Freedom: Americans often forget what it took to earn those fireworks

The odds were stacked against them, those few men who gathered up their weapons and their courage and set out to build a country.

They did not know if they could beat the British army -- and not too many people would have bet they could.

But they did -- and they created a country that was founded on freedom and the rights that should belong to any man.

And now, hundreds of years later, we gather once a year to watch fireworks that commemorate that victory -- and think of freedom as we watch the bursts recalling the battles from which our nation was born.

Or, sometimes we remember.

The events that led to the holiday we call the Fourth of July did not really happen in one day. Thousands of colonists and families gave their lives to fight for the chance to determine their own destiny -- and, in turn, ours.

The road wasn't easy -- and the battles were long. And then, when the fight was over, there was the task of creating a framework for the fledgling nation, another round of debate, differing opinions and historic decisions.

Tomorrow, as we celebrate the Fourth of July, think about those men and their families and what they went through to win the freedom we enjoy today.

They would shudder to think that we as citizens of such a great country would give away any of the rights they fought so hard to claim.

It is our responsibility to guard that freedom.

Published in Editorials on July 3, 2013 10:54 AM