I posted this last year at this time on TB2K Spinoff. It probably is worthy of re-posting each year at this time.

REMEMBERING INDEPENDENCE DAY

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

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

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and 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 Virginia, 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 in rags.

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.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

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

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

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

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.

These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." They gave you and me a free and independent America.

The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free! I hope you will show your support by please sending this to as many people as you can.

It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), June 29, 2001

Answers

-- God Bless Corporate America (ain't@fullof.sh*t), June 29, 2001.

Trivia quizz---trying to identify the corporate logos ipon which our nation stands

--------------------

CBS

Playboy

Coca Cola

ABC

Camel

Microsoft

Travelers Insurance

Apple Computer

Nike (or is it Michael Jordan?)

Pan Am

Texaco

Warner Brothers

?

?

Lucent?

?

McDonald's

?

?

IBM

GE

?

ATT

?

Shell Oil

NBC

Pepsi

?

------------ I am so ashamed

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), June 29, 2001.

Lars, here's my hack at it. Between us, I think we've got all but two.

CBS

Playboy

Coca Cola

ABC

Camel

Microsoft

*Lars, you missed this one, but I don’t know who it is, either.

Travelers Insurance

Apple Computer

Nike (or is it Michael Jordan?)

Pan Am (No, this is AT&T)

Texaco (No, this is Chrysler)

Warner Brothers

? (Don’t know)

? (Chase Manhattan)

Lucent? (No, this is Intel)

? (MTV, I think)

McDonald's

? (Xerox)

? (Adobe?)

IBM

GE

? (Microsoft Internet Explorer?)

ATT (No, that’s an old Bell Telephone logo. AT&T appeared earlier)

? (United Airlines)

Shell Oil

*You skipped this one, but I don’t know who it is.

NBC

Pepsi

? (Qwest? Qualcomm? Don’t know for certain)

-- Already Done Happened (oh.yeah@it.did.com), June 30, 2001.

ADH, very good. "Corporate logos"---be a good idea for the next Regis Philbin quiz show.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), June 30, 2001.

There is nothing to "celebrate" this independence day.

This is not the America the colonists fought for.

This is a tyranny.

It is a disgrace to everything the Constitution stands for.

If James Madison were here today, he would---

oh wait, wrong forum.

Never mind.

-- Paul 'Centinel' Milne (faxinfo@halifed.bomb), June 30, 2001.

CBS, playboy, coca cola, ABC, camel, windows, sprint?, travelers, apple, nike, AT&T, chrysler, warner bros, white westinghouse, dodge?, intel, Mtv, mcdonalds, xerox, ? , IBM, general electric, internet explorer, Pac Bell, united airlines?, shell, adidas, nbc, pepsi, quicken?

-- (cin@cin.cin), June 30, 2001.

Well Paul, I guess you wont be cooking up any of your hogs on Wednesday, aye? Hope you have another one of your bad days on the 4th. You ain't much of an American anyway so who gives a shit what you think.

Loony!

-- So (cr@t.es), July 01, 2001.

ALL MESSAGES AFTER THIS ONE SUBJECT TO THE LOVE DECREE!

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), July 01, 2001.

The "Q" is for Compaq.

Love you, Unk :-)

-- (PatriciaS@lasvegas.com), July 05, 2001.