June 17 – Important Anniversary in U.S.A.

June 17, 2019 (Monday)
We had heard stories of the beautiful fall foliage in New England. Our son, David, gave Wanda and me airline tickets to visit that area and see it for ourselves. We were not disappointed; it became one of the highlights of our lives; the beauty of nature took our breath away. We flew into Providence and ten days later we flew back home after visiting Boston, Barre, Montpelier, St. Albans, Burlington, Lake Pacid, Clinton (birth place of my great grandfather), Niagara Falls, Lancaster, Gettysburg, and Baltimore. We flew back home after driving over 800 miles through Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
While in Boston, I asked a friendly policeman where I might find the “Freedom Trail,” a unique collection of museums, churches, meeting houses, burying grounds, parks, a ship, and historic markers of the American Revolution. “You’re standing on it,” the man said,”just follow the directions on the sidewalk.” So we did. The experience was exciting, sort of like a trip to the Holy Land. I’m sure some of the emotions we felt were similar.
At left view Battle of Bunker Hill June 17, 1775, At right view the Bunker Hill Monument as it stands today. One of the places we heard about that day was Bunker Hill, site of an early battle of the war. We saw the monument from a distance. The battle was actually fought at Breed’s Hill, a neighbor to Bunker Hill. A couple of months before, the British army and the Patriots had a skirmish at Lexington, then Concord. The Patriots won and followed the British army back to Boston, where they built fortifications around north, west and south sides of Boston until fighting broke out on June 17, 1775. The British navy had access to the east. Today is the anniversary of that battle.
The war was under way and lasted for years. The Constitution was adopted May 25, 1787. Two years later, in 1789, George Washington became our first president. We took our place among the family of nations.
In 1976, our country celebrated the bicentennial anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. John Peterson and Don Wyrtzen wrote a musical, “I Love America,” which was presented by the First Baptist Church of Rockport choir. I know of nothing else that the choir ever did that was more entusiastically received by the audience. People went away from church that day singing to themselves, “I Love America.”
We love our country and have a deep appreciation for everyone who had a part in gaining independence for an infant nation that is now the greatest nation on earth. And we are thankful.