Hello, during this Holiday Season it is good to decompress, spend time with loved ones and relax while appreciating your achievements from the previous year. We are tremendously grateful that you are out there, paying attention and fighting for the preservation of this great Republic.
I don’t have to tell you that we have some tough times ahead of us. The news from across the nation is both disheartening and shocking. You and I have seen tough times before and we need to muster the fortitude to see this nation and return it to the greatness it once had.
In early December of 1776, George Washington, while surveying the state of his Continental Army, had very little to be optimistic about. Since the victory at Boston, the Continental Army had fought a number of fighting retreats. They narrowly escaped destruction in New York during the Battle of Long Island and by the Grace of God escaped during the Battle of White Plains.
As Washington looked toward the New Year of 1777 he saw a very bleak outlook.The voluntary enlistments for most men in his Army were about to expire. Washington’s supplies were meager and the Army’s morale was low. The cold of winter had set in and the conventional wisdom of the day dictated that the any Army should simply retire to winter camp or release it’s men to return home.
The Father of our Country knew that he not only needed a miracle, but he needed to help make one happen. Washington understood that if he retired for the winter without a significant victory that few men would return to fight and new nation would lose faith in the War for Independence. There would be no United States of America come spring thaw.
Our forefathers, patriots of the new nation of the United States of America tracked through the snow and ice during Christmas night 1776. It was said that the path of the Continental Army from the Potomac River to Trenton could be traced by the the blood in the snow from the soldiers feet. When informed by an officer that the men’s weapons and powder were wet from freezing rain Washington remarked “Tell General Sullivan to use the bayonet. I am resolved to take Trenton.”
You should know that Washington’s Army won a great victory in Trenton that day and then a week later in Princeton. The morale of the Army and that of the new nation was bolstered and the supplies they captured helped to ease the pain of the long winter at Valley Forge.
As we look out at the long cold winter facing our Republic, it is easy to feel discouraged. Conventional wisdom tells us today that we should simply put our heads down and hide in our homes hoping that storms will pass us by. Like Washington, we must honestly ask ourselves, if we duck inside and hide from the storm, will the nation be left standing when we emerge?
I will leave you will the following thoughts. Food and water, guns and ammunition are valuable, but the Spirit of the American Patriot is worth more than all. How can we foster the spirit if we have no idea from where we came or how this nation was founded.
I have attached for you here a link to the US Citizenship practice test. I encourage you to take a moment to complete the test yourself and then have your spouse and kids or grandkids do the same.
All the best for you New Year!
Paul Markel
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