Cecil told us about Joe  We Will miss you Joe
Words From Joe
 

Sent out by Kim
 

        As I'm sure Joe did with many of you over the years, he enjoyed emailing his weekly columns before they were published.  Last night at 8:28 p.m., Joe sent this message to my mom and others. I thought some of his final words and thoughts would be a good way for us to remember Joe.  Those of us at Rotary were able to hear many of these thoughts as well.

 

Joe's Message:

I hope that you'll find this worthwhile as you prepare to celebrate the Fourth.

   Joseph B 

 

 

Preparing to celebrate the Glorious Fourth -- column for June 29, 2016

 

    Here's an idea that I hope will appeal to readers: as you plan your celebrations of our nation's independence, picture yourselves getting ready in the same way that George Washington's troops did, as the Revolutionary War dragged on until  peace was declared in 1783.

    Pretend that for the last five days, you've eaten only coarse biscuits called "fry cakes" because they're cooked over campfires on makeshift skillets.

    You know a courier up at headquarters who says that Gen. Washington has been writing to the Continental Congress every day, insisting that "My troops are starving" and pleading for money to buy food from farmers demanding ever-higher prices.

    You've heard the rumor racing through the camp that patrols have found so many cattle that every man will get a generous ration of beef on July 4 -- the first meat for the troops in weeks -- but you'll believe that when you see the food.

    As you try to think of something besides food, you realize that you'd better get yourself and your uniform clean between now and the Fourth, provided you can scrounge some of the homemade soap that's in short supply like everything else. 

    Like everyone in your outfit, you have just one uniform, so ragged and faded that when British redcoats and Hessian mercenaries see you during skirmishes, they jeer and shout insults In English and German.

     Soldiers whose uniforms fell apart wear pants and shirts fashioned from tent flaps.  With neither coats nor wool shirts, everyone welcomed the arrival of spring and gave thanks for surviving the brutal winter at Valley Forge, where so many died of disease, or simply froze. 

    Transportation on the Fourth will be the same as every other day: you'll walk.

     Most of your officers also will be on foot, since so many horses were killed or died of wounds, with no money to buy replacements.  The British also are short of mounts, and promise big money for horses and saddles delivered to their side by American deserters.

     So, the question is whether you'll be among the two-thirds of our troops who'll be barefoot when they line up for that promised meat, or will be wearing worn-out shoes held together with rope.  Your friend the courier says that the general in charge of supplies is trying to cut deals with shoemakers, trading deer skins and cattle hides for shoes.

    Here, too, the British are trying hard to convince you and your fellow soldiers to come over to their side. Tory agents -- Americans who are still loyal to the king -- try to tempt you with promises of new shoes, plentiful food and real uniforms.

    They also promise pay in British currency that maintains its value while the American money known as Continentals deteriorates steadily.

     Long before he became our second president, John Adams predicted that we would celebrate "the great anniversary Festival," marking the day in 1776 that he and others in the Continental Congress proclaimed that 13 colonies were now the United States of America.

    Adams urged that it "be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance with solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty" and "solemnized with pomp and parade, shows, games, sports, guns, bonfires and illuminations (fireworks) from one end of this continent to the other, from this day forward forever more."

    That enthusiasm should still be contagious, even though 240 years have passed -- and despite the fact that Adams got the date wrong!

    He assumed that we'd celebrate the vote on July 2 approving the Declaration of Independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and others.

    Wrong!  It took until July 4 to get the declaration printed, signed by delegates who stuck around after the vote and proclaimed to the public.

    As Benjamin Franklin left the hall, a woman asked what he and other members had to show for the long debates closed to the public.

    "A republic, Madam," Franklin replied, "if you can keep it." 

    Those who love our country have been trying and often sacrificing ever since that day to preserve what the Founding Fathers crafted, with pledges of "our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

    I pray that those efforts, and sacrifices, have not been, nor ever will be, in vain.

 

 

     Joseph Benham   June 28, 2016

 
 
Sponsors