They Gave Up Their Tomorrows For Our Todays

The first Americans to fall in the name of liberty were the “Minutemen” of Lexington, Mass, when 77 militiamen under the command of Capt. John Parker faced off against a 700-man battalion of British regulars. On that day, the 19^th of April 1775, no one knows who fired the first shot, known as the “shot heard around the world.” That shot has reverberated throughout the centuries, for it marked the beginning of the miracle that is the United States.

When the smoke cleared, seven militia men were dead and ten were wounded. Forced from the field, the fighting moved to nearby Concord where a force of 400 militia men met the British, who began to take casualties. After a few hours the British troops began a slow tactical withdrawal back to Boston, eighteen miles away. They continued to suffered more casualties as more militia men joined the fight all along the road back to Boston. In all the Minute men suffered 49 Killed, 39 wounded and 5 missing, the British suffered 73 killed, 174 wounded and 53 missing.

In every war or military action since, we have lost members of our military. These were people like you and me, who had hopes and dreams for their future. And in many cases they left behind family members to pick up the pieces and try to rebuild their lives. These are the people you need to remember and thank, for it is upon their shoulders that we stand as one nation, the United States of America.