnering with us as a monthly donor to support the work of our nonprofit ministry? Or maybe a generous one-time donation?