The gray skies have gone. The sun is out again. It is a good time to reflect about Bunker Hill Day – and about our lives.
As Americans, we have much to be thankful for – and we must, as Dylan Thomas wrote, begin at the beginning when we think about what has come to pass for all of us living in the United States of America.
Our revolution, which began not too far from here, and in reality, began in Boston long before gunfire sounded at Concord and Lexington, is something that has been ongoing.
This July 4 will mark the nation’s 235th year of democracy and frankly, for all our present problems, the celebration, again, will be something grand to behold.
At the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, 1775, American will was forged. Against all odds, Americans fought for freedom and democracy and for their own way of life.
In every war that has followed, and especially during the First World War and the Second World War, it was American resolve, American heroism and American daring that aided the world in destroying Nazi Fascism and Japanese Imperialism during the greatest fight in world history for freedom.
At Bunker Hill, 1500 Americans of the Continental Army stared down at 2500 British Red Coats – better armed and better trained as they came at them. They stared down at British authority, British colonialism and in a way, they stared down at the King of England and everything his crown stood for.
Following the battle, the brave men who fought here at Bunker Hill left a mark to be emulated by generations of fighters to come – and it was here that America took its mightiest stand against British occupation and British rule.
Most of those who live in Charlestown know that the Bunker Hill Monument and the surrounding area isn’t just a tourist site.
It is hallowed ground.
The Americans who died during the battle, and the British, too, were buried where they fell.
Bunker Hill is hallowed ground.
It is a cemetery celebrated as a battleground.
In this respect, it is very much like Gettysburg – not of that scale – but in meaning, in blood lost, in lives given for an important cause.
It is easy to demean the words liberty and freedom these days. The modern world has twisted things so that causes like liberty and living arrangements like freedom when talked about can cause some people to be repelled.
This tells us we take things for granted in the United States.
We take our liberty for granted and our freedom. We take them for granted everyday
When you visit the Bunker Hill Monument, stop and reflect what happened there – and if you can – realize that you are visiting a sacred place where brave men died to make a point – that the King of England should go to hell, that they weren’t going to be subjects of the king and that they wanted to be free.
God bless the brave men who fell at Bunker Hill and in all our wars.
God bless the brave American men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.
God bless the United States of America.